The internet is a silly place. While this is assuredly not a great surprise to anyone, for one reason or another Brian Bendis is a polarizing creator. The man responsible for “Ultimate Spider-Man” and one of the all-time best runs on “Daredevil” can’t seem to catch a break with the general peanut gallery, and while I suppose every creator is prone to a hit and a miss at times, some people seem rather insistent on bashing everything they can about the man with little to no cares about whether the latest notch in their list has any actual validity.
So, in an effort to sway the tide and pull away from some of the strange and avid haterade that gets slung in Bendis’ general direction, a few of us on staff decided to put a list together of our favorite things that Bendis has done — not just in comics, but in life. Because you know what? We like Bendis.
Here’s why:
Walter Richardson: The Time he Predicted the Occupy Movement… and Gave it the Finger
There will be plenty of objective reasons for people to enjoy “Scarlet” for years to come (assuming it ever finishes), but no re-read will be able to capture the immense pleasure of reading issue #6 following the rise and fall of the Occupy movement. “Scarlet,” for those unaware, is about a young woman who decides to take a stand after a corrupt cop kills her innocent boyfriend and puts her in a coma. And she’s not alone. The first arc concluded with a vast quantity of people taking to the streets to protest the abuse of power by those sworn to protect – at about just the same time similar events were happening in the real world. Of course, there were differences – “Scarlet” is more about law enforcement, while Occupy ______ was more about economic classes, I guess – but the general idea is similar.
Then the unthinkable happened: “Scarlet” was delayed. A lot. Okay, maybe that’s not that unthinkable when you’re talking a creator-owned book by Bendis and Maleev, but think about the implications: in the span of a year, the Occupy movement waxed and waned, occasionally reaching levels of self-parody before sputtering out and dying (don’t tell the “Occupy Comics” guys). By the time “Scarlet” returned, it seemed doomed to come off as a lame and tired concept, despite being only six issues in… until Bendis delivered with #6’s amazing “That was cute, but let’s be serious” monologue. Instead of being de-fanged, “Scarlet” came through the Occupy movement even stronger.
Now when are we getting issue seven?
Matthew Meylikhov: That Time He Created The Secret Warriors For Jonathan Hickman To Use (Or, Bendis: The True Pal)
You know what’s really great about Bendis? The sheer amount of work that he puts out and then lets other people play with. It may not be something you notice happens a lot, but it’s true: Bendis will introduce little characters here or there and then essentially give them away to other creators to have fun with, sometimes in career making moves.
Case in point? Jonathan Hickman. At the time, Hickman was not *HICKMAN!!!* at Marvel or Image. He was a successful creator with some great books, but not a household comic name. But Bendis co-launched a book with Hickman post “Secret Invasion” entitled “Secret Warriors,” and while Bendis’ name was big enough to get people in the door for this new SHIELD-style book, he left very quickly for Hickman to make it on his own — and between that and “Fantastic Four,” make it he did. Now Hickman has taken the Avengers franchise from Bendis to become an even BIGGER name, and it is partially in thanks to Bendis’ ultimate bro-ness in comics.
It wasn’t the first time Bendis was a bro and it certainly won’t be the last time Bendis is a total bro, but one of the best things about Bendis is that the guy loves comics, the guy loves people who love comics and the guy will help talented folks make great comics.
(And in case it isn’t clear, I’m using the term “bro” positively here — bro = good for the purposes of this discussion.)
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Brandon Burpee: That Time Bendis Came to the X-Franchise (and Was an Incredible Gentleman to Myself and Others)
What can you say about Bendis that hasn’t already been said? Well for me I just want to say that I think Bendis is an incredible gentleman for being such a giant in the industry. The man gets hate poured on him on a continual basis by the craziest fans of some of the most beloved franchises at Marvel. Yet he always handles it with tact and kindness. A stark difference to the fans that attack his work. He’s also incredibly accesible. David Harper and I actually interviewed him at our first trip to Emerald City Comic Con back in 2010. We were absolute nobodies and he made time for us. The interview was just under an hour and he took it very serious and at no point did he ever make us feel as if we were not on his level. He treated us like journalists of the highest order. It was a very incredible experience which ended with him actually thanking US and the site for being kind to him and his work. While this may have been a canned statement he gave to all the sites who flocked him, it felt genuine and made my year.
