Denny O'Neil - COMICSXF https://comicsxf.com The comics criticism you crave Thu, 25 Dec 2025 02:04:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://i0.wp.com/comicsxf.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cropped-orange-favicon-2.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Denny O'Neil - COMICSXF https://comicsxf.com 32 32 107498702 BatChat With Matt & Will: Batman and the Origins of Christmas https://comicsxf.com/2025/12/25/batchat-with-matt-will-batman-and-the-origins-of-christmas/ Thu, 25 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=55393 Happy holidays to all! As is our tradition, and as we aren’t going to run out any time soon, the week of Christmas we read three stories of the holidays in Gotham. One is a little holiday kinda-noir from Bat legends Denny O’Neil and Frank Miller, one is a perplexing animated series style Brave and...

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]]> 55393 BatChat With Matt & Will: You’re a Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon https://comicsxf.com/2025/10/16/batchat-with-matt-will-youre-a-damn-good-cop-jim-gordon/ Thu, 16 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=54523 Jim Gordon made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27. You know, the same comic that Batman made his first appearance. So, you can imagine the number of stories that Gordon has been featured in. But especially since Frank Miller made “Batman: Year One” as much about Gordon as it is about Batman, that number...

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]]> 54523 BatChat With Matt & Will: Batman Begins At 20 https://comicsxf.com/2025/09/25/batchat-with-matt-will-batman-begins-at-20/ Thu, 25 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=54260 Time moves ever forward. I can’t believe that Batman Begins is 20 years old this year. As I question my mortality and life choices, this week we read three stories from the Batman Begins trade, including the movie adaptation, a retelling of Batman’s origin by Denny O’Neil and a one off by Greg Rucka. This...

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]]> 54260 BatChat With Matt & Will: The Requisite Superman Tie-In https://comicsxf.com/2025/07/10/batchat-with-matt-will-the-requisite-superman-tie-in/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=53328 The birth of the new DC Cinematic Universe… DC Extended Universe… DC… ah whatever the hell they’re calling it, kicks off on the big screen this week with the debut of James Gunn’s Superman film, so we’re obviously tying in because SEO is a powerful thing. We have three more stories of the World’s Finest...

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]]> 53328 BatChat With Matt & Will: An Odyssey Into Madness (w/ Matt McThorn) https://comicsxf.com/2025/02/20/batchat-with-matt-will-an-odyssey-into-madness-w-matt-mcthorn/ Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=51774 I usually try to put something witty or informative here. But this week, Patreon backer Matt McThorn is back, and he asked us to read Neal Adams’s mad dream, Batman: Odyssey. He didn’t know what he was getting himself or us into, so we have forgiven him, but this one feels like an all-timer. We...

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]]> 51774 BatChat With Matt & Will: Farewell, Darwyn Cooke https://comicsxf.com/2025/01/23/batchat-with-matt-will-farewell-darwyn-cooke/ Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=51447 Over the past 169 episodes, we have covered work from a lot of creators. And I can’t think of one that we have unanimously and consistently lauded than the late Darwyn Cooke. A writer artist like few others, Cooke passed away at a tragically young age, leaving a body of work that would have only...

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]]> 51447 BatChat With Matt & Will: Matt Will Finally Know Peace (w/Josh Weil) https://comicsxf.com/2024/03/28/batchat-with-matt-will-matt-will-finally-know-peace-w-josh-weil/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://comicsxf.com/?p=48407 Josh Weil is back, and he’s bringing his favorite character with him. It’s time for Batman to team up again with Ollie Queen, Green Arrow. We’re reading the classic Bob Haney/Neal Adams story where Ollie grows his signature facial hair, a team-up that also includes the Question, and some questionable content involving Poison Ivy. And...

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]]> 48407 BatChat With Matt & Will: Rowing the Amazon in a Cadillac https://comicsxf.com/2024/01/25/batchat-with-matt-will-rowing-the-amazon-in-a-cadillac/ Thu, 25 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=47768 Ah, my sweet summer children, let me tell you of a time called the early 90s. It was a time of hope. It was a time of questionable fashion. And it was a time when there were only three monthly Batman family titles, and one of them very rarely interacted with the others. This week,...

