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83-404: The first incarnation, Richard Drakunovski , was created by Dennis O'Neil and James R. Berry in the novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists (1974) under the pseudonym "Jim Dennis". O'Neil later adapted the character for DC Comics in the comic book Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter . A thief who was trained in martial arts and decided to use his skills for good, the character

166-569: A kung fu character named Richard Dragon , and later adapted those novels to comic book form for DC. O'Neil wrote a four-part column series for Marvel's 1978 The Hulk! magazine, under the pseudonym Jeff Mundo . "Jeff Mundo's Dark Corners" ran from issue #21 through issue #24 and covered various pop culture topics. O'Neil wrote a column for ComicMix. Joining Marvel's editorial staff in 1980, O'Neil edited Daredevil during Frank Miller's run as writer/artist. He fired writer Roger McKenzie so that Miller could both write and pencil Daredevil ,

249-439: A "warrior's passion" in him that was lacking skills, and felt that she had been proved correct since he faced her a second time knowing she had destroyed him the first. Shiva concluded that she had been right about him and Richard wrong, but Sage proposed that maybe he had just been curious what would happen if they fought again, which would make Richard right. Sage adopted the identity of The Question again, futilely trying to save

332-399: A character O'Neil created be killed off. O'Neil instead left Azrael's fate vague, preferring to let readers decide what happened to him. O'Neil wrote several novels, comics, short stories, reviews and teleplays, including the novelizations of the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight . Under the pseudonym Jim Dennis with writer Jim Berry, O'Neil scripted a series of novels about

415-533: A conversation he had with The Question in the Question series, contradicting at least some of Chuck Dixon's Richard Dragon series. The 52 series is also where Richard's former student, Vic Sage, dies from cancer. In 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC universe. Richard Dragon was visited by Ricardo Diaz Jr. and trained him in martial arts. When Richard Dragon tried to teach him about peace, patience, and compassion, he

498-602: A couple of years. ... Deteriorating marriage, bad habits, deteriorating relationships with human beings – with anything that wasn't a typewriter, in fact. It was a bad few years there." O'Neil and Adams also created the Green Lantern character John Stewart , who debuted in Green Lantern vol. 2 #87 (December 1971/January 1972). O'Neil's 1970s run on the Batman titles, under the direction of editor Julius Schwartz,

581-515: A decision which then-Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter says saved the series from cancellation. O'Neil encouraged Miller to develop a believable fighting style for Daredevil, and according to Miller, this directly led to his incorporating martial arts into Daredevil and later Ronin . In the early to mid-1980s, O'Neil edited such Marvel titles as Alpha Flight , Power Man and Iron Fist , G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero , and Moon Knight . According to Bob Budiansky , O'Neil came up with

664-456: A job offer from King Wei of Chu , because he valued his personal freedom. His existence has been questioned by Russell Kirkland, who asserts that "there is no reliable historical data at all" for Zhuang Zhou, and that most of the available information on the Zhuangzi comes from its third-century commentator, Guo Xiang . Zhuangzi is traditionally credited as the author of at least part of

747-415: A job. O'Neil had never considered writing for comics, and later said he'd done the test "kind of as a joke. I had a couple of hours on a Tuesday afternoon, so instead of doing crossword puzzles, I did the writer's test." He had intended to only work in the comics industry for six months to make some extra money, but soon found enjoyment from creating comic book scripts, and abandoned his plans to move back to

830-505: A kingpin, the character would be prompted to seek revenge after witnessing Green Arrow kill his father. Eventually finding the League of Assassins, he was mentored by Richard Drakunvoski in martial arts but rejected his more peaceful philosophies and killed his master before adopting his moniker. The Ricardo Diaz incarnation of the character appears in Arrow , portrayed by Kirk Acevedo . As

913-439: A lot more weight than the hero of a popular sitcom that lasts maybe four years. They have become postindustrial folklore, and part of this job is to be the custodian of folk figures. Everybody on Earth knows Batman and Robin. O'Neil said that he saw editing as a support role which should be invisible to the reader, and that if it were his choice his name would not appear in the credits when working as an editor, only when working as

