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Brian Bendis

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TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#1: Oct 1st 2012 at 3:02:49 PM

Brian Bendis is one of those Comic Book writers who creates...strong reactions.

On one hand, he has written some interesting noir stories. On the other hand, his approach to a number of characters and crossovers comes off as rather odd at times.

Here's what I mean...

  1. The Sentry. Believe it or not, there are people (especially in Comic Vine) who actually like the character. They feel that he has a load of potential that got squandered. In fact, a number of them say that hatred of the character spiked when Bendis started writing the character. At least one person said that his portrayal of the character and his many mental illnesses went into Unfortunate Implications.
  2. As we have seen, Avengers Vs X-Men has been quite controversial. However, BB was only one of several writers, so it's not like all the flaws in the storyline were his fault!

I guess I'm just wondering if BB is the kind of writer you'd want to hire to write a crossover event.

Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
KingZeal Since: Oct, 2009
#2: Oct 1st 2012 at 6:23:58 PM

I personally am a big fan of BMB. I'd let him write a crossover in a heartbeat.

Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#3: Oct 1st 2012 at 6:37:23 PM

I like Bendis when he's writing small, character-focused stories. When he's writing bigger stories, he's just not particularly good. Having him write a crossover between, say, Spider-Man and Daredevil - that would probably be really good. But writing events, no. His events are really lackluster.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
KingZeal Since: Oct, 2009
#4: Oct 1st 2012 at 7:23:45 PM

I really liked Siege, though.

. . . Though mostly because it undid everything he caused. Hm.

. . . . Well, I also thought Secret Invasion was entertaining.

gregyo Since: Jan, 2001
#5: Oct 2nd 2012 at 8:01:16 AM

I really don't like how he writes all women the same way.

TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#6: Oct 2nd 2012 at 10:16:37 AM

[up] What way does he write all women? Is it like a good way or a bad way? Either way, I can imagine how some readers might be turned off at seeing a number of characters have the exact same personality!

Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
Distortion00 Since: Nov, 2011
#7: Oct 2nd 2012 at 12:54:37 PM

We had one of these threads not long ago. It accumulated quite a number of pages before fizzling.

DrFurball Since: Jan, 2001
#8: Oct 2nd 2012 at 2:19:38 PM

I'm indifferent to his Avengers writing, but I really enjoy what I've read of Ultimate Spider-Man.

gregyo Since: Jan, 2001
#9: Oct 2nd 2012 at 2:26:32 PM

[up][up][up]

You basically hit the nail on the head. He writes all his women the exact same way.

supergod Walking the Earth from the big city Since: Jun, 2012
Walking the Earth
#10: Oct 6th 2012 at 10:21:41 AM

I should start by mentioning that I haven't really been keeping up with the Marvel/DC superhero comics since Fear Itself and The New 52, so I have no idea what's going on these days.

I didn't mind Bendis earlier on, and technically he isn't a bad writer, but I've grown tired of his style. Almost every character he writes, he turns into a snarkier Spider-Man, and he completely ignores what other writers do with the characters. His writing of Bucky Barnes, for example, was completely at odds with what Brubaker was writing at the time, giving him a kind of schoolboy naivety. His Moon Knight is probably the only mainstream Marvel comic I gave up after just one issue. I'm also a fan of the classic Thunderbolts, and didn't appreciate him turning Moonstone into a slut.

edited 6th Oct '12 10:21:53 AM by supergod

For we shall slay evil with logic...
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#11: Oct 6th 2012 at 10:42:02 AM

Edit: Never mind, I can't math.

I'm pretty fond of Bendis's writing. I like how human he makes his characters. However, I wish he would pay more attention to detail and character. I recall his attempt at killing off Carnage, in the early pages of New Avengers. Mostly, I recall Carnage "draining life energy" from people. To my knowledge, he's only ever had this capability in the 1990's Spider-Man cartoon. Bendis has admitted that he doesn't know much about Carnage, but I would say either do the research or don't write the character.

The same holds true for Doom's infamous "cow" speech to Ms. Marvel during Mighty Avengers, shortly after Civil War. I think he's gotten better about it since then, though. I haven't had any recent complaints.

edited 6th Oct '12 8:53:30 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
TheDrifter Since: Mar, 2011
#12: Oct 6th 2012 at 10:44:41 AM

What is his 'personality' for women by the way?

I haven't read much of his work outside of Ultimate Spider-man (I've skimmed some of his Avengers and Daredevil work on scans_daily) and I thought his Daredevil run was fantastic and I didn't really notice any similarities in his handling of the female character in either USM or DD.

TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#13: Oct 6th 2012 at 11:48:19 AM

[up] That's what I tried to ask him, but he didn't answer my question. Playing evasion games is not a good way to contribute to a discussion.

Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
gregyo Since: Jan, 2001
#14: Oct 6th 2012 at 1:08:56 PM

[up]

I wasn't playing an evasive game. I thought i HAD answered your question. You just said it. He gives them all the same personality: The girl who stands in the back and makes snippy comments at everyone.

I don't know why I'm getting flack for agreeing with you.

edited 6th Oct '12 1:58:20 PM by gregyo

TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#15: Oct 6th 2012 at 3:00:56 PM

[up] Sorry, I just wanted to know what was that personality he was slapping on every female character. sad

Have you seen the blurb about him in the Fallen Creator section? I mean, sure, he made screw-ups, but calling him "the face of everything that's wrong with Marvel Comics" is going too far, don't you think?

Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#16: Oct 6th 2012 at 9:00:07 PM

"The face of everything that's wrong with Marvel Comics"? Seriously? People actually hate him more than Quesada?

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#17: Oct 7th 2012 at 5:02:26 AM

[up] Well, see! The Fallen Creator page had to be locked because it was used too much for creator bashing. Besides, that page is loaded with Your Mileage May Vary, and the information on there may or may not be reliable!

Sure, Brian Bendis is one of writers of the controversial Avengers Vs X-Men event, but he worked with, what, five other writers? It would be unfair to blame him for all the flaws that appeared in the event!

Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#18: Oct 7th 2012 at 7:42:27 AM

I know the Bendis-bashing predates AvX. I think it started with Avengers Disassembled, around the time he took over writing the Avengers titles. I remember arguing about Bendis's writing on CBR years ago; as I recall, the main complaint people had was the way he writes characters, and the decompressed nature of his storytelling.

An issue of Illuminati had Doctor Strange, Reed Richards, and some of the other members sitting around chatting about sports for a couple pages. I thought it helped build character; it's nice to see little elements like Doctor Strange being a hockey fan to remind the reader that, as powerful and plot-driving as these characters are, they're still human beings with day to day lives. But the other side of that coin was, a lot of people were complaining that, a) it takes all the larger-than-life elements out of the characters to watch them doing what effectively amounts to hanging out with your buddies after work and kicking back a few beers, when they came to the story for the escapist fantasy, and b) page space is a valuable resource given the amount of money that buying comics costs and shouldn't be wasted as such.

Bendis writes for the TPB, that much is pretty unmistakable. It's not uncommon for him to write storyarcs that consist of 5 or 6 issues, that could have been compressed into 1 or 2 by cutting out a lot of the character-building moments and focusing purely on the spectacle. And since parts of the fanbase are here for the spectacle, slowing down the action for ten pages of the Avengers discussing plans and arguing with each other ruins that. Likewise, those here for the escapist fantasy want to see some escapism, not Spider-Man and Wolverine having afternoon tea. And those here for the artwork want to see huge, explosive battles, not Dare Devil eating a sandwich.

Bendis writes for a specific audience, and that effectively alienates the rest of the audience, which would not be a problem if he wasn't such a key player in Marvel. I overlook that issue pretty easily because I'm part of the audience he writes for, the people who are more interested in character and the men behind the mask than the mask themselves, but I can understand the frustration of the others.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
supergod Walking the Earth from the big city Since: Jun, 2012
Walking the Earth
#19: Oct 7th 2012 at 8:59:09 AM

I love character driven stories, but my problem is that Bendis makes almost everyone the same character (unless they have obvious personality traits like Hulk and Thor), and sometimes completely destroys established characterization. I remember and issue of the Avengers during Fear Itself when it was just different Marvel characters talking some incident I can't remember, and the speech bubbles might as well have been coming from the same person. Good examples of team books with decent characterization are the Geoff Johns-era JSA (back when he was still a great writer), and X-Factor. I do like Bendis's Daredevil, but I haven't read his other acclaimed books Alias and Ultimate Spider-Man. I think he works better with the more down to earth solo characters.

For we shall slay evil with logic...
Distortion00 Since: Nov, 2011
#20: Oct 7th 2012 at 11:13:49 AM

Bendis's problem is that he's actually pretty influential. He helped the set the tone of what Marvel is today.

Bendis helped bring a sense of verisimilitude and renewed emphasis on character development to Marvel. I think most of the acclaimed Marvel authors have learned what made Bendis great and started doing it in their own way. It makes Bendis look bland in comparison.

edited 7th Oct '12 11:14:15 AM by Distortion00

C0mraid from Here and there Since: Aug, 2010
#21: Oct 7th 2012 at 11:20:40 AM

Are you really trying to say that Bendis brought an increased level of character devolpment to Marvel? Really?

Am I a good man or a bad man?
Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#22: Oct 7th 2012 at 1:06:05 PM

His Avengers run has been really lacking in character focus. But Ultimate Spider-Man was pretty awesome for that.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
Distortion00 Since: Nov, 2011
#23: Oct 7th 2012 at 5:41:05 PM

Exactly. People rag on him for inventing the modern event, but they quickly forget how much Ultimate Marvel changed things way back when.

supergod Walking the Earth from the big city Since: Jun, 2012
Walking the Earth
#24: Oct 8th 2012 at 5:11:55 AM

What did he change exactly? At best you could say that he made things more "relevant" and modern for the younger reader, but I don't think the number of character driven stories was any less or more than it was before Bendis hit it big.

For we shall slay evil with logic...
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