Fans were stunned this past week when it was announced that writer Brian Michael Bendis had decided to leave Marvel to join DC Comics… and the Superman exhibit at the Cleveland Library is behind the decision.
“I was in town for my brother’s wedding and I went to the library, which was so important to me growing up, and I saw the Superman display,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Portland, Ore. “It was a flood of impressions and Cleveland connections. While looking at the Superman artifacts, I realized that I had not climbed the DC mountain and I needed to.”
After making a name for himself working at Marvel for 17 years writing titles like “The Avengers,” “The X-Men,” “Iron Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and major Marvel events like “The House of M,” “Secret Invasion” and “Civil War II”, Bendis says the decision wasn’t an easy one.
“Marvel has been really great to me,” he said. “I have a lot of friends there and they have class. People at DC had been gently prodding me for years about coming over, saying I would always be welcome there. I love Marvel, but I really felt like it was time to go.”
“DC was coming at me pretty hard with offers that were hard to resist. But it was not until I walked into the library that everything came together. I remembered how much I connected with Superman, how I was an artist during the 1988 Superman convention in Cleveland (The Neverending Battle celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Man of Steel.)”
With Superman playing such a pivotal role in Bendis’ decision, it remains to be seen whether the writer will take on any Man of Steel stories in the near future.
Source: Cleveland.com
I’m very excited for this. Would absolutely love if he does get on a Superman title, but I’d be happy to read any take of any character.
I don’t know. His stuff has pacing issues for me. To a point where I wonder if he would just rather be writing about characters talking about their feelings over coffee than doing superhero comics. That’s not to say I want every issue to just be one big extended action set-piece but I sure as heck don’t want to pay modern comic prices for 22 pages of talking head panels either.
As for his work on crossover stuff honestly, both companies have abused that privilege ad nauseam.
When he writes good science fiction he excells at it. When he writes very good urban crime action/drama, he is really at his element. This was indeed a surprising move and I think his thinking outside the box writing will bring a fresh new start to any of DC’s major titles
I wish him nothing but good luck and delivering good stories worth to remember.
I’m not too excited about this because Bendis tended to do things his way without letting others know, which in turn affects other writers stories and how they want to use certain characters to the point they have to change their original plans. Also he tends to have great ideas but are quite hit and miss in execution especially in event stories.
The Superman books are so good right now, I really don’t want to rock that boat. If his were still the New 52 Era, I’d say have at it. But unless Jurgens and/or Tomasi are already planning on leaving, then…
I’d love to see him take over JLA, however. Do what he did for The Avengers; huge plots, multiple titles, a decade long run. That would be sweet.
He’s more suited to the less powerful heroes, as he can really write gritty, urban stuff well. I agree about the pacing issues he has, and also that the Super Books have been phenomenal right now, I hope he doesn’t slow that locomotive momentum down.