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]]> 47768 BatChat With Matt & Will: Stop Trying to Make Geo-Force Happen (w/Austin Gorton) https://comicsxf.com/2023/10/19/batchat-with-matt-will-stop-trying-to-make-geo-force-happen-w-austin-gorton/ Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=46932 Over his 85+ years, Batman has been a member of lots of different teams. This week, fellow ComicsXF writer Austin Gorton stops by to talk about three different teams Batman has been a member of. We fill in another gap in Will’s knowledge of the roots of the Morrison run, Snapper Carr is kind of...

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]]> 46932 BatChat With Matt & Will: A Biblically Accurate Angel (w/ Robert Secundus) https://comicsxf.com/2023/08/17/batchat-with-matt-will-a-biblically-accurate-angel-w-robert-secundus/ Thu, 17 Aug 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=46295 BatChat religion correspondent Robert “Bobby TwoBucks” Secundus is back this week, and he’s brining with him Jean-Paul Valley, the vigilante and sometimes fanatic known as Azrael. We chart the journey of Azrael from the beginning of his ongoing to his most recent mini-series, with a stop off in an alternate world that is… something. We...

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]]> 46295 BatChat With Matt & Will: A Day With Bruce Wayne https://comicsxf.com/2023/05/18/batchat-with-matt-will-a-day-with-bruce-wayne/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=45511 While there are plenty of stories with Bruce Wayne in them, how many are really about Bruce Wayne? Not Batman, the Dark Knight, but captain of industry, philanthropist and playboy Bruce Wayne? At least three, as this week we look at the story of Bruce’s problematic return to health after Knightfall, a 150 year old...

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]]> 45511 BatChat With Matt & Will: The Hope In Crime Alley https://comicsxf.com/2023/05/11/batchat-with-matt-will-the-hope-in-crime-alley/ Thu, 11 May 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=45453 Batman’s allies are known for many things. Their brains. Their fighting skills. Their dedication. And while Dr. Leslie Thompkins, the woman who comforted Bruce Wayne the night his parents were killed is lacking in the second of those three attributes, she more than makes up for it in the first and third. Leslie is a...

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]]> 45453 BatChat With Matt & Will: The Joker’s First Laughs https://comicsxf.com/2023/01/26/batchat-with-matt-will-the-jokers-first-laughs/ Thu, 26 Jan 2023 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=44600 A sinister laugh over the airwaves. A threat. And death with a rictus grin. Those are aspects that each version of Batman’s first encounter with his greatest foe, the Joker, have in common. But as with many tales from the Golden Age of comics, this is a story that he been told and retold numerous...

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]]> 44600 BatChat With Matt & Will: Super Skunk in Gotham (w/ Abigale Heartbalm) https://comicsxf.com/2022/11/10/batchat-with-matt-will-super-skunk-in-gotham-w-abigale-heartbalm/ Thu, 10 Nov 2022 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=43838 It’s another Patreon request, as Abigale Heartbalm returns. She wanted to talk about the original Venom story, and after we realized she meant the Legends of the Dark Knight arc about the super steroid and not a DC/Marvel crossover we didn’t remember, it was decided that this week’s theme would be Batman and drugs. Venom...

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]]> 43838 BatChat With Matt & Will Episode 51: A Hickman Chart On Monkey Rankings (w/ Josh Weil) https://comicsxf.com/2022/09/08/batchat-with-matt-will-episode-51-a-hickman-chart-on-monkey-rankings-w-josh-weil/ Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=42757 He’s a billionaire who fights crime with nothing but his wits and his training. He has a family of sidekicks. He is known for having all sorts of emotional baggage and issues. He is… Green Arrow. This week, we sit down with Patreon backer Josh Weil to talk about three stories where Batman meets an...

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]]> 42757 BatChat With Matt & Will Episode 41: Content Warnings Abound https://comicsxf.com/2022/06/30/batchat-with-matt-will-episode-41-content-warnings-abound/ Thu, 30 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=41777 So, this week was supposed to see the release of the final issue of James Tynion IV’s ongoing Joker series, a series Matt & Will have unabashedly loved over on the BatChat column. But whether it’s supply chain shipping issues or something more related to the production of this particular issue, the comic has been...

