‘Tap Tap Tap’ Is a Moving Testament To Dennis O’Neil’s Life

DC Comics released Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, this week, featuring various stories celebrating 80 years of the famed archer superhero. One of the stories in the volume, “Tap Tap Tap,” by Larry O’Neil, Jorge Furnes, and Dave Stewart, is a wordless tribute by O’Neil to his father.

O’Neil, a writer and director who has written professionally for HBO, Warner Brothers, Fox, MGM, Lion’s Gate, and Artisan, penned the tale to memorialize his father, the comic book legend Denny O’Neil, who famously revamped Green Arrow in the late 1960s with artist Neal Adams before launching the character into an iconic series of team-ups with Green Lantern in the early 1970s.

“Tap Tap Tap” follows the life of O’Neil’s father from his childhood through his passing last June 11 at the age of 81, showing the evolution of O’Neil’s legacy as comic book superheroes went from the niche fringes to being the centerpieces of yearly billion-dollar blockbusters and how O’Neil’s involvement in that history impacted his life.

Ra’s al Ghul first appeared in Batman #232, while Talia debuted in Detective Comics #411.

At the time of his death in January, DC said: Denny O’Neil, who co-created some of DC’s — and the industry’s —most important comics. Between revitalizing Batman and telling thoughtful stories that addressed addiction and racism, he told the stories we needed to hear. His voice will be missed.”

DC mourns the passing of Dennis “Denny” O’Neil, who co-created some of DC’s—and the industry’s—most important comics. Between revitalizing Batman and telling thoughtful stories that addressed addiction and racism, he told the stories we needed to hear. His voice will be missed. pic.twitter.com/1nIONELeNx

— DC (@DCComics) June 12, 2020

O’Neil’s influence on DC canon runs deep. He created and introduced the Batman villain Ra’s Al Ghul, reinvented the classic Steve Ditko character The Question, and his aforementioned legendary run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow with lifelong creative partner Neal Adams.

Photos above: Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams circa 1973.

O’Neil would later become an editor at DC, helping co-create the character Azrael with Joe Quesada. He also worked closely with creators on the Batman titles. His last publicized work will likely be from the Joker 80th Anniversary Special.

Anniversary Archery Activism

In August-September 1969’s The Brave and the Bold #85, artist Neal Adams gave Ollie a distinctive new costume and some instantly-recognizable facial hair. Shortly thereafter, in November 1969’s Justice League of America #75, writer Denny O’Neil took away Arrow’s fortune and gave the character a more progressive perspective.

Finally, when O’Neil and Adams revamped the struggling Green Lantern with April 1970’s issue #76, they brought in the Emerald Archer as a muckraking foil to Hal Jordan’s unassuming space-cop.

As the two traveled across America, Green Arrow stood up for the impoverished and the forgotten, romanced Black Canary (Dinah Drake Lance, newly arrived from Earth-Two) and struggled to understand why Roy Harper would get hooked on speed.

Although the O’Neil/Adams team made a splash with Green Lantern’s burst of social consciousness, that notoriety didn’t translate into sales, and the book was cancelled with issue #89 (April-May 1972). Green Lantern moved over to an 8-page backup feature in The Flash, which serialized the final O’Neil/Adams story.

To commemorate the 50th anniversaries of Talia and Ra’s al Ghul the last couple of months, O’Neil was interviewed extensively about the stories of those characters’ creations before his death. The younger O’Neil says of the title: “the sound of tapping was definitely a sound I grew up with in my childhood.”

Read the three page vignette below.