Is Brian Michael Bendis tired with Superhero Comics?

[Darthfury78]

As of late, it would seem that Bendis is tired of writing superhero comics and wants to focus on his own creator owned material. Yet he signed a 10-year deal with Marvel. Does this mean that Marvel gave him enough creative freedom to do his own thing within Marvel? I think that given the quality writing of Civil War II, Bendis is burned out. Marvel must be paying him a ton of money just to keep him around even though he really doesn't want to stay on anymore.

[Moriarty]

i dunno if he is tired. i know i'm tired of his work.

[Dark-Flux]

Given the constant delays that hit his (sorta) creator owned stuff, ive never much felt that those are his focus. If he's willing to sign some kinda deal with Marvel then id say his superhero stuff is onviously more of a priority to him.

[Prof. Warren]

As of late, it would seem that Bendis is tired of writing superhero comics and wants to focus on his own creator owned material. Yet he signed a 10-year deal with Marvel. Does this mean that Marvel gave him enough creative freedom to do his own thing within Marvel? I think that given the quality writing of Civil War II, Bendis is burned out. Marvel must be paying him a ton of money just to keep him around even though he really doesn't want to stay on anymore.

Given that he seems to really love his work and seems very passionate about books like Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Infamous Iron Man and Invincible Iron Man, I think the idea that Bendis is "tired of writing superhero comics" exist only in your own head.

If you read Bendis' Tumblr page and don't feel the love and enthusiasm that he has for the likes of Miles Morales and Riri Williams and feel like he is obviously still burning to tell new stories in the MU, I don't know what to tell you. Feel free to not like his work - he'll always be a polarizing writer - but it's absolutely silly and absolutely baseless to say that you think he's tired of the superhero genre. I just read Infamous Iron Man #1 and it's certainly not the work of a writer who's just there to collect a paycheck.

[XPac]

Marvel stuff always comes first for Bendis. His creators owned stuff comes when it cmes, but his multiple marvel book are always right there waiting for you every Wednesday.

[strathcona]

Bendis's work has always come across that he's embarrassed to be writing superheroes, so he's trying to make them into something 'cooler' than he perceives them. At least that's how I've seem his work since I was first exposed to it in Disassembled. I know many people say he is a big fanboy, but I don't think that comes through in the work I've read at all.

[Huntsman Spider]

Judging by all of his work taken together, both for Marvel and his creator-owned stuff like Powers, I don't think Bendis is embarrassed to write superheroes, period. I think he's embarrassed about certain conventions and maybe contrivances that have been part and parcel of the classic/common superhero archetype, and wants to update said archetype into something that can stand as a perfectly legitimate concept in a modern age where we are far more skeptical of some things and more accepting of other things than we used to be when the genre first had its heyday. He's still very enthusiastic when it comes to his own contributions to Marvel, many of whom or which are steeped deep in the legacy of the Marvel Universe as a whole, and thus his way of reinventing the superhero archetype by inviting us to ask ourselves, "Who gets to (or can be) a superhero in the first place?" That's likely not someone who's tired of superheroes as a whole, but someone who may just be tired of how superheroes are conventionally presented, which is a challenge if you do like how superheroes are conventionally presented. Of course, when it comes to his handling of certain characters or certain types of stories, he does do better in a certain milieu and with certain character types than he does with others and that hasn't always served him so well in his Marvel work (primarily with the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy), so he can definitely be a mixed bag.

[Matternativ]

If he were emberassed to write classic Super hero stories he wouldn't have written Avengers Assemble or the Avengers main book during the Heroic Age.
He just has a thing for flawed characters and universal shake ups which doesn't equal disliking the classic stuff.

[Smoov-E]

Given that he seems to really love his work and seems very passionate about books like Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Infamous Iron Man and Invincible Iron Man, I think the idea that Bendis is "tired of writing superhero comics" exist only in your own head.

If you read Bendis' Tumblr page and don't feel the love and enthusiasm that he has for the likes of Miles Morales and Riri Williams and feel like he is obviously still burning to tell new stories in the MU, I don't know what to tell you. Feel free to not like his work - he'll always be a polarizing writer - but it's absolutely silly and absolutely baseless to say that you think he's tired of the superhero genre. I just read Infamous Iron Man #1 and it's certainly not the work of a writer who's just there to collect a paycheck.

