I don't know, but there's something about him that bothers me. I'm vocal in my opinion of him as a hack, but it goes deeper than that. Yes, every writer has their quirks, but Bendis takes things to a whole new level of depravity. From his troll-bating freak self-inserts (see: new Beast); to his superhero snuff fetish; to his nigh-solipsistic "imaginary friend" dialogue; to his painfully rampant poor handling of women (and that's being political as I still seethe over that Cage & Elektra scene, you know which one); to his attempt to spray gang lingo and snark everywhere, even where it doesn't belong, to the point where it dumbs down the comic and almost assassinates long loved characters who'd never talk that way (poor Doom).

I know some other writers have been troubled, but I'd take Alan Moore's obsession with pairing pretty girls and monsters, Warren Ellis' (let's pretend) hatred of dogs, Grant Morrison's frequent inclusion of transhumanist/shamanic elements in plots, or even Chris Claremont's hypnofetishism over what I've been exposed to thanks to Bendis. He's just dragging the average expected intelligence of mainstream comics and mainstream comic readers down into the ditch with him. I feel a little ashamed to be seen with a Marvel comic as of late, so I've gone back to indie stuff (Atomic Robo is a lovely little book which I must recommend), and I wouldn't be surprised if others have felt the same way.

Maybe it's just the way the wind is blowing? I might be an old fart who isn't down with the new crowd of comic readers who supposedly enjoy this sort of thing, readers who love their characters invariably talking street and snark, who love dumbed down plots, and enjoy seeing women treated badly. But I hope that isn't the case. Really, I'm just wondering if Marvel have any integrity left, because if Bendis is as troubled as I believe him to be, then I just can't wrap my mind around why any editor would allow a sole script of his to be published. He is, to my perception, a truly troubled little man.

And I'm hoping that some of you must agree. Some of you must have had it up to about here with Bendis's shenanigans, surely?

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@AuldWolf: Excellently written post. Bendis is a clear and unapologetic misogynist. Only Zeb Wells and Tom Brevoort come close to his level of chauvinism. Any woman in a Bendis comic is merely used to facilitate conversation between males, or to be used for coitus. Have you seen the character "Kong" in Ultimate Spider-Man? A character shamelessly and clearly based on Bendis himself, who later gets in a relationship with Kitty Pryde. It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

Same goes for Geoff Johns.

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

I remember an interview with Bendis around the start of New Avengers. Interviewer asked him "What do you like about Spider-Woman?" and he didn't respond with liking reading her old comics, or her potential as a character but instead "She has the best hair".

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@AuldWolf: Excellently written post. Bendis is a clear and unapologetic misogynist. Only Zeb Wells and Tom Brevoort come close to his level of chauvinism. Any woman in a Bendis comic is merely used to facilitate conversation between males, or to be used for coitus. Have you seen the character "Kong" in Ultimate Spider-Man? A character shamelessly and clearly based on Bendis himself, who later gets in a relationship with Kitty Pryde. It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

Same goes for Geoff Johns.

Once upon a time Bendis was an excellent writer, and I seriously think that if he'd stop writing 20 comics at once his writing would improve once more.  

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@entropy_aegis said:

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@AuldWolf: Excellently written post. Bendis is a clear and unapologetic misogynist. Only Zeb Wells and Tom Brevoort come close to his level of chauvinism. Any woman in a Bendis comic is merely used to facilitate conversation between males, or to be used for coitus. Have you seen the character "Kong" in Ultimate Spider-Man? A character shamelessly and clearly based on Bendis himself, who later gets in a relationship with Kitty Pryde. It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

Same goes for Geoff Johns.

Wonder Woman and Superman! Why? Because Superman needs to wet his whistle with a big name heroine. Terrible.

Hal and Barry being best buddies only cause he likes them both.

Batman being unable to use the GL ring due to some BS about fear but Sinestro and Henshaw can use it just fine.

@entropy_aegis: Hal and Barry were close friends pre-Flashpoint and even pre-Johns' involvement in the Flash and Green Lantern books. Johns didn't really make that up, it was an existing plot element. Although Hal (I think) did once say something to the effect that he was closer friends with Ollie than he was with Barry.

@CitizenBane said:

@entropy_aegis: Hal and Barry were close friends pre-Flashpoint and even pre-Johns' involvement in the Flash and Green Lantern books. Johns didn't really make that up, it was an existing plot element. Although Hal (I think) did once say something to the effect that he was closer friends with Ollie than he was with Barry.

I stand corrected then...but he's still a fanboy.

@entropy_aegis: Hal and Barry were close friends pre-Flashpoint and even pre-Johns' involvement in the Flash and Green Lantern books. Johns didn't really make that up, it was an existing plot element. Although Hal (I think) did once say something to the effect that he was closer friends with Ollie than he was with Barry.

@entropy_aegis: why would batman be able to use the GL ring

@AuldWolf said:

I don't know, but there's something about him that bothers me. I'm vocal in my opinion of him as a hack, but it goes deeper than that. Yes, every writer has their quirks, but Bendis takes things to a whole new level of depravity. From his troll-bating freak self-inserts (see: new Beast); to his superhero snuff fetish; to his nigh-solipsistic "imaginary friend" dialogue; to his painfully rampant poor handling of women (and that's being political as I still seethe over that Cage & Elektra scene, you know which one); to his attempt to spray gang lingo and snark everywhere, even where it doesn't belong, to the point where it dumbs down the comic and almost assassinates long loved characters who'd never talk that way (poor Doom).

I know some other writers have been troubled, but I'd take Alan Moore's obsession with pairing pretty girls and monsters, Warren Ellis' (let's pretend) hatred of dogs, Grant Morrison's frequent inclusion of transhumanist/shamanic elements in plots, or even Chris Claremont's hypnofetishism over what I've been exposed to thanks to Bendis. He's just dragging the average expected intelligence of mainstream comics and mainstream comic readers down into the ditch with him. I feel a little ashamed to be seen with a Marvel comic as of late, so I've gone back to indie stuff (Atomic Robo is a lovely little book which I must recommend), and I wouldn't be surprised if others have felt the same way.

Maybe it's just the way the wind is blowing? I might be an old fart who isn't down with the new crowd of comic readers who supposedly enjoy this sort of thing, readers who love their characters invariably talking street and snark, who love dumbed down plots, and enjoy seeing women treated badly. But I hope that isn't the case. Really, I'm just wondering if Marvel have any integrity left, because if Bendis is as troubled as I believe him to be, then I just can't wrap my mind around why any editor would allow a sole script of his to be published. He is, to my perception, a truly troubled little man.

And I'm hoping that some of you must agree. Some of you must have had it up to about here with Bendis's shenanigans, surely?

To say that I agree with you would be a gross understatement. Bendis has a way of resorting to shocking for the sake of shocking that I find utterly annoying. An other thing that deeply annoys me is his bad habit of emptying his bladder on the works of former writers in order to make the character "his". No one can let Thanos get punched by a giant tree and be entirey sane according to me.

BB

@Billy Batson said:

BB

lol

He was once good.

Thankfully, I think David Mack has been giving him lessons in writing during Daredevil: End of Days. If he comes out the other side with even 10% of Mack's influence, I'll be happy.

Interesting thread.

I do enjoy some of his work (Daredevil, Ultimate Spidey...) but he also made a lot of questionable decisions and poor stories over the years.

@AuldWolf said:

I know some other writers have been troubled, but I'd take Alan Moore's obsession with pairing pretty girls and monsters, Warren Ellis' (let's pretend) hatred of dogs, Grant Morrison's frequent inclusion of transhumanist/shamanic elements in plots, or even Chris Claremont's hypnofetishism over what I've been exposed to thanks to Bendis.

I can't agree with that though. Moore's Swamp Thing is one thing but he went a little too far recently... (see Alan Moore's Neonomicon)

Troubled... that's one way of putting it :P

But yes, i do agree with everything you wrote.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bendis.jpg

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@CitizenBane said:

@entropy_aegis: Hal and Barry were close friends pre-Flashpoint and even pre-Johns' involvement in the Flash and Green Lantern books. Johns didn't really make that up, it was an existing plot element. Although Hal (I think) did once say something to the effect that he was closer friends with Ollie than he was with Barry.

The thing that Johns added was Barry disliking Ollie, and Ollie being a directly poor influence on Hal, something that was never around before that.

That was actually Mark Waid. he brought it in during his Brave and The Bold mini series during the 90's. Hal also said he was better friends with Barry during his time as the Spectre but i think he was just teasing Ollie.

@entropy_aegis said:

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@entropy_aegis said:

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

@AuldWolf: Excellently written post. Bendis is a clear and unapologetic misogynist. Only Zeb Wells and Tom Brevoort come close to his level of chauvinism. Any woman in a Bendis comic is merely used to facilitate conversation between males, or to be used for coitus. Have you seen the character "Kong" in Ultimate Spider-Man? A character shamelessly and clearly based on Bendis himself, who later gets in a relationship with Kitty Pryde. It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

Same goes for Geoff Johns.

