What's up with Bendis?

Is it me or has anyone noticed that bendis is writing with the same character pool for everything….
 
Bass said:
Hey, I totally get what Marvel's doing. The name of a writer or artist sells books. They want him/her to do more and more books. At the moment, that's Ellis (who's style was the basis of inspiration for the Ultimate line), Bendis, Vaughn, and Millar. These guys sell.

They all sell because they are all talented writers.

But not everything they produce is gold. If everything Bendis produced was of the quality as his best works - I wouldn't be complaining. The problem is Bendis has a free run at Marvel - and he's just not producing good works at the moment.

So long as he sells, he'll keep writing what he's writing. I just hope he starts writing something I'm going to enjoy - he's done it before.

As for Connors - he's someone who wants to do great things, but does bad things to do those great things. He then feels guilty about this. Now, am I describing Connors or Macbeth? Macbeth is a great character, who rightfully has influenced many punitive or redemptive characters, indirectly or directly.

Now, there are some people who think characters should dominate story, and others who think it should be story-driven. The argument is silly, because character IS story, and story is character. Flip sides of the same coin.

Connors could have been remarkably exciting, but his story was conventional, and therefore, so is he.

The reason I think Bendis isn't 'editing' his own work, he doesn't seem rewrite he works over and over (maybe because he works on too many books) is because of someone like Connors. Good idea, poor execution, wasted potential. Saw this in Gwen, too. And Venom. Carnage. Black Cat. And on and on. He seems to just go with the obvious - which is a shame, because not too long ago I remember thinking, "where does he come up with this stuff?"

Ah, I just hope Bendis pulls it together soon. He's a good writer. He wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't.
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I think its arguable that Macbeth is a redemptive character, he's the classic fall from grace guy, but he never looks to redeem himself.

Besides, your analogy could also describe how Ellis portrays Tony Stark.

Bendis still rocks quite frankly, people may be over- saturated with his work, but Carnage was very well written, and is actualy quite an original creature unlike the 616 version. I see nothing clicheed about Gwens death. Is it the horror movie way in which she died that makes you say that? Frankly a low key death for a major character is rarely ever done. Added to that Connors was a very good supporting character, what more did you want for a guy who was quite a minor player?

Eddie Brock was another fantastic character, trouncing the 616 version by showing Peter how he might of been.

I read everything Bendis is putting out at the moment; and quite frankly, only the Pulse is deterioating.
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
Hmm is The Post any good? It ties into Secret War I hear maybe it gives something away? I was recommended picking it up by my shopowner. Should I look into it?
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It's "The Pulse"...and it's OK. Kind of lackluster lately. Can't say I'd recommend it.
 
randomthoughts said:
I think its arguable that Macbeth is a redemptive character, he's the classic fall from grace guy, but he never looks to redeem himself.
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If you look, I said Macbeth is probably an influence for many punitive and redemptive characters. Macbeth is a punitive character, and some people may either chronicle Macbeth's fall from grace for a punitive story or begin where Macbeth has fallen and try to write him to a redemptive point. It was the latter with which I referred to. I wasn't saying Macbeth, himself, was a redemptive character. He clearly is not.

Besides, your analogy could also describe how Ellis portrays Tony Stark.
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Again, Macbeth is the iconic punitive character, and often, for a redemptive storyline, the character begins the tale in a state very similar to Macbeth's final hours. Tony Stark in Ellis' run is indeed, a prime example of that. But, unlike Connors, who is a very thin portrayal of this archetype, Stark is actually deep to an extent.

Bendis still rocks quite frankly, people may be over- saturated with his work, but Carnage was very well written, and is actualy quite an original creature unlike the 616 version. I see nothing clicheed about Gwens death. Is it the horror movie way in which she died that makes you say that? Frankly a low key death for a major character is rarely ever done. Added to that Connors was a very good supporting character, what more did you want for a guy who was quite a minor player?
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I didn't want anything from Connors at all. For a minor character, he's somewhat appropriate. Some people said that he was worth the Carnage arc. I was saying that I disagreed with that.

As for Carnage - it was (I apologise in advance) atrociously written. Horrendous amounts of on-the-nose dialogue and pitter-patter between characters (which sadly, is the same exact pitter-patter amongst all of Bendis' books), and almost no story. For a six-issue arc, it took three issues before the story even began - maybe if a sub-plot had been introduced to keep the interest going, but no. Nothing for three issues. Then, after Bendis quietly tidies away all of Gwen's conflicts, he kills her off in the horror cliche'. You were right, it is a complete cliche of every horror film out there. The monster in the bushes, comes out and kills the hapless girl. Mainly, the problem with this is that USM isn't a horror book. Cliches are bad enough that you shouldn't import them from other genres. Secondly, while the idea that the last thing Gwen sees is Parker's face is quite good, it's is ultimately shallow (like sadly most of Bendis' current works) - where instead of seeing meaning, we are presented with hollow sentiments.