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996-520: A martial arts dojo in Manhattan, and Richard would go on to battle international threats such as Telegram Sam, the Preying Mantis, the League of Assassins, and his former superior, Barney Ling. Thirsty for revenge, Cravat would arrange for the murder of Carolyn Wu-San, one of O-Sensei's god-daughters. Aided by Barney Ling, Cravat tricked Carolyn's sister, Sandra Wu-San , into believing Dragon

1079-496: A screwball trio of incompetent supervillains that also includes the Mastermind (a caricature of Mike Carlin ) and Mr. Nice (a caricature of Archie Goodwin ). The Perfesser is depicted as a tall, pipe-smoking genius who often gets lost in his own thoughts; his name is likely derived from Cosmo "Perfessor" Fishhawk of Shoe , which O'Neil was a known reader of. In 2013, O'Neil was among the comic book writers interviewed in

1162-739: A series starring a new hero, the Creeper , created by artist Steve Ditko . From there, DC moved O'Neil to Wonder Woman and Justice League of America . With artist Mike Sekowsky , he took away Wonder Woman's powers, exiled her from the Amazon community, and set her off, uncostumed, into international intrigues with her blind mentor, I Ching. These changes did not sit well with Wonder Woman's older fans, particularly feminists, and O'Neil later acknowledged that de-powering DC's most well-known superheroine had unintentionally alienated readers. In Justice League , he had more success, introducing into that title

1245-608: A teenage sneak thief in Japan , young Richard Dragon broke into a dojo outside of Kyoto to steal a priceless jade Buddha . Before he could get away, Dragon was caught and beaten by the dojo's teenage student, Ben Turner . O-Sensei, the dojo's master, saw something worth nurturing in Richard, and for the next seven years taught Ben and Richard, side by side, mastery of the martial arts. Richard came to find an inner peace, only using his skill when absolutely necessary. Once he felt there

1328-560: A writer. After graduating college, O'Neil taught English in the St. Louis public school system for one year. O'Neil spent several years in the late 1990s teaching a Writing for the Comics course at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts , sometimes sharing duties with fellow comic book writer John Ostrander . O'Neil was married to Marifran O'Neil, until her death. He was the father of writer/director/producer Lawrence "Larry" O'Neil, best known for

1411-457: A year and a half from Charlton's editor Dick Giordano . In 1968, Dick Giordano was offered an editorial position at DC Comics and took a number of Charlton freelancers with him, including O'Neil. O'Neil's first assignments involved two strategies for bolstering DC's sales. One approach centered on the creation of new characters, and O'Neil scripted several issues of Beware the Creeper ,

1494-531: Is able to defeat all of them with the help of his young half-sister, Emiko. Green Arrow is then reunited with his old partner, John Diggle, after Dragon attempts to kill Diggle by defenestration. In a fight against both Arrow and Diggle, Dragon is able to significantly injure both of them, but is ultimately defeated. Several characters have undergone training with Richard Dragon: The Question, Huntress, Oracle, Renee Montoya, and Lady Shiva. He's also trained Dick Grayson, Batman, and Connor Hawke although they appeared in

1577-463: Is believed to possess mystical properties, it is widely speculated that the totem primarily serves as a focal point for Dragon's concentration and does not inherently possess its own supernatural powers. During moments of intense adversity, the Dragon's Claw enables Dragon to channel and direct his own qi (life energy) in a focused manner, aiding him in challenging situations. Similar to his predecessor,

1660-561: Is considered one of DC Comic's premier martial artists alongside peers such as Bronze Tiger , Lady Shiva , and Batman. In more recent continuities, the character himself is also depicted as a more benevolent member of the League of Assassins who was killed by a former student. In DC's New 52 continuity, a new villainous character who uses the alias is revealed to be the Green Arrow villain Ricardo Diaz Jr. Raised as son of

1743-401: Is disputed: according to Guo Xiang, the "Inner Chapters" were written by Zhuangzi, the "Outer Chapters" written by his disciples, and the "Mixed Chapters" by other hands; the other interpretation is that the names refer to the origin of the titles of the chapters—the "Inner Chapters" take their titles from phrases inside the chapter, the "Outer Chapters" from the opening words of the chapters, and

