Bendis Looks Back on His Term as "Avengers" Assemblyman: Part Two

[CBR News]

In part two of CBR's look back at writer Brian Bendis' eight-year reign as Avengers' architect, the writer discusses the second half of his run, potential future stories and the upcoming "Age of Ultron."


Full article here.

[Rasengan2000]

Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that took them long enough.
Good interview though.
He also kinda makes Alan Davis sound like a bit of an ass.

[ChristianJCote]

I think I was happiest when I got to the part about how he was surprised at how nobody gave a shit about Wasp getting killed off and how he wanted to bring her back. I was PISSED that she was killed off and that they used it as a Hank development tool, and I'm still pissed that she's back and they basically haven't utilised her in the slightest, so it's nice to see that Bendis was closer to my perspective on things than I thought. I always give him shit for it because I assumed he just hated her character.

It does highlight how clueless Marvel can be about their own characters. I wasn't at all surprised Wasp's death had so little impact because she'd been poorly utilised for years before that.

[Gridlock]

"There's a huge legacy with these characters. That why I was astonished when people didn't seem to mind that the Wasp had died. I find her legacy to be gigantic.

So do I, without Janet Van Dyne we wouldn't have an annoying character who's only significant contribution to comicbooks was getting her face slapped and knocked on her butt.
Oh yes, "The Wasp" has a notable history as a "Fashion Designer".
Without her repulsive and un-iconic costumes and her contributions to the fashion world of her visual-barf-color-scheme designs making 1970's fashion look subdued by comparison, what else could we remember her for?
Oh wait, NOTHING. "The Wasp" has been a generic boring pushy dead-weight since she was introduced. She has had less value to the Avengers team than "The Two-Gun Kid" or Taxi-Witch "Sersi" or even Hellcat (who's most notable contribution was being damned at birth then killing herself).

Here is a test for gauging how valuable to The Avengers that "The Wasp" character is, ask any fan, "Do you remember the time that The Avengers member The Wasp did...?"
Go ahead, ask it of yourself. What has "The Wasp" did... that you remember? Yeah, she got tiny, she flew around, she zapped things. Ah those ever-lasting powerful memories.
See how ingrained the "Heroic Deeds" of "The Wasp" has burned themselves into your memories.
Yeah, I don't remember her doing anything of note except providing an excuse for Al Milgrom to draw "up nose" angle shots of the main characters. Obviously the team would fall apart without being able to see the nose goblins of "The Vision".

[Mark_S]

Well by the time he killed off the Wasp I think people just expected it. Let's face it after what he did to Wanda and Tigra killing the Wasp off -after he barely used her at all- didn't matter much because it was just what Bendis does to female characters. I'm amazed he thought Avengers Prime settled things with Cap, Tony and Thor.

[XPac]

I think I was happiest when I got to the part about how he was surprised at how nobody gave a shit about Wasp getting killed off and how he wanted to bring her back. I was PISSED that she was killed off and that they used it as a Hank development tool, and I'm still pissed that she's back and they basically haven't utilised her in the slightest, so it's nice to see that Bendis was closer to my perspective on things than I thought. I always give him shit for it because I assumed he just hated her character.

It does highlight how clueless Marvel can be about their own characters. I wasn't at all surprised Wasp's death had so little impact because she'd been poorly utilised for years before that.

I gotta admit, I was a LITTLE suprised at the relatively minimal reaction we got from Wasps death too. I know she's not exactly Spider-Man or anything, but I recall Clint getting a much bigger impact.

But by this point in time I think most Bendis readers already realized everyone he was killing off was returning in some form. Plus, the "death" was set up in a way which almost made it obvious she could come back. No body often means no death.

[XPac]

Well by the time he killed off the Wasp I think people just expected it. Let's face it after what he did to Wanda and Tigra killing the Wasp off -after he barely used her at all- didn't matter much because it was just what Bendis does to female characters. I'm amazed he thought Avengers Prime settled things with Cap, Tony and Thor.

Avengers Prime didn't COMPLETELY settle things with Tony and Steve... Bendis himself would play with the post-CW stuff a bit more once the Illuminati and Infinity Gems came into play in the Avengers. But in the least Bendis had Stark apologize... to ME at least, that's what I was waiting for. And I just wasn't getting that in the Iron Man books.