As for a low key death for a major character being rare - could you just explain what you mean by "low key"? I think that low key deaths as you mean them, are not rare at all, but I don't want to define what you meant as low-key so I can hack it down. It would hardly be fair to put words in your mouth. I'd actually like to discuss the "low-key" aspect of her death, but I want to make sure I know what you mean first.

Eddie Brock was another fantastic character, trouncing the 616 version by showing Peter how he might of been.
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I think this is nowhere near accurate. While I loved the idea that Eddie and Peter were friends at childhood, there's no element that Peter could've been Eddie (that I can remember), because the main thrust of the story was pointing out that Eddie was not Peter, as opposed to Peter possessing part of Eddie within himself. Plus, Eddie was bad before all this happened, so y'know, Spider-Man, one of whom's main character dimensions is of guilt, is off the hook.

While Ultimate Venom did capture the essence of the 616 Venom story, it just didn't do it as well, let alone better. That said, I don't find Ultimate Venom to be particularly bad at all. It's pretty good.

But to put it simply, I seriously doubt that Ultimate Gwen's death and Ultimate Venom will be written about in 20 years, while the 616 equivalents inspire almost every incarnation of Spidey to date.

I read everything Bendis is putting out at the moment; and quite frankly, only the Pulse is deterioating.
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I've read a lot of Bendis - got all of Alias, the first 37 issues of Powers, Jinx, Goldfish, all of USM, the first couple of issues of Secret War and The Pulse, all of his Daredevil run, and honestly? Now, I only buy USM and Daredevil out of morbid curiousity. Alias and Powers were okay, but Jinx and Goldfish are still very good. Pulse, I found dull, and Secret War was just ridiculous. Really unimpressive. And his work on Avengers seems to be of a similar quality (though, I have not read it).

That said, I DO have a stack of Bendis comics that are everything his current ones are not. Fantastically written, marvellous pacing and storytelling, clever and twisting plots that I'm proud to own.

Maybe, I'll go to the reviews section of this site and start putting up reviews. Get all this opinionate armchair writing garbage I yell out of my system. :)
 
This kinda makes me think... When Venom comes back, How awesome is it gonna be? I mean Brock ran away because he was all confused with what's going on but I'm sure he's getting a grip on his powers and I wonder if he's gonna hold a vendetta against Peter for anything...
 
nigma said:
Is it me or has anyone noticed that bendis is writing with the same character pool for everything….
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Yeah, I've noticed the same, already back in my Blockbuster-Review from last year
 
missed this one....theres only so many times i can see iron fist, i like the black guy, but how many times does he have to do the same thing?
 
I've totally noticed that, however, I don't really have that much of a problem with it. He's very good at writing Spider-Man (Although I hear not 616 Spider-Man) and I think he's at least good with Wolverine's dialogue. I can't say anything about DD since I've only read how he writes him in Blockbuster but I'm sure there is a likeness between U DD and 616 DD.
 
For Fortune And Glory!!!

Most of the people who are disappointed with bendis are ultimate spider-man fans and new avengers fans who are not satisfied with the mediocre stories bendis puts out / killing of characters (carnage, hawkeye mainly...)
I cant really speak on avengers, cause i seldomly read it before avengers disassembled....but i myself, feel like bendis is writing too much in too little time....The ultimate spidey stories dont suck as much as they seem to be watered down compared to earlier work of his.... Ever since Gwen kicked the bucket, the book took a new turn and to many, it seemed like wasted potential....But i am a fan of bendis style of writing and i love mark bagleys artwork, its like peanut butter and jelly......the book just works best that way...i couldnt see anyone else drawing it (although bryan hitch would be nice on there.....extremely late.....) and maybe robert kirkman to write it....but i just really dont expect a change of creative teams write now...

The overexposure of fighting without the costume on and everyone finding out who spidey is annoys some as well..but as i said in Jan...im riding with Bendis at least up until the Hobgoblin arc....and after reading # 74(good stuff)....i think ill stay for the warriors too....(that just has to be good) .

The guy has a wife and kids and does more for marvel than just write books, he is the michael jordan of marvel right now and he actually listens to the fans...i couldnt ask for more...he is the going to be the next stan lee in my opinion....but enough about that....He has done some stuff in books that would make me quit reading at times, but i have faith in him to give me not only something to think about each month, but something i can relate to as well..

