Bendis Discusses Miles Morales' Story, "Civil War II" and Embracing Cynical Fans

[CBR News]

Brian Michael Bendis discusses the controversy over "Spider-Man" #2, why "Civil War II" isn't a rehash of the original and polarizing storytelling.


Full article here.

[Highland Chicken]

If Miles wants his own identity then why is he using one that is already taken? If he is THE spider-man, then is Peter Parker, the one has been around much, much longer, came up with the name, and is currently global, the OTHER spider-man?

[leokearon]

If Miles wants his own identity then why is he using one that is already taken? If he is THE spider-man, then is Peter Parker, the one has been around much, much longer, came up with the name, and is currently global, the OTHER spider-man?

Because no-one wants to be Kid Arachnid...

Still, it is rich to want to have your own identity and yet you carry on the legacy of someone else, especially when in this reality he's still alive and active

[Tofali]

He didn't take anyone's title Ultimately he has always been Spider-Man before he crossed over to the main universe. Just because two ppl have the same names doesn't mean one took it from the other.

I don't even know why the codename topic is under discussion when the "Identity" Bendis is talking about is something else entirely.

[CrimsonEchidna]

I don't even know why the codename topic is under discussion when the "Identity" Bendis is talking about is something else entirely.

People love to whine.

What's amusing though is Spider-Man 2099 is actively running around in the present and strictly goes by Spider-Man as well and no one bats an eyelash.

[DemiRyu]

Neither the name nor the race discussions in Issue 2 bothered me. What did bother me was Blackheart's stupid, embarrassingly easy defeat at the hands of Miles just to make him look like the better Spider-Man. "The entire Avengers and Peter Parker have been taken down by this immensely powerful demonic entity with a known history of requiring entire teams of superheroes to defeat him! What should we do? Throw Miles Morales in to one shot the big bad in the most lack luster way". Oh boy...

[gurkle]

I'll take a couple hits to the head but it's frustrating that there may be some long-term effects of people -- on a personal level, not corporate level -- playing it a little more safe because they don't want to deal with it. That I worry about, not that I want everyone to do racist and sexist stuff, but our subjects are very complicated...

If people are shutting down, again subconsciously, because they're worried about reaction, some from people who don't even read the material, we are going to miss out on some real original truths. That's what I'm worried about.

I'm glad Bendis brought this up, because the sense of a chilling effect on comics - of not wanting to deal with certain subjects because there's the chance of a blow-up - seems like it's worrying a lot of people in and out of the business.

Bendis can handle the online controversy over whether Miles expressed the "wrong" opinions, and even he (as he admits) was saved by the news cycle. Other writers might just check out of the whole thing because of the way comics are parsed and analyzed and called out, often on the basis that ideology is more important than making characters express themselves realistically. (What Miles said was certainly something a person in his position might say, but it was criticized for giving a bad impression or playing into the hands of the wrong side.)

I don't really know what to suggest for this except that comic book writers should develop thicker skins, but this isn't like a big movie where a minor online controversy (like Black Widow's "monster" speech in the second Avengers movie) won't really affect the creator directly. In a small precarious business you can see why all but the biggest writers would be afraid of getting in trouble.

[bandoogiemanz]

Neither the name nor the race discussions in Issue 2 bothered me. What did bother me was Blackheart's stupid, embarrassingly easy defeat at the hands of Miles just to make him look like the better Spider-Man. "The entire Avengers and Peter Parker have been taken down by this immensely powerful demonic entity with a known history of requiring entire teams of superheroes to defeat him! What should we do? Throw Miles Morales in to one shot the big bad in the most lack luster way". Oh boy...

Isn't Blackheart Mephisto's "son" in a sense? Is that the same Blackheart we're talking about? If so, jeez, that's stupid, imo. Stuff like this is why after collecting marvel comics since I was 10, I have never been more disillusioned with their direction and have stopped purchasing marvel comics.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

I'm glad Bendis brought this up, because the sense of a chilling effect on comics - of not wanting to deal with certain subjects because there's the chance of a blow-up - seems like it's worrying a lot of people in and out of the business.