[jyeager11]

Funny, I thought I was the only Bendis fan who loved his New Avengers run, but felt it lasted one year too long.

That last year was pretty awful and will forever remain in the books. Bendis was *this close* to having a perfect run, like he did on Ultimate Spider-Man. He can make jokes all he wants, but I'm sure that in hindsight, a part of him wishes he HAD moved on a year sooner. When people talk about the New Avengers years from now, they will speak very highly of the book, how well it sold, and how much it influenced the Marvel Universe. In fact, I question whether The Avengers movie would have gotten made if the Avengers franchise had kept going in the direction it was going before Bendis took over ("Lionheart Of Avalon", anyone? No? Nobody? Yeah, me neither.)

All in all, I would give Bendis a grade of A or A- on his overall Avengers run. Not an A+ (because of that last year) but still a very high grade, mostly thanks to more adult themes and dialog than we were accustomed to, and all the gambles that mostly paid off : Spider-Man, Wolverine and Cage were big risks that paid off big time... whereas Sentry and Ronin will forever be Bendis' Triathlon and Silverclaw (yes, I know Bendis didn't create the Sentry, but he was clearly one of the characters whose popularity Bendis challenged himself (and failed) to revive). But a third reason to give the man a high grade is how long he remained loyal to the title. I don't think anyone expected him to do more than 6 issues, 12 tops.

Give the man the respect he deserves, no more, no less. And I believe he deserves a lot. When you look at where Marvel was before they put Bendis on Ultimate Spider-Man and New Avengers, and everything Marvel now owes to those two titles doing so phenomenally well... you'd have to be disingenuous to say Marvel doesn't owe a hell of a lot of its current success to Bendis.

[CJStriker]

I gotta admit, I was a LITTLE suprised at the relatively minimal reaction we got from Wasps death too. I know she's not exactly Spider-Man or anything, but I recall Clint getting a much bigger impact.

But by this point in time I think most Bendis readers already realized everyone he was killing off was returning in some form. Plus, the "death" was set up in a way which almost made it obvious she could come back. No body often means no death.

I think by this point everyone was already num to anything like death of a major character. Wanda, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man’s Reputation. Wasp’s death was just the reflecting this era in comic history that no character was safe unless they where maybe big name money makers.

Also, why am I not surprised he did not mention Wanda in any of his 2 interviews about his time with the Avengers. The woman who he used to start his career with the Avengers by destroying hers, think he would have mentioned a sentence. Should make me wonder, but really it doesn’t.

[Mark_S]

I think by this point everyone was already num to anything like death of a major character. Wanda, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man’s Reputation. Wasp’s death was just the reflecting this era in comic history that no character was safe unless they where maybe big name money makers.

Also, why am I not surprised he did not mention Wanda in any of his 2 interviews about his time with the Avengers. The woman who he used to start his career with the Avengers by destroying hers, think he would have mentioned a sentence. Should make me wonder, but really it doesn’t.

He mentioned her in part 1 didn't he? I remember him saying that he had dug himself a whole with his treatment and had to dig himself out. I wonder if he realizes that the Wanda point was when some fans started to really hate what he was doing.

[CJStriker]

He mentioned her in part 1 didn't he? I remember him saying that he had dug himself a whole with his treatment and had to dig himself out. I wonder if he realizes that the Wanda point was when some fans started to really hate what he was doing.

I thought that was Hawkeye? Like it to be Wanda, but I think it was Clint.

[Caio]

So do I, without Janet Van Dyne we wouldn't have an annoying character who's only significant contribution to comicbooks was getting her face slapped and knocked on her butt.
Oh yes, "The Wasp" has a notable history as a "Fashion Designer".
Without her repulsive and un-iconic costumes and her contributions to the fashion world of her visual-barf-color-scheme designs making 1970's fashion look subdued by comparison, what else could we remember her for?
Oh wait, NOTHING. "The Wasp" has been a generic boring pushy dead-weight since she was introduced. She has had less value to the Avengers team than "The Two-Gun Kid" or Taxi-Witch "Sersi" or even Hellcat (who's most notable contribution was being damned at birth then killing herself).

