Kevin O'Neill Remembered

“Your parents will die a thousand times, Bruce. That’s a lot of pearl necklaces.”  
Kevin O’Neill, 2014.

I had literally just finished editing The Secret History of Marshal Law, going up shortly here on Substack, when I heard the sad news of Kevin’s passing. My writing colleague and good friend Tony Skinner told me. Tony and Kevin were very close and shared a similar cynical perspective on life, so it was a tough one for Tony as well as for us all. As Tony said, ‘Why can’t cool guys live forever?’ That is so true. And Kevin was the coolest.

I’m still in shock, still gathering my thoughts, but – alongside the shared memories of Kevin we all have – I thought I’d share some that you won’t be aware of.  In particular, our abortive Marshal Law/Batman cross-over, commissioned by DC Comics,  but then cancelled when they got cold feet. Kevin came down to see me in Colchester and we had worked on the storyline together. Here are his lines of dialogue that  I had just been writing down yesterday in the Secret History of Marshal Law. They are worth sharing right now because you can hear Kevin’s wonderful acid tongue, more soaked in vitriol than my own:

There’s a scene in a San Futuro asylum with Scapegoat who has sewn his uniform to his skin. Scapegoat is recovering,  taking out one stitch a week. Hospital orderly Joe Gilmore – Law’s normal persona -  thinks he’s making progress. Scapegoat looks at Joe suspiciously.

Scapegoat:  You smell like someone I hate. I haven’t figured it out yet.

Later Marshal Law encounters the New Agey Unicorn Man who says how wonderful the Wayne Foundation are.  

Law: Unicorn Man, eh? I heard you shit rainbows.

Thomas Wayne says how he and Martha still miss their young son Bruce, tragically killed saving their lives when he got in the way of bullets aimed at them. 

‘We’ve kept Bruce’s room just the way it is.’

In other realities, the Transporter has killed the Waynes over and over again. He warns Batman: 

Transporter: Your parents will die a thousand times, Bruce. That’s a lot of pearl necklaces.  

 Transporter remembers one such alternative reality:

Transporter (to Batman): I stole a 58 Batmobile and killed with it. And I enjoyed it. That was in the days when you used to come out in daylight. You were happy then. 

I think all these lines by Kevin are pure O’Neill, so well observed and so darkly funny.

My favourite? The 58 Batmobile, with the pearl necklaces a close second.

It’s DC’s loss that they didn’t go through with the project but  Kevin always knew that the project was doomed and that’s why there’s no preliminary sketches I can show you. But don’t be downhearted. You know just how Kevin would have drawn a pile of a  hundred dead Batmen, seventy dead Robins, thirty dead Alfreds and – er – just two of Bruce Wayne’s dead girlfriends.

As many of you will know, we previously depicted a Batman-style character – Private Eye – in Kingdom of the Blind, which our brainwashed peers regarded as ‘mean-spirited’. But Kevin shouldn’t shoulder all the blame. The lines ‘Happy Anniversary, Shithead!’ and the Private Eye urinating on San Futuro as he declares, ‘I have pissed on this city and told them it is raining,’ come from me.

It was the penultimate story we worked on together. Later, Kevin came out to Spain a couple of times and we devised the final Nemesis the Warlock story for 2000AD’s 40th Birthday. I was surprised that Kevin had agreed to doing it, because all has never been sweetness and light between the original creators and 2000AD, but I guess even Kevin mellowed well, just a little, with time.

At La Sala in Puerto Banus, 2016

Sitting in a bar in Puerto Banus, we admired the kitsch atmosphere and remarked how it even topped Kevin’s depiction of  Marshal Law’s grotesque San Futuro. For a celebration of bad taste, dare I say it, Puerto Banus actually has the edge! On the second visit, Kevin came over from the UK  with a broken collar bone, and I was seriously concerned that – with his arm in a sling, doped up on painkillers – he might be mugged by the Russian hookers who roamed the streets in pairs, as dangerous as any of the lethal superheroines Kevin depicted in Law.  But he made it back safely and we continued with our Nemesis story.

I had heard about the Botafumeiro – a giant and lethal thurifer in a Spanish cathedral – and was keen to feature it in our final Nemesis. This was combined with Kevin’s idea for Torquemada to be crucified in the final scene and we were away. The idea for the  Sacred Heart and the Sacred Blood of Torquemada, that Nemesis steals from the Holy of Holies and blasphemously consumes to the Grand Master’s horror, came from Kevin. A fitting final tribute to our loathsome Catholic childhoods which provided us with so much material for our Nemesis the Warlock, still regarded by many fans as our finest work together.

