The Bendis Tapes. First long form interview is out.

[Ascended]

I like that he sees Lois as the most fearless person in comics. If there is anyone in all of comics I want to have their own solo title, it's Lois Lane. She was pretty badass before she became Superman's wife, but being SUPERMAN'S wife...she knows she wont fall...if he doesn't catch her...she's got Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern (or four), Flash...she knows she is all too human, but she also knows she has the most insane backup in the entire universe. I can see that being some of the worry part (at least it's how I would write Lois and from what it sounds how Bendis might.)
I am looking forward to the run and hope for good things.

Let's not undersell Lois either. If someone throws her off a roof......she might not *need* anyone to catch her. I mean, probably yeah, but never rule out Lois Lane-Kent.

This is a woman who is pretty normal (by superhuman standards you know) but has lived up against a world of gods and alien invasions for more than a decade. She's got New God weapons stashed around the house, a black belt she earned long before meeting Clark, she was getting herself in and out of trouble with international mobs and corrupt, powerful politicians years before Clark rolled up, and as I recall she's a pretty decent shot with a pistol too. The woman is extremely competent and very capable. She's about as close to being "street level vigilante" capable as you can be, without actually being that good.

[Kuwagaton]

Or that crazy. Those guys are out there putting on masks with giant mouth openings and getting their backs broken and she's like, "I'm good."

[SpideyCeo]

Some tidbits

[QUOTE=DragonPiece;3439431]

-Lois will be important, Bendis thinks she is the most fearless person in all of comics

Compared to whom exactly, I can name 8 people more fearless (without being a peak human/superhuman) than Lois Lame in a heart beat. One of them being Aunt May.

-On the marriage: "So many people are worried about the state of their marriage and the state of their family. You should be. What they are attempting to do is so enormous and it is so delicate, and so precious, and there is so much pressure on them coming from so many different directions. You absolutely should be scared for that delicate, beautiful relationship." (thanks rosawater for the full quote)

THANK YOU LORD, I JUST CAN'T STAND A BOOK WITH A UNCANNY VALLEY SENSE OF OPTIMISM WITH SUPERHERO FAMILIES(minus batman, since he's got a family always off the rails).

[Superlad93]

So, realized that Bendis seems to be the ONLY PERSON WORKING ON SUPERMAN IN THE PAST 5 YEARS that remembers that Jimmy Olsen is the reason Darksied and the Forth World are a thing. He seems to go out of his way to mention that little factoid down to the issue number of Superman's Pal. He calls Jimmy a great "war time photographer" and he goes on about how fascinating the contrast of Jimmy being such an oddball while being so extremely good at his job.

Hmmm. Didio was thinking of paying homage to John Byrne, but the way Bendis tells it (he mentions not even thinking about the Byrne similarity), it seems like he had another more famous Marvel creator he wanted to pay homage to. Even though Bendis didn't say that he'd be injecting more Judaism into Superman, he did say that he felt a very special connection to Siegel and Shuster as Jewish creators, so it stands to reason that he might also find a connection with Kirby, no?

If that's the case and we get Bendis bringing back back the DC Kirby weirdness to where it all started, then he instantly gets my support, man. I'm so genuinely pumped for his run given all that I'm hearing so far.

[Superlad93]

There is no reason to read one superhero book over another anyway, the only thing that separates them is which character appeals to you more. I repeat, Clark Kent is a sideshow, story wise. The purpose of Superman's civilian life is to give people a brief break before jumping right back into the action.

I guess it's a good thing that Bendis has seemingly separated Superman and Clark into two books of their own, Superman and Action Comics. So, if you're not feeling Clark's investigative journalism or glasses or not flying or whatever, idk, then head on over to Superman where it seems there's a good deal less of all of that.

To my knowledge this stark division hasn't been done since like the super old The Private Life of Clark Kent story arc. But, I don't think it's ever been two books for each guy. That's some new tech right there, man.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Looking forward to seeing what Bendis and his merry band of artists put out there. This is shaping up to be a pretty exciting revamp

[Vanguard-01]

Notes

-Bendis confirms again he's not rebooting anything and loves the current runs

-Bendis confirms Pat Gleason is drawing Action Comics

-Bendis wasn't aware of a big trunks controversy, he was just offered if the trunks should be on Superman and he said yes

-Bendis will address the trunks in the comics directly in the comics, people in Metropolis will discuss the trunks and their opinion of them

-Bendis refers to Superman as Clark a lot when he talks about him to editors and firends, will focus a lot more when he's not superman

-Clark being a investigative reporter will be a big part of Bendis run, being a reporter is the first thing Clark really chose for himself according to Bendis.

