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Brian Michael Bendis

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CyberGhostface (talk | contribs) at 02:15, 5 October 2007 (Its hardly POV...the Vision in Young Avengers is a different version than the previous one...check your facts next time). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Brian Michael Bendis
Nationality
American
Area(s)Writer
Notable works
Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers, House of M, Alias, Torso, Jinx, Powers, Daredevil
Awardsfive Eisner awards, numerous Wizard awards

Brian Michael Bendis (born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics; for over seven years, Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic sales chart.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Ultimate Six.

He is also known for his work on Daredevil, Alias/The Pulse, Avengers/New Avengers, and Mighty Avengers.

Bendis was the co-executive producer and series pilot writer for MainFrame Entertainment’s recent CGI animated Spider-man show, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series that aired on MTV and YTV. Bendis is the recipient of the Cleveland Press "Excellence in Journalism" Award and was named "Best Writer of the Year" by Wizard Magazine and Comic Buyer’s Guide for three consecutive years. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Alisa, his daughter Olivia and his dogs Shroeder and Buster.

Writer profile

Bendis' writing style is characterized by an emphasis on dialogue and character and protracted story buildup. He is known for having his characters talk in rapid fire "ping-pong" word-exchanges. He often uses up whole pages with relatively few words, and repeats identical panels throughout a page. When the viewpoint character is alone, Bendis also often uses long monologues. He is also known for the subdued pace of his story arcs, especially when writing a longer story arc (i.e. six or seven issues).

Bendis has revitalized several relatively obscure old characters and brought them to prominence. Examples include Luke Cage and Spider-Woman. He has also been criticized for killing characters, such as Hawkeye, Scott Lang, the Vision, Carnage and The Owl. It should be noted though that since killing Lang, Vision and Hawkeye in "Avengers Disassembled", Hawkeye and Vision have returned, the latter in a different state.

Trivia

  • Bendis is known for extremely sarcastic and profanity-filled responses to comments from fans in the letters column of his comic books and on his internet message boards.
  • Bendis has won five prestigious Eisner Awards, including "Best Writer of the Year" two years in a row.
  • Bendis has recently entered the world of video games with the successful launch of Activision’s Ultimate Spider-man which won the E3’s people's choice award.
  • Bendis is close friends with former show writer Allan Heinberg, helping him land work at Marvel.
  • Bendis had been known to offer readers their money back if they disliked any comic he wrote (on the condition that the comics be mailed to him).
  • Bendis is mentioned in the Daredevil movie: when the corrupt boxing manager tries to persuade Jack Murdock, he references his bribed boxers "Miller...Mack...[and] Bendis". The former two refer to former Daredevil writers Frank Miller and David Mack.
  • Bendis' work has been referenced in the song "Powers" by singer Brodie Foster Hubbard.
  • Bendis enjoys Geraci's pizza in Cleveland so much that he actually freezes several boxes to take home to Oregon
  • Before writing comics professionally, Bendis used to work in a comic book store in Cleveland.
  • Bendis was arts-and-crafts supervisor in a Pennsylvania overnight summer camp. He painted the door to the crafts cabin with the image of Sting from the "Dream of the Blue Turtles" album cover. Later, he would do several murals for restaurants and other businesses.
  • His childhood pet was a dog named Bandit.
  • He often uses Cleveland architecture and people in his novels, including the columnist specializing in comics for Cleveland's major newspaper, "The Plain Dealer."

Cameo appearances

File:Bendisultimatecameo.jpg
Brian Michael Bendis' cameo from Ultimate Spider-Man.
  • Powerless #5 (December 2004), written by Matt Cherniss and Peter Johnson and drawn by Michael Gaydos, features a cameo appearance by Bendis in which he is seeing a psychiatrist for mental therapy.
  • Screenwriter (and later comic book writer) Allan Heinberg named a supporting character on the television show The O.C. after Bendis, and Seth Cohen, a fictional protagonist of the show, is a comic book fan whose favorite writer is Bendis.
  • In the pilot episode of the television show Firefly, screenwriter (and later comic book writer) Joss Whedon named a short-lived soldier character after Bendis.
  • In Ultimate Spider-Man #66 Bendis appeared in a cameo before the issue where he talked to the reader about his feelings for the current story arc (the one where Spider-Man and Wolverine switch bodies). In issue #67 he appears before the issue again, and is seen strangling (a la Homer Simpson) the assistant editor for suggesting the preposterous story arc in the first place, and then sending him off to check Bendis' spelling.
  • In the MMORPG Video Game "City of Heroes" there is an in game zone "Perez Park" in which the user can find a Exploration Badge reward named "Around the Bendis" as well as many other comic book writer/artist related references.
  • When Marvel's What If was revived in 2004, Bendis cameoed as the narrator of two issues that he also wrote: What if...Karen Page Had Lived? and What If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers?
  • Bendis appeared many times in Marvel's delayed 2005 book Wha...Huh?!, written by various luminaries of the comics industry, with art by Jim Mahfood.
  • Bendis is a secondary character in The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga, appearing as the main character's idol.

Bibliography

Created and owned by Bendis

Image Comics

Marvel Comics

DC Comics

References

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