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1826-411: Is perhaps his best-known endeavor, getting back to the character's darker roots after a period dominated by the campiness of the 1960s TV series . Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "O'Neil's interpretation of Batman as a vengeful obsessive-compulsive, which he modestly describes as a return to the roots, was actually an act of creative imagination that has influenced every subsequent version of

1909-570: Is visually inspired by Bruce Lee 's character, Lee, from Enter the Dragon . Dragon appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure . A poster of Richard Dragon appears in Young Justice #0. Dennis O%27Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from

1992-480: Is well-documented. In addition to his combat prowess, Richard Dragon is a learned philosopher, particularly in matters pertaining to leading a heroic life. He has provided guidance to notable individuals such as the Huntress and Wonder Woman, offering insights into the correct paths they should follow. Richard Dragon possesses a mystical artifact called the Dragon's Claw, which is a talisman of significance. While it

2075-602: The Green Lantern character John Stewart in 1971. As an editor, he is principally known for editing the various Batman titles beginning in 1986 after returning to DC. In 1989, O'Neil launched the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series, and was the writer for the "Shaman" and "Venom" stories. O'Neil led the Batman creative teams for the Batman: Knightfall (1993–1994) story arc. O'Neil co-created

2158-651: The Joker in "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!" in Batman #251 (Sept. 1973), a landmark story bringing the character back to his roots as a homicidal maniac who murders people on a whim and delights in his mayhem. O'Neil and Giordano created the Batman supporting character Leslie Thompkins in the story "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" in Detective Comics #457 (March 1976). O'Neil and artist Don Newton killed

2241-522: The League of Assassins where his sensei taught him to become a living weapon. He claims that when his sensei also taught him patience and compassion, which he perceived to be a weakness, he killed his sensei and took his name. Diaz/Dragon places a 30-million-dollar bounty on Green Arrow, which three members of the Longbow Hunters ( Brick , Killer Moth , and Red Dart ) intend to split. Green Arrow

2324-402: The Longbow Hunters . In Green Arrow (vol. 5) #32 the character identifies himself as Ricardo Diaz Jr. , the namesake son of a drug kingpin who had been killed by John Diggle (posing as Green Arrow). In addition, he also killed the original Richard Dragon and took his moniker for his own use. He revealed that after his father's death and the fall of his criminal empire, he sought out and found

2407-558: The Midwestern United States to be a journalist. When Marvel's expansion made it impossible for Lee to continue writing the company's entire line of books, Lee passed as much on to Roy Thomas as he could, but still needed writers, so O'Neil took the reins for a short-term run of Doctor Strange stories in Strange Tales , penning six issues. He also wrote dialog for such titles as Rawhide Kid and Millie

2490-516: The PBS documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle . Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou ( / dʒ u ˈ ɑː ŋ ˈ dʒ oʊ / ), commonly known as Zhuangzi ( / ˈ dʒ w ɑː ŋ ˈ d z ʌ / ; Chinese : 莊子 ; literally "Master Zhuang "; also rendered in the Wade–Giles romanization as Chuang Tzu ), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during

2573-793: The Warring States period , a period of great development in Chinese philosophy , the Hundred Schools of Thought . He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi , which is one of two foundational texts of Taoism , alongside the Tao Te Ching . The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , and most of

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2656-532: The "Mixed Chapters" from a mixture of these two sources. Further study of the text does not provide a clear choice between these alternatives. On the one side, as Martin Palmer points out in the introduction to his translation, two of the three chapters Sima Qian cited in his biography of Zhuangzi, come from the "Outer Chapters" and the third from the "Mixed Chapters". "Neither of these are allowed as authentic Chuang Tzu chapters by certain purists, yet they breathe

2739-617: The 100-issue Azrael comic series, chronicling Valley's battles against the Order of St. Dumas, between 1995 and 2003. O'Neil modeled the series on Arthurian legends, comparing Azrael's quest to discover the truth about himself to the Holy Grail . The series was originally intended to conclude with Azrael's death. However, after O'Neil suffered a heart attack in September 2002, editor Mike Carlin decided it wouldn't be appropriate to have