I had actually tried to persuade Kevin to come out and live in Spain, but he was a Londoner through and through and the sunshine was not for him. In fact, when I lived in the sleepy village of Coggeshall in the UK, Kevin came to stay and was freaked out by its sedate streets which, for him, were straight out of the set of The Avengers 60s TV series. He was convinced the local butcher, greengrocer and newsagent were as fake as a scene from The Prisoner and they would late at night turn into something far more sinister. The village silence was too much for him and he went back to London early, phoning me to say how he felt so much better now he was back amidst the reassuring noise and the pollution.

High octane energy that the city provided was really important to him as I describe in the intro to Secret History, which gives you another thumbnail visual of Kevin: 

When I wrote the original version of Read ‘em and Weep  with Kevin O’Neill he liked to work on it in a crowded London pub. Because the energy level was so high, it inspired his best work. So he’d be shouting absolute gems of dialogue across a crowded and noisy bar to me and I’d be laughing my head off as I hastily scribbled them down, often on serviettes or scraps of paper. Then desperately trying to decipher my handwriting back the next morning. Yes, I’m one of those people who can’t always read his own handwriting. The end result is in Read ‘em and Weep Book One: Serial Killer, already available free on Substack and Book Two: Goodnight, John-Boy. 

Kevin, as you see from all the above, had considerable writer talents as well as being a fantastic artist. It’s why I insisted on crediting him in our Marshal Law text novel Origins and elsewhere. That talent also comes through in his Hardware – the comic strip, later made into a movie – which was really his creation alone. He fought his corner on that when there was an attempt to present the credits rather differently. Distracted by other things going on in his life, he didn’t follow it through, but I wouldn’t want anyone to be in any doubt that Hardware was 90% his gig. Just because he didn’t care to use a typewriter, so someone else did, doesn’t take away from his achievement.

He was an intensely private person which I must still respect, so I have to leave out many an anecdote which I think would make you laugh. Invariably, he wouldn’t talk much about what was going on in his life. Thus I recall he had a romantic journey on the Orient Express with his girlfriend, but he never elaborated on this memorable – and incredibly  expensive – trip. I mention it because I’m currently researching the Orient Express  for a forthcoming story and had been thinking about asking him for his recollections. You can be sure if there was anything wrong, anything questionable, anything dark, anything ridiculous about his experience of the palace on wheels, Kevin would have spotted it! Kevin on the Orient Express would have been a worthy rival to Agatha Christie.

Similarly, he never talked much about his Catholic schooldays although they were probably as hateful as my own. But he did tell me that his Catholic headmaster was the basis for his visualisation of the Caning Commando in our Read Em and Weep series.  (The teacher is a secret commando whose mission is to cane the Germans back to Berlin.)  You can see that typical teacher arrogance in Kevin’s depictions:

Kevin would have drawn a wicked boarding school story, but these are the only images we have. He knew as much about popular culture boarding school stories as he did superheroes. You can see it in his absolutely brilliant depiction of an ageing Billy Bunter in his and Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

No reference to Read Em and Weep would be complete without mentioning Feral Meryl – a schoolgirl brought up by wolves in the wilds of Berkshire. Once again, Meryl was initially Kevin’s creation. If I re-read his lines of dialogue about Feral Meryl in the novel, they would still make me laugh today. 

I know Kevin and his partner also had an amazing holiday in Arizona touring with Alan and Sue Grant. It left such an impression on him that we put together a proposal to DC Comics set in Arizona. Entitled The Devil’s Advocate it was a dark tale which was, predictably, rejected by DC.  DC – like others – will never admit just how wary they were of Kevin’s dark brilliance, especially now he’s passed. I’m sure, instead, there will be lots of  bland, safe superlatives, but  the truth is that comic companies actually prefer creatives who stay within their tramlines, which is why their comics are often so fucking boring. We need to be shocked. We need to be horrified.  We need to break the rules. And Kevin did all of that. Being rejected by the Comic Book Code authority was just one example. We satirised it in Marshal Law and we also tried to visit the Comic Code people when we were in New York to see their edifying work at first hand, but, alas, they saw us coming and turned us down. Similarly, when artist Trina Robbins was critical of Kevin’s big breasted women, we invited her to write a piece for our Law collection, hoping she would word-lash us for our un-woke hero. Instead, she turned the tables on us with Marsha Law Social Worker. One up to Trina!

To be fair, or do I mean unfair, to DC, some rejection of Kevin’s work is just down to big corporation lethargy. They’ve got their beloved superheroes, so what else matters? So our Metalzoic was a casualty of this, and this affects any plans to do a black and white version, which I know 2000AD fans would absolutely adore.  Especially now with the news of Kevin’s passing. It would be a great tribute to him and  also show lovers of the leotard that the world doesn’t have to revolve around superheroes.  But, to quote from the Secret History of Marshal Law again:

The prime hurdle, but not the only one, is DC and getting their blessing. It’s not that they’d be hostile to the idea, it’s more that they just can’t be bothered and so it could take months to get their approval a second time around, never mind the other parties concerned. So it would be a brave man to try and get through that particular jungle which, trust me, is more dangerous than the jungle of the Metalzoic! It’s a great pity because Metalzoic is so well thought of.  And, meanwhile, the original books fetch astronomical prices.  

