I worked alongside of Denny, but never had that much to do with him. However, all the years we were on staff together seemed shadowed… a shadow thrown by the towering reputation of the same– Dennis J. O’Neil. No one ever called him “Dennis” except Jim Shooter, once.

Some bit of silliness for Crazy Magazine—All Denny needed was a prop and stand back; no piece of scenery was safe from being chewed! For the historically minded, this was shot at Marvel when it was at 575 Madison Ave. About between 56 and 57 Streets, across from the under-construction “new” IBM Building! That is his own pipe.

One of the things I have learned about comics is that it is clear that I know almost nothing about the history and people in that field. Denny is a similar mystery to me. During the outpouring of tributes and recognition, I learned that Denny had been an actor, a cab driver and a reporter. Yes, I knew he had written many seminal and industry-upsetting books, but many of the writers did back then.

But what he did do, was invent these two characters:

Obadiah Stane and Clytemnestra Erwin.

Obadiah is one of those Biblical names or Captain Ahab’s steward. Clytemnestra, of course, as anyone with two degrees of Greek Mythology under their belt knows, was the daughter of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and sister of Helen of Troy (where the ounces come from).

These are funny names. Y’know, complex first name and punchy, short last name… Funny enough to draw the attention of the Marvel Bullpen wags. With just two examples, these anonymous [you may note that Ralph’s name is the cover for this, but I am pretty sure it was just assembled in his office—Eliorobert Brun!] spoofing fools spun out comedy gold.

To pay tribute to my old colleague and give you an idea of the levels of brilliant comic writing that could take place when the need arose, I present without comment or annotation and apologies to young, impressionable people out there:

Denny O’Neil’s List of Names

Denny conferring with Writer’s Writer, Roger Stern—c. 1980