This is a feature called "Nothing is Better." I have a feature called "Reason to Get Excited," where I spotlight aspects of current comic books that have particularly impressed me. I had started to expand it to older comics, but it just didn't feel right. I really think "Reason to Get Excited" should be reserved for current comic books. Therefore, this is the equivalent column for older comic books, "Nothing is Better," where I spotlight aspects of classic comic books that have particularly impressed me.

In honor of the late, great, Denny O'Neil, who we lost recently, I thought I'd spotlight some of my favorite Denny O'Neil stories.

I wrote about the amazing quote at the end of Batman #244 in a To Quote a Phrase a few months back, but I figure that this story is worth spotlighting again in context of a different aspect of the story.

One of the things that was striking about Denny O'Neil's take on Batman that, for the most part, his take on Batman wasn't that the Dark Knight was this perfect crimefighter. He was obviously a talented superhero, but he was about as close as you could get to a "normal" superhero. Never is this more obvious than in the storyline that introduced Ra's Al Ghul to the comic book world.

You see, when Batman discovered the existence of Ra's, he soon became so scared about how to take him down that he decided to fake Bruce Wayne's death to allow himself to concentrate fully on bringing Ra's to justice. He also recruited other people to help him, using his newly adopted Matches Malone identity (after the real Malone died) to help him. Batman saved a martial arts expert, but the man, Ling, owed his life to Ra's, as well, so after Batman saved his life, they had to have a fight to the death to determine whether he would help Batman take down Ra's...

Robin was impersonating Matches for this deal. When Robin leaves, Batman shrugs off the danger...

But then reveals that he really is scared a lot by this situation...

This was an important angle that O'Neil played, as it made Batman more relatable when you saw how worried he was over a situation.

Ultimately, Batman slowly puts together a team of experts in their fields to help him. This is all roughly based on the James Bond films of the era, where Bond would team up with a disparate group of folks pretty much every movie.

In Batman #243 (by O'Neil, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano), Batman accosts Ubu when he runs into Talia, but then Batman is taken down by a champion skier...

And when she insists on joining his team, he's basically like, "Eh, okay."

Later, Molly saves Batman's life, even!

However, the whole thing appears to be a moot point when they get to Ra's Al Ghul's headquarters and he is already dead!

Of course, things are never quite that easy, as Ra's is brought back from the dead and he is PISSED...

He kicks everyone's ass at the start of the next issue, and as he escapes, Batman tries to go after them on skiis, but Molly insists on coming, too, and things don't go well for her...

Batman has to let Ra's and Talia escape to tend to Molly, but Batman is a really good detective, so he tracks Ra's down and this impresses Ra's a lot. They decide to have a sword fight in the desert with their shirts off, because of course they did...

As I was noting before, Batman is super FALLIBLE in this comic, as he is bitten by a scorpion and nominally appears to die. But Talia comes to him with an antidote for the scorpion bite and we almost see Batman transcend his normal "typical guy" self and become something more, something that shocks Ra's, as well, with his whole "still being alive" deal, as Ra's delivers the quote that we're spotlighting this time around...

I love that a dude who JUST CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD HIMSELF is so shocked by Batman not being dead. It's still an EXCELLENT scene. My goodness, Adams drew the heck out of it.

Ra's folds like a cheap suit and Batman kisses Talia...

Then heads off with her dead, to, you know, travel across the world to have the Gotham City PD arrest him, I guess...

I imagine some interesting Weekend at Bernie's style stuff where Batman changes back into Matches and has Ra's get on to his private plane unconscious.

Anyhow, see how O'Neil making Batman more vulnerable made the eventual win more stunning?

Okay, folks, this is a feature that is a BIT less conducive to suggestions (as it really is about stories that spoke to me, ya know?), but hey, feel free to still send suggestions for future, non-O'Neil installments, to brianc@cbr.com! Maybe you and I have the same take on things and I'll use your idea!