Pretty much this plus that guy has a infectious giddy personality, I met him at a con a couple months ago and after our five minute interaction I damn near high five'd the guy

[Tycon]

i dunno if he is tired. i know i'm tired of his work.

ba dum tssssss

[ijacksparrow]

I don't know if he is tired of superhero comics, but like Moriarty said, I just can't stand his writing anymore. Even old stuff like some bits from his Avengers (Carol Danvers abuse) that I've missed back in the day makes me frown. I just want him to go write to DC or go independent. Bring Jonathan Hickman, Rick Remender and if possible, Matt Fraction back. Those are the three writers that I miss writing for Marvel Comics, while I just can't read ANY book that Bendis is writing these days.

[Jabare]

As of late, it would seem that Bendis is tired of writing superhero comics and wants to focus on his own creator owned material. Yet he signed a 10-year deal with Marvel. Does this mean that Marvel gave him enough creative freedom to do his own thing within Marvel? I think that given the quality writing of Civil War II, Bendis is burned out. Marvel must be paying him a ton of money just to keep him around even though he really doesn't want to stay on anymore.

I don't know how you came to this conclusion, but I think you are off the mark.

Bendis has been fairly consistent for 10 years and there hasn't been any noticeable change

[kurenai24]

i dunno if he is tired. i know i'm tired of his work.

I don't know if he is tired of superhero comics, but like Moriarty said, I just can't stand his writing anymore. Even old stuff like some bits from his Avengers (Carol Danvers abuse) that I've missed back in the day makes me frown. I just want him to go write to DC or go independent. Bring Jonathan Hickman, Rick Remender and if possible, Matt Fraction back. Those are the three writers that I miss writing for Marvel Comics, while I just can't read ANY book that Bendis is writing these days.

Don't read his work then, y'all make it seem like y'all still spending money on his stuff and complaining about it, and if you don't read it, why are you still complaining about it, let him do his thing and you do your own thing.

Also can someone make this the official complain thread for Bendis so some of ya'll have somewhere to go to *****.

[XPac]

Pretty much this plus that guy has a infectious giddy personality, I met him at a con a couple months ago and after our five minute interaction I damn near high five'd the guy

Yeah, I'm not sure anyone who actually met the man would believe he was tired or ashamed of what he does for a living.

[ijacksparrow]

Don't read his work then, y'all make it seem like y'all still spending money on his stuff and complaining about it, and if you don't read it, why are you still complaining about it, let him do his thing and you do your own thing.

Also can someone make this the official complain thread for Bendis so some of ya'll have somewhere to go to *****.

Look at my pull list, it's on my signature. Do you see any Bendis books? Hell, do you see ANY Marvel Comics books other than Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man? Bendis is indeed the writer with more power within Marvel Comics. His comics don't sell well enough to justify that kind of power and that's why you see so many threads like this one. And they are indeed fair points. His writing could use one hell of a time off from Marvel Comics. Fans could certainly use that too. Hell, who knows, maybe he has something fresh and interesting to say with DC Comics characters. Problem is that he has way too much power within Marvel Comics and with all due respect to his fans, it's unjustified. It's unjustified because it shows a lack of creativity and trying ACTUALLY different things that sell. The concepts that Bendis is playing with are all tropes that Dan Slott and Matt Fraction played recently with success and praise. Problem is when you keep repeating a plot point to the ground again and again it becomes boring and not novel. Superior Spider-Man was novel and groundbreaking. Having two Hawkeyes was novel and groundbreaking. Bendis rehashing Superior Spider-Man with Iron Man (for the second time, the first being Superior Iron Man) is 101 of running a story to the ground. Two Spider-Men running around isn't as cool as having two Hawkeyes. Neither two Thors, two Captains America, three Iron Men. Marvel Comics is rehashing literally ideas from more capable and creative creators like Dan Slott. I just think that Marvel needs to rethink their editorial line and if Bendis NEEDS to keep writing Marvel Comics, stick to one book like Jessica Jones and that's it. Hell, with all due respect to him, but the comic counterpart of Jessica Jones still sucks next to how amazing and brilliant Jessica is in the Netflix show. If anything, I'd get the people involved on THAT show to write Jessica, not him.