2822-553: The 1930s pulp hero in The Shadow series. In 1975, O'Neil wrote a comic book adaptation of the 1930s hero the Avenger . A revival of the Green Lantern title in 1976 was launched by O'Neil and artist Mike Grell . Reuniting with Adams, O'Neil co-wrote the oversize Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978) which Adams has called a personal favorite of their collaborations. Upon O'Neil's return to Marvel Comics in 1980, he took on

2905-544: The 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retirement. His best-known works include Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman with Neal Adams . For Batman , the team are credited with returning the Batman character to his dark gothic roots, in contrast to the campy Batman television series of the 1960s. However, comics historian Les Daniels considers O'Neil's "vengeful obsessive-compulsive" Batman to be an original interpretation that has influenced all subsequent portrayals of

2988-518: The 1980s. In the late 1990s, O'Neil taught a comics writing course at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts . He also sat on the board of directors of the charity The Hero Initiative and served on its Disbursement Committee. O'Neil was born into an Irish Catholic household in St. Louis , Missouri on May 3, 1939. On Sunday afternoons he would accompany his father or his grandfather to the store for some light groceries and an occasional comic book. O'Neil graduated from Saint Louis University around

3071-432: The 1997 film Breast Men starring David Schwimmer . He died of cardiopulmonary arrest on June 11, 2020, at the age of 81. The animated feature Batman: Soul of the Dragon was dedicated in his memory. The following year, Larry O'Neil wrote a six-page tribute to his father, "Tap Tap Tap," which was illustrated by Jorge Fornés and published in Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (August 2021);

3154-521: The 2004 series. Given that the version of Richard Dragon seen in 52 appeared to be the version seen prior to the 2004 retcon , the canonical nature of these students is unclear. In the New 52 , the Green Arrow villain who takes the name Richard Dragon (Ricardo Diaz, Jr.) is revealed to have killed the original man by that name, who had been his sensei, explaining the original Richard Dragon's absence from

3237-560: The Dark Knight." O'Neil and Adams' creation Ra's al Ghul was introduced in the story "Daughter of the Demon" in Batman #232 (June 1971). O'Neil and artist Bob Brown also created Talia al Ghul . During this period, O'Neil frequently teamed up with his regular collaborator Adams (with Giordano often assisting on inks) on a number of memorable issues of both Batman and Detective Comics . The creative team would revive Two-Face in "Half an Evil" in Batman #234 (Aug. 1971) and revitalize

3320-619: The Model , as well as scripting the final 13 pages of Daredevil #18 over a plot by Lee, when Lee went on vacation. O'Neil and artist Neal Adams revived the Professor X character in X-Men #65 in one of the creative team's earliest collaborations. The available jobs writing for Marvel petered out fairly quickly, and O'Neil took a job with Charlton Comics under the pseudonym of Sergius O'Shaugnessy . There he received regular work for

3403-684: The New 52. The first incarnation of Richard Dragon is not endowed with inherent superhuman abilities, but rather his mastery of martial arts allows him to create the illusion of possessing such capabilities. With expertise in both armed combat and unarmed techniques, Dragon is skilled in various conventional weapons but primarily relies on his unarmed skills. He has achieved mastery in all known hand-to-hand martial arts disciplines, which encompass styles such as Aikido , Muay Thai , Karate , Kung Fu , Judo , Pencak Silat , Taekwondo , Escrima , and Jeet Kune Do . His proficiency in these diverse martial arts forms

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3486-512: The actions of people in Hub City. For example, a man was using a dead baby to try and beg for 'milk money'. When Richard and the others uncovered this, he tossed the body into a nearby trash can. Dragon wordlessly met Lady Shiva, who had arrived on the outskirts of Hub City in the helicopter that was to take Sage and Dragon away - she wished to go toward and enjoy the chaos that Sage and Richard were rejecting. Shiva uses force and threats to ensure