I think it is important to remember things like this when you dislike someones work. There is a person behind the work and most often they are just as passionate about what they are doing as you are. They don’t set out to do “bad” work. You can’t make something that everyone loves especially when the property stretches generations and each of those generations has an iteration that is “their” version. A lot of the creators who take the hazing from trolls and haters are actually friendly people who don’t deserve the vitriol and rage that is directed at them. Bendis is especially in this class. Look around, I dare you to find him saying a negative thing about anybody.
Outside of his incredible kindness and ability to take the overly harsh criticism of his work in stride Bendis also, in my opinion, is a great writer who will be remembered as a legend of the industry. For me there is a lot to love about Bendis and his work in comics as well as who he is and how he interacts with fans. Since most of the others are touching on, deservedly so, his prior work I want to make sure to touch on his current work on the X-Men books. It’s a run that I was incredibly excited for when it was announced because I am admittedly a Bendis super fan. I am always willing to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt because I feel he’s earned it. It’s a rare occasion for me where I buy a Bendis book and I feel it wasn’t worth my hard earned money. So it wasn’t unbelievable to me that he could take the X-Men franchise and really develop the characters and focus on the character interactions more than it had been in recent years. If he could make New Avengers such a tight knit cast when a lot of them had never worked together before it was only logical that he could do wonders with characters who are already a family.
In my opinion he has succeeded where I assumed he would. Even if you don’t like the time traveling originals it is hard to argue that interactions in All-New X-Men aren’t incredibly top notch. For example, when O.G. Jean and O.G. Scott reach a standoff and Scott gives her the safety deposit box with their wedding invitation. That was heart wrenching and it was an incredible throwback for me as someone who bought that wedding issue and remembers that invite incredibly well. Another example being the connection Kitty and Jean have developed feels natural despite the obvious oddity to the time travel paradox that surrounds them all. Whether it makes sense or not to have the O.G. X-Men come back, to me, is secondary to the well told story we’ve been getting. I also trust Bendis to make good on the time travel situation as well. Even if it does end in them being mind-wiped it has been at least seeded that this is the eventuality that awaits them so I wouldn’t feel the slight bit cheated. Even if those characters don’t remember what happened I as the reader will.
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David Harper: That Time He Wrote Udaku and How That’s a Recipe for Everything Great He’s Done
I’m sure if he reads this, Bendis himself would disagree with this idea, but my favorite Bendis written story ever was his Sam and Twitch story “Udaku.” It was a long one, eight parts I think, but it was everything you want from a Bendis story: slow burn story, brilliant character work, exceptional dialogue, a random Spawn appearance (okay, maybe not that part), you name it. That story was just lights out amazing, and is something I actually regularly reread (and by regularly, I mean, once every year or two).
He’s developed a band of haters that follow him around hating him for certain things that he’s occasionally guilty of – incredibly decompressed storytelling, extremely and potentially unnaturally casual dialogue – but I think people spend too much time focusing on the negative and forgetting that those things they hate are also some of the things he does incredibly well.
His work on Ultimate Spider-Man (and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) featured some of the best dialogue in any superhero comic ever, making Peter Parker and then Miles Morales in the Ultimate Universe the versions of Spider-Man I most liked in the past twenty years.
That decompressed storytelling made books like Alias and Daredevil work so well, telling brilliant stories in longform that laid seeds and then sprouted incredible, heartbreaking plants and trees (okay, too much metaphor).
The things people kill him on are part of what make him a brilliant writer in many ways, and you could see that all the way back in Udaku.
Bonus: The Bendis Dance
