DC fans, how do you feel about Brian Bendis?

[LordUltimus]

Focusing on his DC work (though feel free to bring up his other stuff, as well as his writing in general), how do you feel towards Brian Michael Bendis' writing and direction he's been going in for the DCU?

[Pohzee]

I've been very pleasantly surprised. Event Leviathan, the Action Comics leading up to it, and Batman Universe were all solid.

[Jackalope89]

Before he came on, I had never read his stuff, and heard both good and bad things.

After he came on, the only positive I can say is that he gets good artists. I have NOT liked anything of his, and this 5G stuff seems to be the icing on the cake of getting me to drop DC comics.

[Vampire Savior]

I'm generally not a fan of his work.

I appreciate his interest in diversity, but I don't think he always approaches it the right way. Nowadays, there are some methods that I'm usually firmly against, such as creating diverse characters to fill the roles of white ones, and racebending. He's guilty of both. Neither does favors to anyone, but some people just can't see that because they believe diversity is great any way you get it. I don't believe it. I think there are graceful ways it can be done that are beneficial with a long game view that don't disrupt existing fanbases. However, it typically takes more effort and creativity to do them. The "black man in a white man's suit" and racebending approaches are quick, easy, lazy, often destructive ways of doing things...kinda' like the dark side of the Force.

[Darkcrusade25]

He brought YJ back and that's his greatest achievement so far. Its great though, I'm happy he did it.

[DragonsChi]

I think he is over rated at this point and will be one of the primary reasons DC will fall/fail in the up-coming years.

I also think he is taking the current political climate to his advantage and does not really care about what he professes to.

[Ulysses]

I')such as creating diverse characters to fill the roles of white ones, and racebending. He's guilty of both. Neither does favors to anyone,.

I've heard some poc call this "tokenism" and characterize it as insulting.

[kurenai24]

To me this is very bait-y, considering it should and is well known that Bendis is a controversial figure, to the point that he has a hatedom, that he's blamed for everything that happens... And tbh this question has already been answered, through the multiple times that Marvel and DC fans continuously bring up his name so they can insult and/or put blame on him for something that's he's not associated with.

As for the actual question, I like him and his writing, his comics can be dialogue heavy but he's a talker himself so it make sense. His writing style along with how he paces is very similar to how a mangaka would structure a manga so as a manga lover, it's easy to deal with. His characters tend to be used frequently and even when they aren't they're not shelved completely so they're easy to invest in and he brings the best artists on his books, so that's a worry I don't have to deal with.

I've heard some poc call this "tokenism" and characterize it as insulting.

Then those poc don't even know what tokenism is which is sad b/c they should.

[Talon1load]

So how are people liking Bendis in the DCU? His sales are not very good so he doesn’t appear to be selling well. I enjoyed his Ultimate Spider-Man and New Avengers but haven’t cared for much else he’s done. I think he doesn’t seem to understand any of the characters he’s writing at DC and the fact that he also writes everyone the exact same way doesn’t help. I’m honestly dumbfounded that he’s been given so much free reign with his low sales and lack of understanding. I what he’s done with Superman and his family. His Young Justice seems pointless and LOSH was just plain bad. That’s just me though. What are others thoughts?

[king81992]

I'm enjoying his Young Justice.

[Man_of_Tomorrow]

His Marvel work in the last decade has left me no impact but his current DC work, man do I love it.

The interconnectivity of his books, the chances he takes and the lore he dugs up. So many good books because he is in DC. Jimmy, Lois, Wonder Twins and Naomi. Superman books are fresh as hell, the ending to Leviathan makes me excited for Action Comics. He has very good ideas and he expands Superman's world, he adds new elements, plays with old ones in a way they haven't been played. His narrative has gravitas, you feel the risk of the unknown, something the Superman books needed bcause they had been stale for a good while. Even the old ideas he uses, like truth and new krypton, he brings them with a better, more focused spin....well with truth it wasn't that hard, man that new 52 arc sucked.

[Jackalope89]

So how are people liking Bendis in the DCU? His sales are not very good so he doesn’t appear to be selling well. I enjoyed his Ultimate Spider-Man and New Avengers but haven’t cared for much else he’s done. I think he doesn’t seem to understand any of the characters he’s writing at DC and the fact that he also writes everyone the exact same way doesn’t help. I’m honestly dumbfounded that he’s been given so much free reign with his low sales and lack of understanding. I what he’s done with Superman and his family. His Young Justice seems pointless and LOSH was just plain bad. That’s just me though. What are others thoughts?

I'm not.

I had never read his work before he came to DC and gave him a chance. And boy did I get burned.

[Eto]

Literally enjoying none of his DC books.

- He doesn't understand many DC characters.
- He sh@ts all over Superman period of Tomasi/Jurgens.
- Jon Kent plotline is ludicrous.
- Jon Kent has changed into an obnoxious dude.
- Event Leviathan was pointless.
- His dialogue makes no sense at times, whether it's IC or OOC (more often OOC than IC though)
I could go on and on but you get the point. I want him to leave DC to be honest.

[Ascended]

I'm enjoying what I'm seeing so far.

His Action Comics has been way better than his Superman but he's got a handle on Clark's character I rarely see out of modern writers. Seriously, most of the time I see people complain about how he writes Clark, its just a matter of that poster not actually understanding who Clark is (they only seem to get a small slice of his personality, not the whole thing). And Bendis is trying to build up the mythos and add something to the Super-lore rather than deconstruct everything like 90% of writers these days do, which I greatly appreciate. The United Planets being formed, the whole upcoming Earth President thing, the renewed focus on Metropolis and the supporting cast.....I'm really enjoying Bendis' run, even though a few of his choices (everything with Clark's ties to the Legion) have really pissed me off.

His Young Justice is pretty good too. The first few issues in Gemworld were not anything to write home about, but the "lost in the multiverse" issues have been utterly fantastic. That first issue with the multiverse stuff (#7?) might be my favorite single issue of 2019.

Naomi is just incredible. Probably one of my favorite runs/series of 2019 and definitely the big break-out star of the year. Really well handled, I cannot recommend that book enough.

And I haven't read the last issue of Event Leviathan yet (though I've heard who Leviathan is) and I'm mostly reserving judgement there until I can sit down and read #6. Not sure how I feel about all of that. I'll say no more until we've all had a chance to read it and process it. I will say that Bendis cannot write Damian Wayne to save his life.

So as far as Im concerned Bendis is on a creative high I haven't seen from him since his days on Ultimate Spidey and Daredevil.

Of course, we'll see what this whole 5G nonsense is. By this time next year I might not be reading any DC at all.

[Noodle]

Allow me to introduce you to a four page thread about this.