3569-598: The agreement. Richard Dragon appears starting in Week 26 of the comic book 52 , in the mystic city of Nanda Parbat , where he starts to train former Gotham Detective Renee Montoya . His appearance matches that of the Richard Dragon seen before the Dixon reboot (albeit with a full head of long hair, as when training Question and Oracle, rather than balding when training Huntress). In this story Dragon makes references to

3652-504: The antihero Azrael ( Jean-Paul Valley ) in 1992, who temporarily became the new Batman during Knightfall . After the storyline's conclusion, O'Neil was the writer for an Azrael monthly series that had 100 issues. His other notable work includes creating Richard Dragon with Jim Berry , and runs on The Shadow with Michael Kaluta and The Question with Denys Cowan . While working for Marvel, O'Neil scripted issues for The Amazing Spider-Man , Iron Man , and Daredevil during

3735-439: The book: a) the ideas of Zhuangzi or his disciples; b) a "primitivist" strain of thinking similar to Laozi in chapters 8-10 and the first half of chapter 11; c) a strain very strongly represented in chapters 28-31 which is attributed to the philosophy of Yang Zhu ; and d) a fourth strain which may be related to the philosophical school of Huang-Lao . In this spirit, Martin Palmer wrote that "trying to read Chuang Tzu sequentially

3818-582: The chair to make Sage let down his defenses - Sage was so "full of macho" that he would never have listened to him otherwise. The chair had not been just a charade, however. Richard revealed that he had allowed himself to be handicapped as part of his own learning process, going on to state "I was a teacher then. I am about to become something else. So I discard that option". The city had truly degenerated by this point with all pretense of law and order long lost. Richard, who had thought his studies had put him beyond such things, found himself shocked and horrified by

3901-489: The character Azrael , who was introduced in the four-issue miniseries Batman: Sword of Azrael in 1992. That same year, O'Neil wrote the Batman: Birth of the Demon hardcover graphic novel. Another DC one-shot issue that O'Neil wrote in 1992 was Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow . O'Neil led the Batman creative teams for the Batman: Knightfall (1993–1994) story arc, during which Azrael temporarily became

3984-561: The character is implied to be the son of the original Richard Dragon, Richard Drakunvonski. He participates in the League of Lazarus before Talia al Ghul offers him membership in the League of Shadows. Ricardo "Dragon" Diaz appears in media set in the Arrowverse , portrayed by Kirk Acevedo as an adult and Max Archibald as a young man. Richard Dragon appears in Batman: Soul of the Dragon , voiced by Mark Dacascos . This version

4067-492: The character revamped by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel , only to be canceled after twelve issues. In this short series, Richard Dragon is a bullied school kid who enrolls in a karate dojo to better himself. The dojo's instructor was a "mail-order" black belt, who is later defeated by the Bronze Tiger. The Bronze Tiger then agrees to train young Dragon. He eventually meets and falls in love with Lady Shiva. Although he wins

4150-559: The character's title was canceled, Dragon became a supporting character in the 1980s series, The Question . The title character of that book, Vic Sage, was a masked crime-fighter based in Hub City , who came into conflict with Lady Shiva. After all but killing The Question, Shiva sent him to see Richard Dragon for training. Sage's stubborn streak made him near impossible for most people to teach. However, when he met Dragon he found himself reluctant to challenge his new sensei because Dragon

4233-401: The character. It was during this run that O'Neil co-created the Batman villains Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul . During their Green Lantern/Green Arrow run, O'Neil and Adams introduced a mature, realistic tone through stories such as " Snowbirds Don't Fly ", in which Green Arrow 's young ward Roy "Speedy" Harper is revealed to have become addicted to drugs. They also created and introduced

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4316-422: The city. Just as Sage's doomed efforts to save Hub City threatened to destroy him, Dragon arrived to advise his student. Dragon finally convinced Sage that his crusade to save Hub City was no longer doing anything but destroying him. When Sage collapsed from exhaustion and his injuries, Richard revealed that he was capable of using his legs perfectly, and put Sage in the wheelchair. Dragon had realized he would need