Wonder Woman and Superman! Why? Because Superman needs to wet his whistle with a big name heroine. Terrible.

Hal and Barry being best buddies only cause he likes them both.

Batman being unable to use the GL ring due to some BS about fear but Sinestro and Henshaw can use it just fine.

Hal and Barry have been close since the Silver Age.

Bendis is the reason I quit buying Marvel comics, he ruined them!

@Airstrike: He ruined all of them ? How is that possible ?

@x35 said:

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

It's become apparent that Bendis has crushes on various characters, and uses others to live out his own sordid fantasies.

I remember an interview with Bendis around the start of New Avengers. Interviewer asked him "What do you like about Spider-Woman?" and he didn't respond with liking reading her old comics, or her potential as a character but instead "She has the best hair".

That's true,he has a crush on her.....having her forced into the Ultimate U. i agree.....

But the "She has the best hair". was clearly a joke...

And about the "female characters" agruement,i think there are writers who cant write a woman at all......he does a decent job.....his MJ was great.

Sorry, you lost me there, crazy guy.

EDIT: Ancient bump tricked me. Maybe you've gotten help in the past 9 months haha

Bendis should stop picking up stories. He always pulls something way out of left field or the characters(random pairing that feels straight out of someone's fanfic--as someone said he just lives vicariously through the male characters; Kitty/Starlord and now Tony/Mj) or act differently than what we're used to seeing(garnering the term Bendis Force or my new favorite, Bencon;Sentry, Tony is about to get real Peter Parkerish, Bobby gay all of a sudden).

He needs just either a fresh new character to mold or someone who's unknown to work on lol.

Not as troubled as Paul Dini. At least Bendis doesn't slander his coworkers, insert torture porn/snuff fetish into his works, insert anti-feminist propoganda into his work or fetishize lesbianism.

Yep, that's Dini alright.

Bendis wants to be a black man and have anal sex with Jessica Jones?

.

I wanted to talk about Alias. There was a scene early on in the first issue that I found particularly disturbing. I couldn’t get my head around it. It was the sex scene between Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

Yes, and by the way the novelty of saying “the sex scene with Luke Cage” has not worn off. It’s hilarious that those words are even spoken in the English language.

Well, it’s really disturbing. She has anal sex with a black man in order to feel degraded.

I don’t know if he has sex with her anally.

It looked like it.

It could be. But it’s not about him being a black man. I can one thousand percent absolutely promise you that was not my agenda or the case. It had nothing to do with him being a black man. It could easily have been Wonder Man. It’s just not the relationship, how it was written. And I can only promise you that. It is interesting that that element of it still stirs in some people. It’s why the book was not printed at its original printer which was shocking to us as well. I didn’t think that that was a problem. I know that some people, particularly friends of mine, had an issue with a woman punishing herself with sex or whatever that sexual act was. They would come up to me and go, “Women don’t do that.” I would go, “No, not all women, but some women and some men do that.” And they’d say, “Well, that’s true.” It’s weird the way people take that. “I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about her.” I absolutely have known people who do that and I know some people who continue to do that well past an age where you think they would stop. And I wanted to write about it. And I am shocked I get to write about it in a Marvel comic book.

I can promise you as far as race relations are concerned, [and] I’ve proven this over the course of the relationship which has gone all the way to a marriage and parenting, that race is one thousand percent not an issue in their life as much as it is an issue for other people. But it’s not an issue for them. And it’s not an issue for me in my life. I have a multi-racial family.

http://www.bookslut.com/features/2009_02_014023.php

http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox6/

And again, Bendis isn't exactly a bad writer. But he should never, ever be compared to the likes of someone like Alan Moore, who I've seen him compared to several times. Bendis is a case of a decent writer who blew up too big too fast, and I think the quality of his writing has taken a severe nose-dive as a result of his newfound popularity. Compare his early graphic novel Torso with his recent work in Ultimate Spider-Man and I wager you'll find a world of difference between their levels of quality. Bendis needs to get over his own popularity and get back into the creativity that he used to be capable of.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans brag about how Joss Whedon is so good at writing dialogue that you can often take a single line by a character, out of context, and still identify who said the line. Even if you haven't seen the episode it came from. There are online quizzes out there based on this premise. My argument is that with Bendis's dialogue you won't know your Luke Cage from your Spider-Man. So in the interest of testing that theory, I've created this brief BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS DIALOGUE QUIZ! Enjoy!

@fablecounty: i forgot about this post topic lol.memories