Click the link below for the episode on The Batman Universe
Terence and Rob talk about some of their favorite memories and stories that Denny was involved with either as a writer or an editor. They also talk about the unreleased interview they had with Denny, which the show opens with a brief excerpt from. Join us as we pay our respects and geek out about the legendary Denny O’Neil!
Loss and Wonder:
This post along with the next few are a month or two old, so lets catch up episode by episode.
Saying 2020 has been a struggle for everyone is an under statement. My family alone has seen a number of deaths this year. I had an uncle pass away at the same time as Denny. He (my uncle Roger) was also the one as a kid that I talked to about all of this geeky stuff, and especially Batman and Robin. Terence says in the episode that Denny is like Tim's grandpa. While I agree with that I also got an uncle vibe from Denny too. Honestly you would inter change my uncle with Denny and the personalities I think... from what i have read about Denny sounds like my uncle. My uncles passing is what started me "missing my own deadlines" for this blog.
After the funeral for my Uncle Roger I sat down to write this a few times, and I just could not crack what I wanted to say. What do you say about someone you don't really know. I know my uncle helped me with some of my earliest comic book knowledge. We would read the mini Super Powers Action figures comics together. I still have the mini comics to this day.
(pictured are the Robin ones)
For me Denny has always just been there. I really got into comic collecting literally right after I saw Batman 89. I bought Batman 436 (Year 3) I was hooked. Sure I had picked up comics before this time but not like this. The first trade I bought was Batman: A Death in the Family. The forward in the book was so well written and just grabbed you. Who was this Denny O'Neil guy? I like his writing. He was all over the Batman books as editor. Once in a while as writer. He was in all of the Wizard magazine interviews back then. Later on he was on a bonus content to VHS and DVD releases. Just like my uncle, he was always there giving us encouraging words on whats going on in the Batman Universe and our own world at large at times these characters.
I really paid attention when Tim Drake was created. there again in a forward to A Lonely Place of Dying trade paperback there was another great intro from Denny. He talked bout the creation of Tim Drake and the reasons why. You felt invested in the story even before you read it... something that's lacking these days i must say. The creative teams he placed on all of the Batfamily titles was just awe inspiring if you look back at it. Adams, Dixon, Lyle, Breyfogle, Grant, Nolan, Moench, Grummett, Balent, and Kitson just to name a few. That's a Legacy if I ever saw one.
Denny knew what his writers needed and more immortality sometimes knew what they didn't. He knew that if he picked the right creators the rest would work out. My uncle would say "if i give people the right tool, they can dig their own hole, i don't need to show them how." I feel that was Denny's approach. Set the stage, then let the team deliver the goods. You can read all of the Batman titles under his watch from Batman 414 to 574 (also including all other Batfamily titles) and it reads as one complete thought. Denny was the editor for all of it. That is why in the 90's when all the craziness of the 90's was going on. Batman didn't quite feel like that. It felt timeless.
Now i know your saying Rob he did so much more than that. But this was my story with Uncle Denny. He helped tell stories that I will cherish until the day I meet my uncle Roger again. Every time I open any Batman book I will think of the massive legacy Denny has left. Starting in the 70's with Neil Adams and into the 2000's. For me, Denny gave me my favorite character in literature, he inspired me to talk write and create things about this character. Tim Drake. The podcast you listen to, to the blog page your reading. If it was't for Denny... would any of us be reading this?
"At this writing, in June of 1993, Tim/Robin is probably as popular as Batman himself. I think its a distinction he deserves and I'll argue that the stories in this book prove it. they'll show you Tim's rites of passage-his entrance into the savage and exotic world of Batman and his first adventure with out his seasoned partner. It's one of the oldest tails-the journey out of a child's innocence into the frightening arena of adulthood-and, because it's told with imagination in the cadences and contexts of whats happening outside your window, its as fresh as what will happen there tomorrow.
Third time we really got it right."
Denny O'Neil
June 1993 (Robin: Tragedy & Triumph trade paperback) 
Thank you Denny!
Thank you Denny!
-R