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]]> 41777 BatChat With Matt & Will Episode 40: The Breaking of the Bat https://comicsxf.com/2022/06/23/batchat-with-matt-will-episode-40-the-breaking-of-the-bat/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=41607 Jason Todd tier Patreon backer Kyle Still asked us to cover Knightfall, and so we decided to do it (and by decided, I mean that we live up to our word). But Knightfall has a nice clean point where we can divide it. Back in the day, when trades were still a rarity, Knightfall was...

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]]> 41607 BatChat With Matt & Will Episode 30: The Demon’s Head-Line https://comicsxf.com/2022/04/14/batchat-with-matt-will-episode-30-the-demons-head-line/ Thu, 14 Apr 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=40061 Among Batman’s many foes are serial killers, madmen and monsters. But few are the type of villain who seeks to dominate or control the world. The one who is, possibly the foe that Batman respects and fears the most, is Ra’s al Ghul, the Demon’s Head. Seemingly immortal, Ra’s wants to return the world to...

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]]> 40061 BatChat With Matt & Wil Episode 25: The Young Bruce Wayne Chronicles (w/ Josh Weil) https://comicsxf.com/2022/03/10/batchat-with-matt-wil-episode-25-the-young-bruce-wayne-chronicles-w-josh-weil/ Thu, 10 Mar 2022 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=38335 Did you know, if you back us on Patreon, you can come on the show? Yes indeed, if you are a Dick Grayson tier backer you can. And our first Grayson backer is here with us today! Josh Weil, podcaster at X is for Podcast, stops by to talk about a couple stories he picked,...

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]]> 38335 BatChat With Matt & Will Episode 13: Chekhov’s Two-Face https://comicsxf.com/2021/12/16/batchat-with-matt-will-episode-13-chekhovs-two-face/ Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=35906 Sometimes it’s hard to judge a story. Sometimes you might need to… flip a coin. Yes, that is a labored wordplay to get to something to tie into this week’s subject, Batman’s (possibly) second greatest foe, former district attorney Harvey Dent, best known as Two-Face. Fortunately, these stories didn’t require any coin tosses for their...

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]]> 35906 BatChat With Matt & Will Ep.9: Will’s Art Picks https://comicsxf.com/2021/11/18/batchat-with-matt-will-ep-9-wills-art-picks/ Thu, 18 Nov 2021 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=35305 Will takes the reins this week, with a little ill advised help from Matt’s knowledge of 90s Batman stories. Will picked three stories that he figured would have art he’d love and, well, two out of three ain’t bad. Six Fingers (Legends of the Dark Knight V.1 #85-88 [Digital]) Chasing Clay (Batman V.1 #550) Batman:...

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]]> 35305 BatChat With Matt & Will Ep.7: The Clown Prince of Carnage https://comicsxf.com/2021/11/04/batchat-with-matt-will-ep-7-the-clown-prince-of-carnage/ Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=35015 He’s Batman’s greatest nemesis. He is as mutable as his foe, appearing sometimes as a whacky criminal clown, sometimes as a terrifying homicidal maniac, and sometimes as an urban terrorist. He is the Joker. And this week, Matt and Will look at three single issue Joker stories in their first villain spotlight episode. The Joker’s...

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]]> 35015 BatChat With Matt & Will Ep. 6: Spooky Books- The BatChat Marry/F***/Kill Episode https://comicsxf.com/2021/10/28/batchat-with-matt-will-ep-6-spooky-books-the-batchat-marry-f-kill-episode/ Thu, 28 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsxf.com/?p=34879 Just in time for Halloween, BatChat takes on three tales of Batman mixing it up with the supernatural. We have vampires, we have immortals, we have werewolves, and we have the scariest thing of all: a new worst story on the list! Listen in to hear what story it is, and hear Matt get so...

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]]> 34879 Armor Down https://comicsxf.com/2020/07/01/armor-down/ Wed, 01 Jul 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.xavierfiles.com/?p=6691 Looking Back at Denny O’Neil’s Iron Man, and Marvel’s First Black Flagship Hero The first time I encountered Denny O’Neil’s Iron Man, he was wandering New York in the snow on a December night. His hair was shaggy and unkempt, a wild beard hanging off his chin, and his stained dress shirt was dangling loose...

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