10 Legendary Comic Book Runs You Must Read Before You Die
5. Denny O'Neil & Neal Adams' Batman
Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams worked together on both Batman and Detective Comics throughout the 1970s, though their run isn't consecutive. What their run did, however, was to remake the Dark Knight from the ground up, returning him to the darker elements of the Golden Age and divesting from Silver Age silliness in the process.
While the TV series was a great approximation of the comics it was based off of, the creators wanted to bring him into a darker persona... someone criminals would truly fear and not simply joke about like they did opposite Adam West and Burt Ward.
What O'Neil and Adams created was an edgier, darker Batman who Grant Morrison referred to as the "Hairy chested love god" version of Batman he built off of when he took over the book decades later.
Their work on Batman helped to redefine one of the most important characters DC Comics has ever produced and their impact can be seen in just about every subsequent representation. They introduced Ra's al Ghul and created nuances to the characters that could be seen in films like the Dark Knight Trilogy, video games like the Arkham trilogy, and many other places.
Detective Comics #395, 397, 400, 402, 404, 407-408, 410 and Batman #232, 234, 237, 243-245, 251, 255