The guy put me back in comics and when the ride is over, he will put me out of comics....so until then....i think ill cut the guy some slack..
nuff said..

- The Captain
 
The Captain said:
Most of the people who are disappointed with bendis are ultimate spider-man fans and new avengers fans who are not satisfied with the mediocre stories bendis puts out / killing of characters (carnage, hawkeye mainly...)
I cant really speak on avengers, cause i seldomly read it before avengers disassembled....but i myself, feel like bendis is writing too much in too little time....The ultimate spidey stories dont suck as much as they seem to be watered down compared to earlier work of his.... Ever since Gwen kicked the bucket, the book took a new turn and to many, it seemed like wasted potential....But i am a fan of bendis style of writing and i love mark bagleys artwork, its like peanut butter and jelly......the book just works best that way...i couldnt see anyone else drawing it (although bryan hitch would be nice on there.....extremely late.....) and maybe robert kirkman to write it....but i just really dont expect a change of creative teams write now...

The overexposure of fighting without the costume on and everyone finding out who spidey is annoys some as well..but as i said in Jan...im riding with Bendis at least up until the Hobgoblin arc....and after reading # 74(good stuff)....i think ill stay for the warriors too....(that just has to be good) .

The guy has a wife and kids and does more for marvel than just write books, he is the michael jordan of marvel right now and he actually listens to the fans...i couldnt ask for more...he is the going to be the next stan lee in my opinion....but enough about that....He has done some stuff in books that would make me quit reading at times, but i have faith in him to give me not only something to think about each month, but something i can relate to as well..

The guy put me back in comics and when the ride is over, he will put me out of comics....so until then....i think ill cut the guy some slack..
nuff said..

- The Captain
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I think that's a pretty good wrap up... He's trying to cover too many bases at one time. A person can't do that without wearing himself thin.
 
I think the whole Bendis is wearing himself thin is complete crap. USM is the only title gone bad so far. Daredevil gets no recognition in this thread because no one reads it. Well it's probably one of the best comics ever (That's a pretty lame/general statement but that's what it is). There's nothing wrong with Bendis.
 
USM is fine. Bendis is doing great, i hope he stays on for all usm issues until ultimate universe ends!
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
I think the whole Bendis is wearing himself thin is complete crap. USM is the only title gone bad so far. Daredevil gets no recognition in this thread because no one reads it. Well it's probably one of the best comics ever (That's a pretty lame/general statement but that's what it is). There's nothing wrong with Bendis.
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I'm a really big fan of Daredevil, but I still think Bendis is a rather mediocre author on titles like Secret War and Pulse. And even New Avengers fails to hold my interest.

But as a really really longtime follower of Bendis from his pre-Ultimate Spider-Man days, I don't think Bendis has gotten any BETTER or WORSE than he's ever been. The idea that an author/writer's craft can be measured on a bell curve which peaks and declines has always been bull**** to me.

Even former X-book hacks like Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza are still capable of pulling out some inventive and amusing stuff every now and then, and condescending pricks like Warren Ellis manage to muster some sincere mainstream work once in awhile.
 
ok quick off-topic question here, I was reading the Bendis board and he said we will be seeing Venom VERY soon is he referring to the game or is there somthing about Warriors we dont now about? The reason I say warriors is because in a previous Q&A he said Cat and Venom will return soon, He used them same sentence coincidence???
 
Spade said:
ok quick off-topic question here, I was reading the Bendis board and he said we will be seeing Venom VERY soon is he referring to the game or is there somthing about Warriors we dont now about? The reason I say warriors is because in a previous Q&A he said Cat and Venom will return soon, He used them same sentence coincidence???
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Ask that over in one of the upcoming arcs threads in this forum. Let's stay on topic.
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
I think the whole Bendis is wearing himself thin is complete crap. USM is the only title gone bad so far. Daredevil gets no recognition in this thread because no one reads it. Well it's probably one of the best comics ever (That's a pretty lame/general statement but that's what it is). There's nothing wrong with Bendis.
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Sorry to disagree with you, but I didn't even pick up the latest DD issue, and I've been on it since Bendis first got on with Mack. I was loving it, but I just can't be bothered to pick it up anymore. Same goes for USM, Powers, The Pulse, Secret War, New Avengers... all these books that I wasn't already picking up, I've read in store and not one has made me want to pick up the next issue. I think they're all very poor works at the moment. I hope I can start to like some of his books again soon.
 
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