I guess a key aspect of both Kevin and my characters was our punk-like rejection of the comic book establishment. I’m hostile to all forms of elitism and it was great to have a kindred spirit in Kevin. I think I’m going to miss that aspect of him more than any other. 

I recall Tony Bennett of Knockabout Comics worked very hard on both of us to persuade us to go the Lakes Comic Festival, apparently an incredibly prestigious and international event, which would really put us on the map. I remember Tony insisting to me, ‘This is your chance for you both to be immortalised in the Comics Hall of Fame for posterity.’  That only encouraged us both to emphatically say, ‘No’. Kevin will be remembered for posterity without The Lakes. 

But he’ll be remembered for his Eisner awards, which I know did matter to him.

John McShane explains:

Kev was at my famous Will Eisner convention of 1985. On the Sunday afternoon, Kev said to me, "Fine pal you are."

"What did I do?"

"You haven't introduced me to Will Eisner."

"Sorry, Kev. Come with me."

Eisner shook Kev's hand as I introduced them. Kev just stood there, mouth open, making not a sound. I tried to fill the silence by telling Will Kev's role in 2000AD and Will spoke a little bit about Judge Dredd. Still not a word from Kev.

By the time I dragged Kev away, he had still not spoken a word. But at least they got to meet. 

In my view, Kevin deserves a bunch of awards for getting credits on British comics. 

Don’t let anything else, any story or art, in the UK or the USA, or any opinion by pundits overshadow this achievement. That is his ultimate accolade.

Comic elites don’t seem to care, but it’s actually what matters to the people who really count: you, the readers.

I felt so strongly about this – and still do – how it has been ignored, that I’m going to publish an article I wrote on this very subject, here on Iconoblast. It’s titled Act of Rebellion, and I wrote back in 2016, but let me just quote from it here:

 At lectures, conventions, masterclasses and interviews, I endlessly make the point that after the creation of 2000AD and the creation of Judge Dredd, the third most important event, and in some ways the first, was Kevin O’Neill sneaking credits onto 2000AD. This changed the world of British comics overnight, which I’ve banged on about so much I’m not going to repeat myself here, other than just to underline it for people who don’t know about those dark days. 

And the uncomfortable thought struck me – does anyone else give Kevin this acknowledgement? I know you fans do and I love you for it, but I’m talking about fellow creators.  Because if they haven’t, it’s about time they did. Or am I the only one who gives a shit?  If others just take it for granted, or believe it would happen anyway, please let me put you straight. It’s only now that the Beano are giving credits. FFS! In 2016!! 

Thanks to everyone for sending your personal  tributes to Kevin. He was such an important part of your childhoods, so I think, in some ways, his passing is even more important and painful for many of you. 

Mick Cassidy, Character Designer for Family Guy:
I still remember reading 2000AD's prog 224 in 1981 at my neighbour's house and having my brain FRIED when I reached Nemesis The Warlock for the first ever time. Ran straight to the shop to buy my own copy so I could take it home and stare at it over and over again and I can safely tell you that forty years later,  I HAVE NEVER STOPPED. This is how love affairs begin.

Reader Andrew McIlwaine: 
R.I.P to the most original artist in the history of comics, he lives on.

Andrew also said:
2000ad was like your wild cousin coming to stay at the weekend, thrilling subversive and dangerous. 

Kevin O’Neill was the wildest cousin of all.

I was particularly touched also by artist Bill Sienkiewicz’s kind thoughts. Bill illustrated the cover for Metalzoic:
This is incredibly sad news. Your work together is some of the absolute best narrative fiction ever created, in any medium —period 

My deepest condolences, Pat.

Thanks, Bill.

I hope to talk more  soon about Kevin on Dan Shahin’s comic show. He, too, sent his condolences.

As I talked last night to a fellow creative about Kevin’s passing , my colleague  observed wisely, ‘There’s so few people that aren’t utter cunts, y’know?’ That’s particularly true in the world of comics.  It’s confirmed by Kevin’s own words about how 2000AD was created: ‘Through a minefield of imbeciles and chimps.’

I’d best end on that note and I can’t think of  a better way of expressing my feelings today for the loss of a great friend than with my sign-off on Act of Rebellion:

So with that off my chest and my rant over, I raise a toast to Kevin O’Neill who changed the British comic industry forever! Cheers, Kev!