Originally Posted by
Timothy Hunter
Would Bendis be more well liked as a writer if it weren't for his unconventional dialogue?
One of the major criticisms of Brian Michael Bendis is his dialogue. It's very prolonged, it's very redundant, and can be quite obnoxious to some. I would say, it annoys to me to no end as well. Nevertheless, I still consider Bendis to be a solid writer 2/3rds of the time. I enjoyed his run on the Morales iteration of Ultimate Spiderman, I maintain the view that his X-Men run is probably the greatest since Morrison, and I even liked his Guardians of the Galaxy.
Even though his dialogue can be irksome and his lack of respect for continuity is vexatious, he can still write solid character moments even to a profound level. Take this snippet of narration for instance in issue two of his relaunched Superman series:
Green Arrow once privately asked if my life was hell. "Hell?" I asked.
"Actual hell! Because you can never turn off your super hearing.
"You can't not see the madness of the world without your supervision.
I don't. I never have and I never will.
But I can. We all can.
I could leave the planet and never come back.
And yes.
Some days it does feel like madness.
The screams for help never stop.
The hate never stops.
Oh and the ignorance.
The ignorance sometimes never stops, and it just breaks my heart.
But, and it was my wife who pointed this out...
...She said everyone knows there is suffering and hurt and war and disaster.
All the time.
Somewhere, someone out there is hurting someone else.
People help.
People reach out.
More times than not, a scream- -and someone helps before I can even lift a finger.
People do their jobs. It's stunning to see. Beautiful, really.
The police, firemen, EMTs, politicians, even.
Nothing is perfect, and it never will be but...
The world works.
This scene proves that Bendis can still do phenomenal character work. Recent comics of his, Naomi #1 and his story Detective Comics #1000 were excellent as well. However what gets in the way far too often is his twee sense of humor and his godforsaken dialogue.
So, I once again must ask: If an editor stepped in, and said to Bendis: "stop writing dialogue with your typical mannerisms and write said dialogue in a more conventional manner" and he listened, how much in quality would his current comics improve?
I'm reaching out to more of the critics and detractors of Bendis rather than his actual fans. If you like his means of doing dialogue, that's perfectly fine.