4399-456: The elimination of kryptonite . In 1973, O'Neil wrote revivals of two characters for which DC had recently acquired the publishing rights. A new series featuring the original Captain Marvel was launched with a February cover date and featured art by the character's original artist C. C. Beck . Later that same year, O'Neil and artist Michael Kaluta produced an "atmospheric interpretation" of

4482-597: The end of the series, Dragon and Shiva are pitted in combat. Dragon gains the upper hand in the fight, and as he begins to deliver his death blow, Shiva's devout followers rush to save her, knocking Dragon away. Unhappy at this disturbance, Shiva attacks and possibly kills her followers before returning to kill Dragon with her signature move, the Leopard Claw. Dragon is, however, resurrected by the demonic Neron who wants Dragon to kill Shiva. Dragon refuses and walks away from Neron, saying that both had held up their parts of

4565-567: The first socially and politically themed stories, setting the stage for later work on Green Lantern/Green Arrow . He and artist Dick Dillin made several changes to the membership of the JLA by removing founding members the Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. Following the lead set by Bob Haney and Neal Adams in a Brave and the Bold story that visually redefined Green Arrow into

4648-412: The information it contains seems to have simply been drawn from anecdotes in the Zhuangzi itself. In Sima's biography, he is described as a minor official from the town of Meng (in modern Anhui ) in the state of Song , living in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi (late fourth century BC). Sima Qian writes that Zhuangzi was especially influenced by Laozi , and that he turned down

4731-664: The martial arts tournament she is watching, she chides him for not being able to live up to the powerful name of "Dragon". Shiva becomes Dragon's lover and instructor, and the series touches on their now strained relationship. The series begins with the Tiger locating Dragon, who is seeking death by fighting in death matches. He agrees to help Dragon resolve his problems with Shiva if he agrees to stop killing. In tracking Shiva they are confronted by Nightwing and Connor Hawke . Nightwing alludes to Dragon training him, as Dragon trained Bruce Wayne , who passed that training on to Nightwing. At

4814-502: The movements and attacks of his adversaries, showcasing his prowess as a strategic and tactical mastermind. Diaz's aptitude for developing and recognizing complex combat strategies makes him an imposing figure as a crime lord. Additionally, he possesses remarkable reflexes, as demonstrated by his ability to catch trick arrows fired by Green Arrow. Richard Dragon Jr. debuted in Robin #1 (2021). Created by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov,

4897-609: The name for the Transformer Optimus Prime , leader of the Autobots . In 1986, O'Neil moved over to DC as an editor, becoming group editor for the company's Batman titles. Speaking about his role in the death of character Jason Todd , O'Neil remarked: It changed my mind about what I do for a living. Superman and Batman have been in continuous publication for over half a century, and it's never been true of any fictional construct before. These characters have

4980-498: The new Batman. In 1994, O'Neil wrote a novelization of Knightfall . In the opening of the novelization, O'Neil stated that part of the reason "Knightfall" was written was due to the recent popularity of more "ruthless" heroes such as the Terminator and James Bond in films, as editors were starting to wonder if readers would prefer a Batman who was willing to kill his opponents. After the conclusion of Knightfall , O'Neil wrote

5063-487: The original version of Batwoman in Detective Comics #485 (Aug.–Sept. 1979). He wrote a short Christmas story, "Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive", for DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980) which featured Frank Miller's first art on a Batman story. When Julius Schwartz became the editor of Superman with issue #233 (Jan. 1971), he had O'Neil and artist Curt Swan streamline the Superman mythos, starting with

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5146-424: The other hand, thought that Sage's passion was for curiosity. Regardless, Richard realized that for Sage to have a spiritual awakening he had to first let go of the self-destructive behaviors that Hub City brought out in him. Thus Richard sent Sage back home. As he left, Sage met Shiva again, and the two briefly sparred. She explained that this fight had been for her to test her own perceptions. She thought she had seen

5229-582: The pilot would do what she wishes. Richard would next appear as sensei to Oracle , helping her to see past her own wheelchair-related limitations. Dragon spends months training her in escrima , the Philippine art of stick fighting, a martial art she could use despite her wheelchair. Not long after that, the masked heroine Huntress became the main suspect in a series of murders. Realizing that her headstrong nature would likely mean her death this time, The Question saved her from her many pursuers (including

