2002 - 04/2002 Meeting

Page Created: 09/23/10. Last Update: 09/23/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 05/27/08.

DENNY O'NEIL

Books:

The DC Guide to Writing Comics

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: April 13, 2002.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 51.

Meeting Program: Talk by Comic Book Editor / Writer.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County met on Saturday, April 13, 2002 at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. It was a textbook case of how our gatherings should work, with well attended pre meeting functions, an enthusiastic and informative guest, and the largest meeting attendance since 1996.

There were a few minor glitches at the start of the evening. Channel Eleven has rearranged its schedule, so we were unable to watch ANDROMEDA at 6:00 PM and had to make due with MUTANT X. Meanwhile, our TV/VCR combo in the Wesley Room had difficulties with the scheduled LUPIN movie, so Chuck substituted another flick: LUPIN 3: ONE DOLLAR MONEY WAR.

The Final Frontier discussion of Klingons moderated by Vincent Carlucci was an unqualified success, with a strong attendance and not nearly exhausting the subject. Vince will reprise the event at the Livingston Chapter of the Frontier in May. The only minor down note was that the success of the revived Frontier has cannibalized a portion of the Anime audience.

Our evening's guest was Denny O' Neil, best known as a writer and editor for DC Comics, although he has also worked at Marvel Comics and has written a number of science fiction tales as well.

Mr O' Neil had been working as a small town journalist when a mutual friend put him in touch with Roy Thomas of Marvel Comics in the early sixties. He was soon doing free lance work for Marvel on titles like MILLIE THE MODEL and TWO GUN KID, writing yarns for AMAZING and FANTASTIC, and hanging out with new friends like Samuel R Delany. The picture he painted of himself in the 60's--politically active left wing hippie--was totally at odds with the dapper retiree he has become in the 21st Century.

Although he began at Marvel, Mr O' Neil is most closely identified with his work at DC, especially on BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN & GREEN ARROW, and WONDER WOMAN. He talked about being on the sets of the BATMAN movies and of the unsung (and uncredited) people who helped create and establish the character. He related how his work on WONDER WOMAN led to a letter of protest from Gloria Steinam being published in THE NEW YORK TIMES ("Looking back, I think we were both right," was his comment).

His stint with artist Neal Adams as the writer of GREEN LANTERN & GREEN ARROW made him a legend in the comic book community. He disagrees that this was the first attempt by comics to discuss contemporary concerns--ecology, racism, feminism--in a comic book format, but believes that it was the first mainstream comic to do so in a sustained, deliberative manner.

SF REVU editor Ernest Lilley took issue with our speaker's contention that comic book writers were in the unique position of having to create, develop, and preserve myths. What about shamans and bards, countered Mr Lilley? A semi-private discussion of similarities and differences between these storytellers broke out, with William Wagner and Taras Wolansky offering input. Not wanting to spend the rest of the evening on this tangent, the Association's director asked Mr O' Neil to return to the front of the room and move on to other matters.

Another concern of our guest was the decline of coherent storytelling in the field. He disputes the popular theory that comics are a closer kin to the cinematic arts than the literary, stating that in movies and television, the director controls the pacing while in comics and fiction, it is the domain of the reader. One of the things he does as a consulting editor at DC is to hammer away at writing basics. As an example of bad storytelling, he cited a comic which did not even mention the name of the villain--let alone his motivation--for nine issues. He finally gave up and called a friend to fill him in on the basics.

Also discussed were The Comics Code Authority, MAD MAGAZINE, the business of publishing comics, Julie Schwartz, Hal Foster, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, what's wrong with comic book stores, and many other things.

There is not room to present every noteworthy moment of the evening. Pauline Alama produced a cover flat of her fantasy novel, THE EYE OF NIGHT, which will be out in early July. But the exchange of the night was between Mr O' Neil and four year old Christian Halstead who had a question about the origin of SPIDER MAN. When our guest talked about Peter Parker being bitten by a spider, Christian brought down the house by loudly declaring: "I know THAT!"