'Batman' Legend Denny O'Neil Returns to Comics With a Holiday Story This December

Legendary Batman writer/editor Dennis O'Neil will return to comics this December to write a story in DC's forthcoming holiday anthology one-shot.

The one-shot features big-name talent like incoming Justice League scribe Christopher Priest, DC Superhero Girls writer Shea Fontana, and American Vampire co-creator Rafael Albuquerque, among others, but the two most notable stories are likely a what Batman writer Tom King has in store, and O'Neil's return to comics.

With so many contributors, the information available about any given story is pretty minimal, although it seems likely King has penned a Sgt. Rock story.

Why? Well, not long ago King tweeted about having pitched a Sgt. Rock story to DC, saying the he felt like writing about heroes fighting Nazis (presumably in the wake of the Charlottesville demonstration that saw a white nationalist drive his car into a group of protestors).

The tweet was retweeted over 200 times in the three hours that followed, and quickly drew the attention of artists Mitch Gerads (who has partnered with King on Sheriff of Babylon and Mister Miracle), Patch Zircher (currently an artist on Action Comics) and Chris Samnee (Daredevil). While none of them are listed in the Holiday Special, a Sgt. Rock story about fighting Nazis on Hanukah is.

Denny O'Neil is regarded as one of the most important voices in Batman comics over the last fifty years. Along with his frequent collaborator Neal Adams, O'Neil reinvented the hero, giving him a more athletic build and a darker personality to push back against what was then almost a decade of fan perception being shaped by the Batman TV show starring Adam West.

He would write the character on and off for decades, edited the Batman line for years (including during the '90s) and created the character of Azrael with Joe Quesada. While Quesada moved on to Marvel, where he is now chief creative officer, O'Neil remained at DC and wrote Azrael as an ongoing comic for years.

You can check out the full solicitation text below, and the cover in the attached image gallery.

DC UNIVERSE HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2017 #1
Written by GREG RUCKA, TOM KING, DENNIS O'NEIL, JEFF LEMIRE, MAX LANDIS, CHRISTOPHER PRIEST, SHEA FONTANA, JOSHUA WILLIAMSON and others!
Art by STEVE EPTING, RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, BILQUIS EVELY, OTTO SCHMIDT, NEIL GOOGE, FRANCIS MANAPUL and others
Cover by ANDY KUBERT

DC Comics' finest talents have assembled to bring you a holiday special like you've never seen before! Join Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash as they deliver powerful messages of hope like only The Worlds Greatest Super-Heroes can! Plus: Sgt. Rock fights the Nazis on Hanukah, the Teen Titans take on the literal ghost of Christmas past, and Swamp Thing battles that creeping feeling of existential dread! And don't miss the legendary Denny O'Neil's return to comics with an all-new Batman story!

ONE-SHOT • On sale DECEMBER 6 • 96 pg, FC, $9.99 US • RATED T

h/t: CBR

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