Here is a test for gauging how valuable to The Avengers that "The Wasp" character is, ask any fan, "Do you remember the time that The Avengers member The Wasp did...?"
Go ahead, ask it of yourself. What has "The Wasp" did... that you remember? Yeah, she got tiny, she flew around, she zapped things. Ah those ever-lasting powerful memories.
See how ingrained the "Heroic Deeds" of "The Wasp" has burned themselves into your memories.
Yeah, I don't remember her doing anything of note except providing an excuse for Al Milgrom to draw "up nose" angle shots of the main characters. Obviously the team would fall apart without being able to see the nose goblins of "The Vision".

I've never read so much rubbish
and how people will be uncomfortable with the death of a character we all know that it never lasts?

[jyeager11]

Well by the time he killed off the Wasp I think people just expected it. Let's face it after what he did to Wanda and Tigra killing the Wasp off -after he barely used her at all- didn't matter much because it was just what Bendis does to female characters.

Why are you bringing misogyny into this discussion? Bendis has hit home runs and has also struck out with various characters, and I do not see a gender pattern in those two lists. Look at how he disposed of Ares and Sentry during Siege. Doesn't get much more male than those two, and both were "Bendis' Boys" so to speak, in that they weren't characters he was saddled with and forced to use. He brought them in to raise their profiles, failed, and killed them off to try raising the profiles of other characters like Noh-Varr and Red Hulk.

But I digress. My point is that this is not "how he treats women". This is how he treats characters in general that he doesn't have immediate plans for. He made Ms Marvel leader of the Mighty Avengers, and I don't think he made Spider-Woman or Jessica Jones look bad at all. He had Spider-Woman defeat Wolverine in his first appearance, for crying out loud.

As for Wasp, has anyone looked at the history of the character? Let's be honest, she has very little to offer. All she ever did under Stan Lee is drool at the boys in the room and talk about clothes and shopping. I'm shocked the character still exists in 2013.

[Mark_S]

Why are you bringing misogyny into this discussion? Bendis has hit home runs and has also struck out with various characters, and I do not see a gender pattern in those two lists. Look at how he disposed of Ares and Sentry during Siege. Doesn't get much more male than those two, and both were "Bendis' Boys" so to speak, in that they weren't characters he was saddled with and forced to use. He brought them in to raise their profiles, failed, and killed them off to try raising the profiles of other characters like Noh-Varr and Red Hulk.

But I digress. My point is that this is not "how he treats women". This is how he treats characters in general that he doesn't have immediate plans for. He made Ms Marvel leader of the Mighty Avengers, and I don't think he made Spider-Woman or Jessica Jones look bad at all. He had Spider-Woman defeat Wolverine in his first appearance, for crying out loud.

As for Wasp, has anyone looked at the history of the character? Let's be honest, she has very little to offer. All she ever did under Stan Lee is drool at the boys in the room and talk about clothes and shopping. I'm shocked the character still exists in 2013.

He made Ms. Marvel Tony's puppet in Avengers, he had Skrull Spiderwoman defeat Wolverine. I should have been more general in what he does to all characters, but let's not say he's treated those two well.

But no matter what, what ever the guy wrote sold. He shoved X-men into the trashbin and brought Avengers to the forefront of the sales charts to the point where Marvel is busy running that franchise into the ground as the did the X-men. He may have a lot of faults as a writer but his stuff sells no matter what the quality level. That's probably his biggest Avenger legacy: he made the title sell.

[Caio]

In the middle of 2013 have to read it.

Vespa is far from useless. Jan by Bendis? Yes, I agree. Jan pre-Bendis? Very far from it.

Kang Dinasty, Avengers Forever and Under Siege are one of the best examples of her using the leadership. She is the first woman to lead a team at Marvel, the woman who led the Avengers more. His powers are far from useless, if used well it can easily knock a being by internal attacks.

I recommend that you read Avengers Stern, Busiek and Secret Wars.

And he did nothing other than to make Doom Carol call her fat - in a poor characterization - and make her make a joke of trauma that happened to Marcus.