5312-573: The police and Batman ), and took her to Richard Dragon. Seeing many similarities between her and The Question, Dragon helped teach the adventuress to control her anger and "slow down". After Huntress joined the Birds of Prey , Richard Dragon aided her in fighting the Twelve Brothers in Silk , an Asian martial arts squad that protected a major heroin distributor. In 2004, the title was revived and

5395-670: The political concepts that would define that work. It was during this period that the most famous Green Arrow story appeared, in Green Lantern #85–86 ("Snowbirds Don't Fly"), when it was revealed that Green Arrow's ward Speedy was addicted to heroin . As a result of his work on Green Lantern and Green Arrow , O'Neil recounted, "I went from total obscurity to seeing my name featured in The New York Times and being invited to do talk shows. It's by no means an unmixed blessing. That messed up my head pretty thoroughly for

5478-476: The popular X-Men villain Lady Deathstrike . While working for Marvel, he helped write the original character concept for The Transformers , and is credited as the person who named Optimus Prime . After returning to DC Comics in 1986, he became the editor of the various Batman titles and served in that capacity until 2000. In February 1987, O'Neil began writing The Question ongoing series which

5561-555: The scripting chores for The Amazing Spider-Man , which he did for a year. O'Neil wrote two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual which were both drawn by Frank Miller . The 1980 Annual featured a team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher . He and artist John Romita Jr. introduced Madame Web in The Amazing Spider-Man #210 and Hydro-Man in #212. O'Neil

5644-512: The second Richard Dragon does not possess any superhuman abilities. However, he is a highly skilled martial artist who received comprehensive training from his mentor in all aspects of martial arts. Diaz's fighting style diverges from that of his teacher, as he possesses the ability to analyze and exploit the weaknesses of his opponents. He has a keen eye for assessing an individual's physical attributes such as height, weight, and other characteristics. This perceptiveness allows him to accurately predict

5727-519: The space with a series on the revival of the comics industry. This attracted the attention of Roy Thomas , who would eventually himself become one of the great names in the history of the medium. When Roy Thomas left DC Comics to work for Stan Lee at Marvel Comics, he suggested that O'Neil take the Marvel writer's test, which involved adding dialogue to a wordless four-page excerpt of a Fantastic Four comic. O'Neil's entry resulted in Lee offering O'Neil

5810-431: The spiritual side of martial arts. Ultimately deciding that she was Sandra no more she rechristened herself " Shiva ". She fought crime with Dragon and Ben Turner until the three parted ways. Turner, brainwashed by the villainous Sensei of the League of Assassins , became the renegade Bronze Tiger. Dragon decided to retire, devoting himself to teaching others. Lady Shiva became one of the world's greatest assassins. After

5893-850: The story summarizes O'Neil's life from childhood to death without any written dialogue, instead using logos and other pictograms to describe his many fascinations and achievements (from the Lone Ranger TV series to his battle with alcoholism). O'Neil's work won him a great deal of recognition in the comics industry, including the Shazam Awards for Best Continuing Feature Green Lantern/Green Arrow , Best Individual Story for "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" in Green Lantern #76 (with Neal Adams), for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) in 1970 for Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and other titles, and Best Individual Story for " Snowbirds Don't Fly " in Green Lantern #85 (with Adams) in 1971. O'Neil

5976-607: The turn of the 1960s with a degree centered on English literature, creative writing, and philosophy. From there he joined the U.S. Navy just in time to participate in the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis . After leaving the Navy, O'Neil moved on to a job with a newspaper in Cape Girardeau, Missouri . O'Neil wrote bi-weekly columns for the youth page, and during the slow summer months he filled

6059-493: The version that appeared in comics between 1969 and 1986, O'Neil stripped him of his wealth and playboy status, making him an urban hero. This redefinition would culminate in the character that appeared in Green Lantern/Green Arrow (with many stories also drawn by Adams), a socially conscious, left-wing creation that effectively took over Green Lantern's book to use him as a foil and straw man in sounding out

