Sad news. Comics great Denny O'Neill, one of the most interesting and influential writers of the Bronze Age, has passed away at age 81.

He started out scripting bonkers Steve Ditko books like the Creeper. Talk about baptism under fire!

Denny is the guy who re-imagined Batman in 1969, transforming him from the campy goofball of the Adam West tv show into the Dark Knight, making a kajillion dollars in tv and film profits for DC's corporate parent. Denny also created the iconic villain Ra's Al Ghul.

His Bats story in #251, "The Joker's Five-way Revenge" is considered the best single Batman story ever. I bought it off the spinner rack and loved it.

He followed that success with the critically acclaimed Green Lantern/ Green Arrow, which I wrote of a couple months ago. GL/GA was the first superhero series written for young adults, not 11 year olds, and changed comics forever.

And let's not forget THIS masterpiece of Seventies pop-culture weirdness!

He was a prolific writer throughout the 80s. He was hired, along with Marvel editor Jim Shooter, to create the backstory for the new toy line, the Transformers. It was Denny who dreamt up Optimus Prime! Add another kajillion in profits to his resume.

He was one of my favorites when I was a teenage comics nut. RIP. https://www.cbr.com/the-greatest-denny-oneil-stories-ever-told/