Damn. This actually hits me kinda hard. He wrote some of my favorite eras of Batman. The guy is a legend and it's hard to think he's gone. RIP Denny.
He was pretty awesome. I only got to talk to him for maybe 10 minutes. He was very gracious with his time. He told me that Hasbro originally told Marvel they wanted Soundwave as the leader of the bad guys, and that's why the decepticon icon looks like Soundwave. He and Bob Budiansky looked over Hasbro's notes and the designs for the faction symbols, and the only thing they agreed with Hasbro was the truck HAD to be the leader of the good guys. Also an interesting side-note... in Hasbro's original notes, the Datsuns were the Autobot version of the "Seekers" and were the grunt troops (that's why a datsun's face is the autobot logo) due to the many colors available to Hasbro. Budiansky made them each individuals instead of troops. Had Hasbro not approached Dennis O'Neil and Bob Budiansky at Marvel, Transformers would be vastly different than it is today.
Ouch... This hurts. Like really hurts. I heard his batman run was great too. we salute you sir. RIP o7
Met him several times at cons when I lived on Long Island. Always good to the fans, and patiently answered my questions after his panel was over. His influence on Batman is likely second only to the team of Kane, Finger, and Robinson, first as writer in the aftermath of Batman '66, then as editor before, during, and after the '89 Batcraze. He wrote the legendary Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories that brought societal ills to a four-color world. He wrote the Obidiah Stane arc of Iron Man, which was mined liberally for the Iron Man films. He named Optimus Prime. The man left his fingerprints on at least three different billion-dollar franchises, and inspired a legion of fans and artists. Damned good legacy.
Yup! And Megatron was supposed to be the oafish sycophant like Lugnut. If it wasn't for those two........thank you Mr. O'Neill for your eternal contributions to the lore. You, Budainsky and Jim Shooter.
Well this is unfortunate news. I’m thankful for all the great contribution he contributed to the Transformers. R.I.P Mr.O’niel