6142-436: The very spirit of Chuang Tzu just as much as, for example, the famous 'butterfly passage' of chapter 2." On the other hand, chapter 33 has been often considered as intrusive, being a survey of the major movements during the "Hundred Schools of Thought" with an emphasis on the philosophy of Hui Shi . Further, A.C. Graham and other critics have subjected the text to a stylistic analysis and identified four strains of thought in

6225-413: The work bearing his name, the Zhuangzi . This work, in its current shape consisting of 33 chapters, is traditionally divided into three parts: the first, known as the "Inner Chapters", consists of the first seven chapters; the second, known as the "Outer Chapters", consist of the next 15 chapters; the last, known as the "Mixed Chapters", consist of the remaining 11 chapters. The meaning of these three names

6308-614: Was given a Goethe Award in 1971 for "Favorite Pro Writer" and was a nominee for the same award in 1973. He shared a 1971 Goethe Award with artist Neal Adams for "Favorite Comic-Book Story" for "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight." O'Neil received an Inkpot Award in 1981 and in 1985, DC Comics named O'Neil as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great . In The Batman Adventures —the first DC Comics spinoff of Batman: The Animated Series —a caricature of O'Neil appears as The Perfesser, one of

6391-423: Was in a wheelchair. Richard trained The Question both in martial arts and eastern philosophy , forcing him to question his world view and let go of much of his anger. Of note, he loosely quoted Zhuangzi's story "The Butterfly Dream" . Later Richard would start referring to his student as "Butterfly" because of this. Richard said that Shiva had saved Sage because she saw a passion for combat in him while Richard, on

6474-490: Was killed by Ricardo who saw weakness in him. To honor Richard, Ricardo adopted the "Richard Dragon" moniker for his own use. A new version of Richard Dragon is introduced following DC's The New 52 2011 continuity relaunch. A character identifying himself as Richard Dragon first appears in Green Arrow (vol. 5) #23 (2013). In Green Arrow (vol. 5) #31, he appears leading a team of Green Arrow's enemies, referred to as

6557-458: Was nothing more he could teach them, the O-Sensei left the two. Turner and Dragon were recruited by Barney Ling, head of the law-keeping espionage agency known as G.O.O.D. (Global Organization of Organized Defense), to join the organization. Together Ben and Richard would defeat the corrupt businessman Guano Cravat, foiling his plans to instigate a war for his own benefit. Ben and Richard founded

6640-464: Was primarily drawn by Denys Cowan . Between the years of 1988 and 1990, O'Neil would return to Green Arrow writing the Annual s alongside the main title. Because he was also in charge of The Question , he would appear in all three Annual s that he wrote. The Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series began in 1989 with the five-part "Shaman" storyline by O'Neil and artist Ed Hannigan . The series

6723-499: Was the first new Batman title in almost fifty years, and the first issue sold almost a million copies. Armageddon 2001 was a 1991 crossover event storyline. It ran through a self-titled two-issue limited series and most of the Annual s DC published that year from May through October. Each participating annual explored potential possible futures for its main characters. The series was written by O'Neil and Archie Goodwin and drawn by Dan Jurgens . He and artist Joe Quesada created

6806-404: Was the murderer. Consumed with a need for revenge, Sandra trained to the peak of human capability, mastering martial arts to defeat Dragon. When the two masters finally met in battle, however, Dragon was able to show Sandra that Cravat had deceived her. Without Dragon's death as a goal, Sandra no longer had a need for her martial arts mastery. Sensing she needed guidance, Dragon helped her to explore

6889-631: Was the regular scripter for Iron Man from 1982 to 1986 and Daredevil from 1983 to 1985. During his run on Iron Man , O'Neil introduced Obadiah Stane , later the Iron Monger, plunged Tony Stark back into alcoholism, turned Jim Rhodes into Iron Man, and created the Silver Centurion armor. O'Neil's run on Daredevil bridged the gap between Frank Miller 's two runs on the title, usually with David Mazzucchelli as artist. He introduced Yuriko Oyama during his stint, who would later become

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