Thoughts on Michael Bendis at DC?

[Ascended]

Obviously, Bendis is a big name in the comic book community but I haven’t read much of his work. So I can’t really judge the guy, but I have heard a lot of negative things about him.

Eh, internet chatter is cheap. I'm not much of a Bendis fan but I will tell you he draws a lot more hate than he deserves.

The disregard for continuity, sjw politics and apparently there is this thing known as
“Bendis-speech" where one character says something and then someone else repeats it as an answer or something like that. And i mean, we already got one Tom King at DC.

This is pretty much all true, to various degrees. A lot of it gets blown out of proportion, but there's definitely a reason these particular complaints get leveled at Bendis all the time.

His Marvel work started out really strong; Ultimate Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Daredevil.......these are all highly acclaimed runs and worth their reputations. But Bendis' more recent work at Marvel, like his stint on the X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy.....yeah, those aren't great. At all. In fact, they're pretty awful. So the concern over Bendis coming to DC most certainly had merit. I think all of us who are familiar with his work were worried; would we get "X-Men" Bendis, or "Daredevil" Bendis?

Fortunately, we seem to have gotten "Daredevil" Bendis so far.

And then while reading “the man of steel” I came across a huge red flag.
(SPOILERS!) At the end of “The Oz Effect” Jor-El is pulled away by this blue light

I'm pretty sure the reason this isn't being touched on is because Johns is handling the Manhattan stuff in Doomsday Clock. I don't actually think this one is on Bendis. Johns is notorious for not sharing his toys. There's been an embargo on the JSA and Legion for over two years because of Johns, he kept Aqualad out of the New52 Titans because he had plans (that he never followed through on, ever), and those are just two examples of many.

And Kal just lets his son go?

Clark argued against it until he saw how intent his son was. Jon's been through a lot in a very short time and felt that he needed a "summer vacation" and thought that his grandfather might have a different perspective to look through. I don't particularly care for this subplot, but I can't say it's out of character either.

So how do you guy feel about all this? And what’s up with this new imprint...

So far Bendis has done a solid job. His new big villain in Superman is pretty weak but he's nailed Clark's voice in a way few manage, he's giving the Daily Planet cast more panel time than they've seen in years, and he's doing some fun, interesting stuff with the use of Superman's powers. He's also bringing some big high-concept stuff to the title that a lot of writers don't dare. It's not a perfect run but it's a hell of a lot better than a lot of other stuff we've had in recent years. And its Bendis' best work in ages.

His imprint is......whatever, who doesn't have an imprint at this point? Hell, I half expect DC to ask *me* if I want to launch one soon! I think his focus on teen heroes is filling a niche DC is pretty weak on right now, and he's bringing back the classic Young Justice, which gets him some major points with me (and a lot of other fans from the 90's).

We'll see if Bendis ends up making the same mistakes he made at Marvel but so far I can't really complain.

[LordUltimus]

So far, there are things he's done and announced that some people are worried about, but nothing that any people are angry about.

[9th.]

So far so good imo. I think a lot of people are jumping at the chance to hate the guy because of his previous work but I haven't seen anything too bad yet.

[BruceWayneJr.]

He's saving me a lot of money, and "sjw politics" has nothing to do with it.

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, Superman did not just "let his son go". That just doesn't track at all with Superman's entire characterization in those side scenes of MOS. He doesn't trust his father a lick, and without Lois, Jon wasn't going. End of story. And even when Lois offered to go and he acquiesced, he basically did so kicking and screaming. But make no mistake, Lois's decision to go with is the only reason Jon got his wish, and even then it was far more about him believing in his wife and son than it was believing in his dad.

Nice balanced debate. I have yet to read Bendis and I Don't want to jump on the bashing bandwagon. Make my own mind up. Maybe Bendis will read comments and retro-fixed that Joe-El continuity glitch, if he hasn't already.

Like Ascended said, I don't think he can. He saw that Jor-El was alive in continuity, asked to use him and was given the okay. But the specifics of what happened to him between Oz Effect and now, highly likely that's not Bendis' story to tell. His disappearance at the end of the Oz Effect was linked to his initial teleportation off of Krypton which saved his life in the first place, and that was highly insinuated to be Dr. Manhattan's doing. Bendis wouldn't be allowed to touch those explanations yet as that's all Johns/Doomsday Clock.

That said I could understand maybe wanting it glossed over, with maybe Superman asking what happened to him and just having Jor-El brush it off as a long story he'd have to tell another time.

[Buried Alien]

Nothing has really gone wrong yet. Let's check again in six months.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Iron_Leopard]

His Superman is the first time I've ever read anything from him and I'm loving it.

Also I feel he's responsible for the return of Supergirls monthly and that makes him even more awesome to me.

Two thumbs up for DC Bendis so far.

[My Two Cents]

I have to wait until I can get my hands on his Superman and Action Comics trades before I can offer a opinion on his
latest D C Comics tour.
I liked most of his Marvel stuff because by the time he was at Marvel, D C became the only company I really cared much for,
and so with Marvel I just wanted a fun to read story and did not care how it meshed up with history or how it would
effect Marvel moving forward.

[KC]

I think he has done ok so far. He has the voice of some characters like Superman down, but at the same time he can't write other characters like the Flash to save his life. His Superman has been weak but his Action Comics has been great.

[Flash Gordon]

So far SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS have been stellar.

I can't wait to see where we're headed.

[Hatut Zeraze]

I can't honestly say anything about his writing at DC. His work at Marvel kept disappointing me so many times, I usually avoid his stuff as a policy.

I am excited that his influence in the new Wonder Comics imprint will be leading to a new Mark Russel comic (Wonder Twins!). I am excited that it appears his influence will be leading to the return of the classic Question character. I will definitely be picking up that issue of Superman (or Action Comics).

Other than that, I have no opinion.

[Badou]

the original Titans team was brought back (along with original Wally West), etc.

Well technically the original Titans were brought back but in a version that was based in the New 52 timeline still. The Lazarus Contract story and the Abra Kadabra arc showed that this isn't the history that the old pre-Flashpoint Titans had. It's is different. So basically they are the original Titans but a version that is still formed in the New 52 timeline. So this Wally West is the New 52 Wally West but Abra Kadabra erased him from the universe and everyone forgot about his existence, but while he was erased the New 52 Wally West gained some memories of the pre-Flashpoint continuity when he returned, but he isn't pre-Flashpoint Wally West, if that makes any sense. Yeah, it is all a big mess.

[Dr. Skeleton]

After the whole Iceman thing, it's only a matter of time before Bendis starts ruining these characters.

[SiegePerilous02]

I'm fine with him. I don't really care about them personally, but bringing back the YJ generation is very good for their fans. Bland new villain aside, he's also done very well by Superman so far.

I'm more than willing to give him a chance.

[batnbreakfast]

I remember when he made Flash say 'Caca poopoo'.

When Bendis is great (DD, JJ) he's great. When he's not Doc Doom says to Cpt Marvel "your whore's heart". As a tradereader I'm looking forward to his LLane, though.