So, in his initial series, Spider-Man, Denny has the most ideas, initially, bringing in new characters the first few months.  Calypso, Madame Web, Hyrdo Man recur in later stories- such as Todd McFarlane’s smash-selling vehicle Spider=Man title in 1991, and the Madame and Hydro Man even return in cartoons.  Peter even gets an opponent at the Daily Globe, photographer Lance Bannon- before O’Neil abruptly shifts gears and does away with the Daily Globe newspaper era started by Marv Wolfman in a single issue, #210. However, those characters do not generally add much to any ongoing saga.   In some ways, while the stories in the middle do continue into each other, from 213-218, most O’Neil Spider-Man stories exist in an almost stand-alone fashion.  Hydro Man- who suffers from the most glaring flaw in this era’s villains, his obstinate motivation of revenge, like the Wizard in the next issue- does come back for a sort of humorous rivalry with Sandman ov...

Now it is time we were going, I to die, you to live; But which of us has the happier prospect is unknown to anyone but God. – Plato, “The Apology of Socrates” That’s a quote from a Daredevil story, written by Denny O’Neil. When Denny offered a perspective through literature, as with his quotes, he gave his work a sense of sharing a humble place alongside its more canonical literary family. He had a smart way of making comics relevant and artistically vibrant, despite their underestimated standing- at least, in the years he wrote Batman, Green Lantern/ Green Arrow, Iron Man, and here, Daredevil. But he also helped bring them out of pile of discarded juvenilia. After all, when he got into the business, barely anyone thought of comic books as more than kid’s stuff, or something to pass the time of bored soldiers. If we came to think of them as legitimate reading material for smart people of any age, I’m confident we can thank Denny for his part. “These be the words you read and re...

1. In a distinct shift away from the campy 1960s Batman, which was how I chiefly knew the character as a boy, featured Batman mostly as an athlete and martial artist and detective, but rarely depicted him using any of his special devices from his utility belt. Gone are the various gadgets and gimmicks that Batman might have with him on his person, to solve his various dilemmas. Now along with this point, we do see Batman with a cool old Roadster Batmobile a couple of times. But the bat helicopter for example and any of the variety of equipment and transportation vehicles that he was known to keep in his Batcave I have vanished. It's worth noting, along with the move in Batman #217 to finally move Dick Grayson (Robin) off to college, where he was featured in his own solo adventures in a backup story in most issues of Batman, the Batcave with also closed off, so that Batman and Alfred instead move in the center of Gotham City. So while this move was probably mostly dictated by ...