-Lois will be important, Bendis thinks she is the most fearless person in all of comics

-On the marriage: "So many people are worried about the state of their marriage and the state of their family. You should be. What they are attempting to do is so enormous and it is so delicate, and so precious, and there is so much pressure on them coming from so many different directions. You absolutely should be scared for that delicate, beautiful relationship." (thanks rosawater for the full quote)

-We'll get a lot of Perry's point of view and focus on daily planet as a newspaper(also the dying aspect of newspapers)

-Big Plans for Jimmy, Bendis can't say what yet

-Mike Cotton and Brian Cunningham are the editors on his Superman titles

Last 30 minutes of the podcast seem to be about his health scare he had, so I have missed something at the end.

All sounds pretty good to me. Except for that possibly ominous statement about the marriage, anyway. And that may amount to nothing at all.

[Kuwagaton]

So, realized that Bendis seems to be the ONLY PERSON WORKING ON SUPERMAN IN THE PAST 5 YEARS that remembers that Jimmy Olsen is the reason Darksied and the Forth World are a thing. He seems to go out of his way to mention that little factoid down to the issue number of Superman's Pal. He calls Jimmy a great "war time photographer" and he goes on about how fascinating the contrast of Jimmy being such an oddball while being so extremely good at his job.

Hmmm. Didio was thinking of paying homage to John Byrne, but the way Bendis tells it (he mentions not even thinking about the Byrne similarity), it seems like he had another more famous Marvel creator he wanted to pay homage to. Even though Bendis didn't say that he'd be injecting more Judaism into Superman, he did say that he felt a very special connection to Siegel and Shuster as Jewish creators, so it stands to reason that he might also find a connection with Kirby, no?

If that's the case and we get Bendis bringing back back the DC Kirby weirdness to where it all started, then he instantly gets my support, man. I'm so genuinely pumped for his run given all that I'm hearing so far.

I can see that, especially if talking to Jurgens wasn't a one time thing. It's really interesting because there could be all sorts of lore he'd had in mind to bring in, and he's just never had a point to talking about as a main writer for Marvel.

[Nick Miller]

Alot of things will be like an event, in these books.

First time he uses Lex.
First time Jimmy crossdresses, lol
When the JL guest stars.

And the big granddaddy of all guest stars; the Bat himself.

Watch out Clark, that Wayne is a playboy. Make sure lois doesnt stray, lol.

[adrikito]

Notes

-Bendis confirms again he's not rebooting anything and loves the current runs

-Bendis confirms Pat Gleason is drawing Action Comics

-So, Gleason will be drawing Action Comics..

-Ok, the trunks are part of Superman costume..

-Metropolis people talking about the trunks?? hmm.... I can imaginate something like what happened here..

-Ok... Before Superman he was clark.. He should show his abilities as reporter.

-I am not surprised for his opinion of Lois.. Look the last Action Comics chapters..

-More focus in the Planet? Good..

[SiegePerilous02]

More focus on Jimmy and Perry sounds great. I feel like Jimmy hasn't gotten **** all to do since the very early parts of the New 52 in Morrison's run, and there wasn't much going on before that either.

I'm hoping there isn't too much focus on the Clark identity, but putting focus on his investigative journalism could be very good and well suited for Bendis. Dealing with the crazier aspects of the Superman half of his persona will be the true test.

My chief concern for his take on Lois is how he writes her and gives her interesting plots independent of Clark. Whatever tension he has planned for the marriage is a little concerning, but I'll gladly take the risk if it shakes things up.

Very little focus on Jon. Hallelujah!

[manofsteel1979]

I haven't had time to sit down and listen to the whole interview, but the bits I've heard and seen quoted actually makes me excited, and even a bit nervous but mostly wanting to see what Bendis has in mind.

As for the " you should be worried about the marriage" part, I think what he means is that he wants to make the audience to fully invest into the Kent family unit, and yes, that requires drama, tension and conflict. While I do think Jurgens and Tomasi has done a decent job with that aspect without making things too sachrine and cliched', putting that under pressure isn't necessarily a bad thing. It should be written as a challenge to all three involved , Lois, Jon and Clark.

