History Creator / BrianMichaelBendis

Brian Michael Bendis (born August 18, 1967) is a American comic book writer. He started writing crime/noir independent comics, in Caliber and Creator/ImageComics, and then joined Creator/MarvelComics. Marvel had a project to relaunch its characters in a new universe, the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe, and to make it feel fresh they hired new writers with new styles, such as Bendis and Creator/MarkMillar, instead of using the established ones. Bendis started in 2000 with ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan2000'', a DecompressedComic starred by a teenager Peter Parker, that started with his OriginStory and reconstructed all the Spider-man mythos from scratch. He also wrote ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvelTeamUp'', making team-ups of Spider-Man and other reimagined characters, to provide further WorldBuilding. Bendis and Millar, who had started ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' and ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' (a remake of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers''), joined forces to relaunch another classic Marvel team in ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour''.

Brian Michael Bendis (born August 18, 1967) is a American comic book writer. He started writing crime/noir independent comics, in Caliber and Creator/ImageComics, and then joined Creator/MarvelComics. Marvel had a project to relaunch its characters in a new universe, the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe, and to make it feel fresh they hired new writers with new styles, such as Bendis and Creator/MarkMillar, instead of using the established ones. Bendis started in 2000 with ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', a DecompressedComic starred by a teenager Peter Parker, that started with his OriginStory and reconstructed all the Spider-man mythos from scratch. He also wrote ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvelTeamUp'', making team-ups of Spider-Man and other reimagined characters, to provide further WorldBuilding. Bendis and Millar, who had started ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' and ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' (a remake of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers''), joined forces to relaunch another classic Marvel team in ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour''.

** ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' (2000-2015)

* ArtShift: He likes experimenting with it. In many of his titles, scenes that happen in [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks past]] [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks eras]] actually imitate the art styles of when those scenes would have taken place. In ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'', scenes that happens in Norman Osborn's mind are illustrated by Greg Horn, instead of the comic's regular artist, Mike Deodato Jr, and in ''Mighty Avengers'' scenes in the middle ages are painted by Marko Djurdjevic in order to imitate old frescoes. In ''{{ComicBook/Alias}}'', flashbacks to Jessica's initial encounter with the Purple Man are drawn in a clean superhero style by Mark Bagley, contrasting Michael Gaydos' gritty realism in the contemporary art and emphasizing the great loss of innocence the Purple Man has inflicted on Jessica.

** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' (2003-2004)

Speaking of that... remember Ultimate Spider-Man? Bendis kept writing it all this time, and even achieved with Mark Bagley the record of the longest writer-artist collaboration in a ComicBookRun, previously held by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby in ComicBook/FantasticFour. At one point, he made a huge change to the book: [[TheHeroDies Peter Parker died]] and a new guy, [[Characters/MarvelComicMilesMorales Miles Morales]], became the new Spider-Man. It was not a character from the existing cast but a completely new one, with his own set of secondary characters. The MilestoneCelebration for the 50th year of Spider-Man was celebrated with ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'', a crossover between the regular Spider-Man from the Marvel Universe and Miles Morales. Morales was one of the most popular characters of the whole Ultimate Marvel universe, to the point that ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', the crossover that ended it after 15 years, transferred him and his cast to the regular Marvel universe. Bendis wrote a pair of tie-ins for this event, ''ComicBook/UltimateEnd'' and ''ComicBook/OldManLogan2015''. He then continued working with Miles, now in the Marvel universe, in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2016''. One his last stories in Marvel was ''ComicBook/SpiderMenII'', which revealed that the Ultimate Universe has been brought back to existence at some point off-panel. Bendis would also executive produce Miles’ film debut, ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' and its sequel, ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse''.

Speaking of that... remember Ultimate Spider-Man? Bendis kept writing it all this time, and even achieved with Mark Bagley the record of the longest writer-artist collaboration in a ComicBookRun, previously held by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby in ComicBook/FantasticFour. At one point, he made a huge change to the book: [[TheHeroDies Peter Parker died]] and a new guy, ComicBook/MilesMorales, became the new Spider-Man. It was not a character from the existing cast but a completely new one, with his own set of secondary characters. The MilestoneCelebration for the 50th year of Spider-Man was celebrated with ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'', a crossover between the regular Spider-Man from the Marvel Universe and Miles Morales. Morales was one of the most popular characters of the whole Ultimate Marvel universe, to the point that ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', the crossover that ended it after 15 years, transferred him and his cast to the regular Marvel universe. Bendis wrote a pair of tie-ins for this event, ''ComicBook/UltimateEnd'' and ''ComicBook/OldManLogan2015''. He then continued working with Miles, now in the Marvel universe, in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2016''. One his last stories in Marvel was ''ComicBook/SpiderMenII'', which revealed that the Ultimate Universe has been brought back to existence at some point off-panel. Bendis would also executive produce Miles’ film debut, ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' and its sequel, ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse''.

He also made a complete revamp of ComicBook/TheAvengers, a team with numerous characters at the time. He closed that period of the team with ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled'', and then relaunched it as the ''ComicBook/NewAvengers''. This team had a smaller cast, including Marvel's flagship characters Spider-Man (who had only been in the Avengers for small times in the past) and Wolverine (who had never been a member). He also included Spider-Woman, and also Luke Cage, another forgotten character of the 1970s that he also brought back to the spotlight. Shortly after he wrote ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', a CrisisCrossover that removed the powers of a big number of mutants, a storyline that impacted the ComicBook/XMen comics for years. The New Avengers disbanded in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', divided about signing a SuperRegistrationAct or not. From then on, Bendis wrote two comics: "New Avengers" with a new team that did not sign the act, and ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' with those that did. He wrote a new crossover, ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion|2008}}'', and Iron Man was removed as head honcho of SHIELD and replaced by the villain Norman Osbourne. "Mighty Avengers" was closed and replaced by ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'', a team of villains posing as heroes. The whole arc ended in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}''.

* RunningGag: Each time he writes a scene at a police station, there are some cops in the background detaining some nutcase, cosplayed as a superhero and shouting nonsenses, which actually makes a reference to some comic book event elsewhere (for example, a Scarlet Witch shouting "[[ComicBook/HouseOfM No more mutants! No more mutants!]]", or a Carol Danvers shouting "[[ComicBook/CivilWar Choose your side! Choose your side!]]"). In ''Defenders'' #9, the nutcase is modeled after Bendis himself, and shouts "A 17-year running gag is not easy to pull off!"

** ''Infamous Iron Man'' (2016-2017)

He also made a complete revamp of ComicBook/TheAvengers, a team with numerous characters at the time. He closed that period of the team with ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled'', and then relaunched it as the ''ComicBook/NewAvengers''. This team had a smaller cast, including Marvel's flagship characters Spider-Man (who had only been in the Avengers for small times in the past) and Wolverine (who had never been a member). He also included Spider-Woman, and also Luke Cage, another forgotten character of the 1970s that he also brought back to the spotlight. Shortly after he wrote ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', a CrisisCrossover that removed the powers of a big number of mutants, a storyline that impacted the ComicBook/XMen comics for years. The New Avengers disbanded in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', divided about signing a SuperRegistrationAct or not. From then on, Bendis wrote two comics: "New Avengers" with a new team that did not sign the act, and ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' with those that did. He wrote a new crossover, ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', and Iron Man was removed as head honcho of SHIELD and replaced by the villain Norman Osbourne. "Mighty Avengers" was closed and replaced by ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'', a team of villains posing as heroes. The whole arc ended in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}''.

* ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' (2008)