John Jakala, at his forum, asks what's so great about Brian Michael Bendis?

The thread is a follow-up to a blog entry where, in the comments section, we discover "Bendis just has too many writing tics that grate on my nerves whenever I try to read his superhero stuff: The inability to use contractions; the forced Tarantino-esque dialogue; the repetition -- dear lord, the repetition!" My reasons for buying Bendis, then, aren't likely to have much in the way of enlightenment, as I think the very things that draw me to Bendis' work are the things driving Jakala nutty. Am I going to let that stop me? Pshaw.

I first experienced Bendis through his work on Ultimate Spider-Man which, at the time, was all but fully collected in Marvel's free dotcomics offerings (I believe at the time something like the first 20 issues were all available online for free). I decided to give them a try, just to see what all the hubbub (both Bendis and Ultimate Spider-Man related) was about. The first issue was well-written enough to get me to the second (especially with the non-cost), and it was funny in plenty of places, but it wasn't until the issue where Peter reveals his identity to Mary Jane that I knew I'd be paying to read it.

The issue is, more or less, just one extended conversation between Peter and MJ in Peter's bedroom. No fights. No action. Barely a scene change. And when I got to the end of the issue, I realized I didn't care. What they were saying (and my anticipation of what they were going to say next) kept me going the whole time. What Jakala sees as forced dialogue read like real dialogue to me. Characters pause all over the place (side note: Ultimate Spider-Man also does wonders for underscoring Mark Bagley's ability to, as Fabian Nicieza once noted, infuse even the most motionless scenes with energy). And they repeat things--yes, because people repeat things. Especially when they're surprised, or confused, or just hopelessly pissed off, emotions that crop up in Peter Parker's life all the time. For me, at least, it works. It's funny. It has a rhythm that makes it easy to read.

I think Bendis does a great job of getting inside his characters' heads. Peter Parker isn't just a teenaged boy by exposition, he's a teenaged boy in word and deed (I mean, where else but in the mind of a fifteen year old boy does the thought occur to take down your big, nasty, underlord of crime by reading fat jokes off of notecards?).

Between USM and the Bendis-Oeming Powers, I've found, too, that I quite enjoy Bendis' ability to resolve stories in ways that both surprise me and seem completely obvious at the same time. His characters fight when they have to, but they prefer to think when they can. I prefer that, myself.

And if all that means that, occasionally, I get to see Spider-Man pantsing Dr. Octopus, I'm okay with that, too.

Tags: comics, commentary, writing