That doesn't mean that they can't enjoy light-hearted moments and be a happy family unit, but it shouldn't be all waffle making and after school special lessons, nor take for granted that two of these beings in the family unit are incredibly powerful and two of the most powerful mortal beings in the DCU( Clark and Jon) and the third part of the unit is a very human, but incredibly brilliant and fearless mortal woman who is probably the best journalist in the DCU.With the incredible experiences and external pressures exerted on them, if as an audience there isn't some level of worry about that family unit's survival and it's just there for the sake of it taking up pages between the " cool" stuff, then there's no real reason to have it. I think Bendis doesn't want to undo that unit or get rid of the marriage or Jon, but to make both matter and not just be window dressing, Which it very much could become if not careful.

That being said, if what he actually means is " oh I'm gonna kill Jon Which causes Lois and Clark to grow apart to the point where we eventually see Lois having a secret affair with Lex or Clark shacking up with Lori Lemaris, leading back to an eventual Erasure of the marriage yet again so we can go back to the boring and tired " triangle for two" nonsense we had before 1990 because nostalgia..." Then I'm out. However, I don't think the Kent family unit is going anywhere and if Bendis makes good on what I think his intentions are...Maybe it gets to the point people like Sacred Knight and Supercrab actually come to care for that family unit, then Bendis will have done his job!

[Nick Miller]

After listening

Bendis, still very busy, wont have his full attention to these books.

He rarely looks backward, so i dont expect tight continuity

Expect lots of character “moments” lots of talking

I dont think he wants to do high concept stuff, ill be shocked if we get much lore, but who knows.

Surprised to hear that he says DC and Marvel are so different in the way they approach making comics. He doesnt get too into these differences though.

[Superlad93]

I can see that, especially if talking to Jurgens wasn't a one time thing. It's really interesting because there could be all sorts of lore he'd had in mind to bring in, and he's just never had a point to talking about as a main writer for Marvel.

Now this is not an exact science, but I tend to find that writers who are more willing to explore and put any sort of focus on Jimmy Olsen and his strange roots, they tend to be more incline to get unexpectedly strange and fun with Superman as a whole. Acknowledging any percent of non powered Jimmy Olsen's strangeness instantly raises the ceiling for what Superman's world is capable of, and what we can expect regularly from it.

So hopefully it's an indication of where Bendis' head is at.

[Soubhagya]

Notes

-Bendis confirms again he's not rebooting anything and loves the current runs

-Bendis confirms Pat Gleason is drawing Action Comics

-Bendis wasn't aware of a big trunks controversy, he was just offered if the trunks should be on Superman and he said yes

-Bendis will address the trunks in the comics directly in the comics, people in Metropolis will discuss the trunks and their opinion of them

-Bendis refers to Superman as Clark a lot when he talks about him to editors and firends, will focus a lot more when he's not superman

-Clark being a investigative reporter will be a big part of Bendis run, being a reporter is the first thing Clark really chose for himself according to Bendis.

-Lois will be important, Bendis thinks she is the most fearless person in all of comics

-On the marriage: "So many people are worried about the state of their marriage and the state of their family. You should be. What they are attempting to do is so enormous and it is so delicate, and so precious, and there is so much pressure on them coming from so many different directions. You absolutely should be scared for that delicate, beautiful relationship." (thanks rosawater for the full quote)

-We'll get a lot of Perry's point of view and focus on daily planet as a newspaper(also the dying aspect of newspapers)

-Big Plans for Jimmy, Bendis can't say what yet

-Mike Cotton and Brian Cunningham are the editors on his Superman titles

Last 30 minutes of the podcast seem to be about his health scare he had, so I have missed something at the end.

All good points. Hope he doesn't overdo the trunks thing. A number of points look really interesting. Clark Kent investigative reporter. Perry's point of view. Dying newspapers. Finally some Jimmy Olsen. That guy is squarely forgotten nowadays even after being one awesome character.

Love what he says about Lois. Give Bendis a solo Lois title. Or a Lois back up story to the main title. Marriage quote is worrying. But this was going to happen sooner or later. I love the present dynamic between them both. But one can only go so far. I say the Rebirth period was like a honeymoon period. When everything is pleasant and nice. After that problems would begin. I am worried. But i can't really find fault in trying something different. Whether it displeases the fans that is to be seen. But when you have tools and in this case its family and marriage, it will be foolhardy from a writer's viewpoint to not use it. I hope he gets the balance right. If he goes too far that would be really unpleasant. Proper execution may end up making it even better then it is now.