Bendis can handle the online controversy over whether Miles expressed the "wrong" opinions, and even he (as he admits) was saved by the news cycle. Other writers might just check out of the whole thing because of the way comics are parsed and analyzed and called out, often on the basis that ideology is more important than making characters express themselves realistically. (What Miles said was certainly something a person in his position might say, but it was criticized for giving a bad impression or playing into the hands of the wrong side.)

I don't really know what to suggest for this except that comic book writers should develop thicker skins, but this isn't like a big movie where a minor online controversy (like Black Widow's "monster" speech in the second Avengers movie) won't really affect the creator directly. In a small precarious business you can see why all but the biggest writers would be afraid of getting in trouble.

yeah I'm surprised Bendis did the whole racism thing with miles morales here especially since that's just one big PR Nightmare for the company and it's why a lot of writers tend to avoid covering this kind of stuff in the Big Two these days
it's also why it's difficult to have a character express their political opinions when doing so could end up getting you fired

[Tycon]

Miles Morales is THE Spider-Man. He was THE Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe. So why should it change just because there is another Spider-Man in the new universe? He was even Spider-Man when Ultimate Peter Parker mysteriously came back. The only problem I had with Spider-Man #2 is that he needed Peter's blessing to be Spider-Man when he already had that title. I agree with N'Dare's comment as well that Miles didn't take the name from Peter, it was just that he already had the title with him when he crossed over.

Also....who came up with "Kid Arachnid"??

[Tycon]

yeah I'm surprised Bendis did the whole racism thing with miles morales here especially since that's just one big PR Nightmare for the company and it's why a lot of writers tend to avoid covering this kind of stuff in the Big Two these days
it's also why it's difficult to have a character express their political opinions when doing so could end up getting you fired

Yeah, I'm sort of surprised that Nick Spencer gets by...

[Highland Chicken]

He didn't take anyone's title Ultimately he has always been Spider-Man before he crossed over to the main universe. Just because two ppl have the same names doesn't mean one took it from the other.

I don't even know why the codename topic is under discussion when the "Identity" Bendis is talking about is something else entirely.

Well he did take from Ultimate PP.
I brought it up because it makes no sense for Miles to expect to be spider-man without an adjective when there's already a more well known spider-man still active. It'd be same as a wrestler calling himself "the rock" whilst Dwayne was still active then getting upset when someone called him "the x rock".

People love to whine.

What's amusing though is Spider-Man 2099 is actively running around in the present and strictly goes by Spider-Man as well and no one bats an eyelash.

Because Miguel either pretends to be PP spider-man wearing a different suit, or if he gets caught out on it, he calls himself s-man. Also PAD didn't say that Miguel is the spider-man, the way Bendis did back in June/July time.
I have no problem with Miles calling himself spider-man or not wanting his race to define him as a hero, but he comes across as entitled when he wants to be THE spider-man when the original is still around, and more famous/infamous.

[Drew Melbourne]

yeah I'm surprised Bendis did the whole racism thing with miles morales here especially since that's just one big PR Nightmare for the company and it's why a lot of writers tend to avoid covering this kind of stuff in the Big Two these days
it's also why it's difficult to have a character express their political opinions when doing so could end up getting you fired

I don't know that this is true. Mainstream superhero comics are certainly as diverse, and probably as political, as they've ever been. Is there any case of Marvel or DC firing a creator for exploring hot button social or political topics?

[MindofShadow]

I will never understand the... negativity? around every miles thread

[gtramountanas]

This was an awesome interview. And I like the questions he brought up with Miles. No one calls John Stewart's Green Lantern the black Green Lantern (at least, I've never heard it said).

Maybe part of the problem is Miles' costume - it's black. So if the two Spider-Men are standing next to each other and you have to refer to one, you'll say, the black Spider-Man.

So, by this logic, if Miles changed his suit to purple, he could be known as the purple Spider-Man!

Or Grimace.