Krypto-Knight Comics

Krypto-Knight Comics
Find Your Comics at Krypto-Knight Comics

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Is Brian Michael Bendis the Best Comic Book Writer Ever?

With the creation of the Illuminati, Civil War and Secret Invasion, Brian Michael Bendis has done more than just make the Marvel Universe exciting again. He has unified the Universe bringing past and present together, cleaning up story holes from times past, made crappy characters cool and made cool characters awesome. His twists and turns and exciting plots keep us wanting more and more and more just as it should be. With the popularity of Marvel and the story arcs that are taking place, most of which originate in the mind of Bendis, many would argue that he is the greatest comic writer in the history of comics. What do you think? Is this the case?

I love reading Bendis' work. He has made me want to read more and more. I feel like I did when I was 16 reading Claremont's X-men stories, or when I was in my 20's and Alex Ross recreated the DC Universe with Kingdom Come. I love reading Bendi's work, plain and simple. I think he is the best writer in the industry at this time. However, comparing Bendis' to past writers is like comparing Barry Bonds to Babe Ruth or Mark McGwire to Hank Aaron. The comparisons are not quite that simple to make. Different eras brought about different creators; creators that were needed at the time. Is it fair to compare Alex Ross with Jack Kirby? Both have displayed talent above the expectation of the time and set a new bar for others to reach. Brian Michael Bendis certainly has done that for the industry. Comparing him to the likes of Stan Lee, a most humble creator, would not be fair. Why?

Stan Lee changed the face of comics in a way that Bendis has not done. He did not just create story-lines and plots, he created characters that have been come national icons. Spider-Man and the X-Men are international icons. They are known the world over. In fact, most of the popular Marvel characters were created during an era when they were most needed and have held their popularity even now. Iit was Stan Lee and his buddies who brought that about.

Bendis is an awesome writer and I love what he has done with the Marvel Universe. Without Stan Lee and his friends, however, none of it would be possible. What do you think? Who is the greatest comic book writer of all time?

Be sure to visit my store...http://www.krypto-knightcomics.com

4 comments:

  1. Wow! I've never read an article I disagreed with more. I think Bendis is a horrible writer and has done more to destroy the Marvel Universe than any villain ever could. I have sworn off ever buying another book he works on. He writes every character with the same voice, ignores history, writes stories that move at a snail's pace, and destroys characters on a whim. I read his stuff for a while just because I've always been an Avengers fan but finally had to give up. That this article would cite "Secret Invasion" as a positive is particularly laughable. This was a small concept turned into a hundred issues full of crap. If I had to read one more issue about Hank Pym really being a Skrull, I was going to scream. Meanwhile, it turns out Mockingbird was Skrull when she died in WCA 100 even though we saw her body and she didn't revert to a Skrull, which was one the precedents of the whole series. Finally, the Wasp dies in a nonsensical plot development further made ridiculous by her blindly accepting a potion from Skrull-Hank to give her the power to grow large - which she already had (See Lion of Avalon storyline.) There was so much wrong with this whole series, I thought it couldn't get any worse and then, along came "Dark Reign" to prove I was wrong. I finally gave up and am barely buying any comics anymore because Bendis and Quesada have ruined them. And don't even get me started on the worst character of all time - Sentry, built on the concept that he was always there even though I can read a thousand back issues and clearly see that he's not. I know Bendis didn't create this character but he sure has pushed him down our throats. Who do I think is the greatest comic book writer of all time? Anyone BUT Bendis!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you spiderwasp for your comments. Although it is clear we would disagree I do value your opinions as I do everyones. That is what this forum is for. Personally I have enjoyed Bendis' writing and his plots. I enjoyed Secret Invasion and Civil War. I will add though that I don't think ANY writer has ever pulled off perfect story arcs. It is a challenge for writers to stick to historical story lines when every so many years writers for comics have to follow in the footsteps of other writers...sometimes bad writers. I, however have enjoyed Bendis' writing. I have not read Dark Reign as of yet but it is on my list of books to read. thanks again for your open comments! I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm in the middle of your comments. I definitely don't think he is the greatest, but I don't think he is the worst. He does try to push the boundaries of standard comics stories by showing us things we've never seen in comics before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I also like the effort of trying to make older, B and C level characters more interesting (again I don't think it always works). I think he is consistent and better than most other writers in Marvel. I personally don't think there are that many good books right now so he is one of the few that writes books that I am interested in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you blindzider for comments. I agree that there is not a lot of interesting reads right now ina general sense but I am enjoying Bendis' work overall. I will be posting another article learly next week. Right now I am out of town and simply wanted to respond. Please keep visitng my site and my website too. It is http://www.krypto-knightcomics.com I am always putting new things up. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete