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ULTIMATE BENDIS: SPEAKING WITH BRIAN
MICHAEL BENDIS: PART ONE
by Jennifer Contino (The Pulse)
A few years ago I read a very interesting interview about
Brian Michael Bendis ... this was just before Powers
made its debut, long before Ultimate Spider-Man,
before his run on Daredevil and the other
Marvels. This was when Bendis had turned
a lot of heads with his work on Jinx, Fortune
and Glory, Sam and Twitch, and Torso.
If you'd read those works and that particular interview, it
might have seemed impossible to believe that a year or so
later Bendis would become one of Marvel's
greatest assets. However, in that short span of time, that's
exactly what's happened. Bendis began his run on Daredevil,
and met with critical acclaim. He also recreated Spider-Man
in the Ultimate universe and pleased a lot
of fans - including Stan "The Man" Lee. Bendis scripted
not only the individual adventures, but paired up Spidey with
some of the other heroes from the Ultimate
Universe in Marvel Team-Up. Bendis created
one of the Marvel Universe's newest detectives,
Jessica Jones, for the crime-drama series, Alias,
and has many more projects on the horizon.
THE PULSE caught up with him for a two-part
interview that examines the world of Bendis and talks comics,
music, bad movies, and fatherhood.
THE PULSE: Did you ever notice how after you became
really big all these other creators started shaving their
heads and then THEY started becoming really popular? Conspiracy
theory … ?
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS: No, its just that
we all want to be lead singers of proto alternative bands
on MTV2. Bunch a posers we are.
THE PULSE: Now most people are just familiar with
you as an amazing writer and a lot probably don't realize
how talented an artist you are. How'd you hone your artistic
skills? Who are some of your influences in that area?
BENDIS: My influences are mostly artists
who became very successful writers the exact second they stopped
drawing. Boy if ever there was a big neon sign, huh? The second
I stopped drawing ... boom! But I love, love, love to draw
and will do it again. My influences are so all over the place.
My noir work is very influenced by cinematographer Jon Alton
who invented Film Noir. A lot of people think it was invented
in comics :) But it wasn't. My humor styles range from everything
from Peter Bagge to Charles Shultz.
THE PULSE: Who's your favorite Peanuts character?
It's Charlie Brown right ... ? The baldness makes so much
sense now ... and all those yellow T-Shirts.
BENDIS: There's something about Woodstock
just chillin'... I'm jealous.
THE PULSE: What's the weirdest thing you were ever
asked to sketch in someone's sketchbook and did you do it?
BENDIS: I probably did and regret it, there's
been quite a few, mostly guys with deeply disturbing fetishes,
made more disturbing by how casually they ask us to do them.
THE PULSE: You do have a lot of fans from all walks
of life. What has been one of the strangest or oddest things
you've witnessed a fan do to get your attention or get something
from you?
BENDIS: My readers are pretty decent, employed,
bathed folks. Haven't had too much crazy. Sgt. Kabukiman is
a fan, and often shows it in a loud, drunken appearance at
my table at the shows. I wrote about the first one in Happy
Endings.
THE PULSE: You've written a variety of characters
from the mainstream, but what, if you had the time and all
the factors were right to make it happen, series or character
would you like to draw a monthly issue or graphic novel of?
Why this character or series?
BENDIS: The Shadow. I just love him. Don't
see how I will ever get to, as Alec Baldwin pretty much killed
the franchise for everyone and everything for this generation.
That's not fair ... whoever directed it, killed it.
But if anyone gets their mitts on the trademark, call me.
THE PULSE: What got you interested in bike riding
as a hobby and exercise? How many hours a week do you ride
your bike?
BENDIS: At first it was necessity, I had
no car. And I was also rounding on the sideways, so on the
bike I went, it became a very important part of everything
I did. including writing. I rode 3-4 hours a day minimum.
Even in winter.
But the baby put me off road for a while, but I got back
on this week. My ass is back :)
THE PULSE: Do you ever get inspired or story ideas
when biking? How do you keep track of the ideas on the "road"?
BENDIS: Always, I would get on the bike
with a list of writing problems that needed solutions and
by the time I got home I have more than enough things to type.
I had a bag full of notebooks, kept it all straight.
THE PULSE: Besides riding bikes, when you're not
making comics, how do you spend your free time?
BENDIS: Wife and baby, and dogs. Movies,
reading. Oh and listening to people stammer through life as
often as possible.
THE PULSE: What's your guilty pleasure movie - something
that maybe the rest of the world thinks just is horribly done,
but you really like? Mine is probably Grease II or Xanadu
...
BENDIS: Oooh, Xanadu is a good one for both
film and the ELO half of the soundtrack. I have taken an immense
amount of shit for my praise of Josie and the Pussycats, but
I do know that it was the first movie I saw after 9/11, so
I may have just been happy to find something funny, even if
it WAS Tara Reid. :)
THE PULSE: You've been writing super powered characters
for a few years now, are you getting sick or bored of the
spandex yet?
BENDIS: Of course not. Only kind of comics
I don't like are bad comics, I love all genres. I'm no genre
snob.
Except for toy comics, what's that? :)
THE PULSE: I don't know. I still can't figure out
what's in that little purse He-Man has hanging just above
his crotch .... Anyway, enough of that ... What do you enjoy
the most about the superhero genre? What still inspires you
to create?
BENDIS: What inspires me is that I have
lucked into a handful of characters that I truly love, more
than most flesh and blood people. I love to spend time with
them and let them surprise me. It's a damn nice way to spend
the day.
And what I enjoy about the genre is its ability to change
with the times. This is a very vibrant time in the genre.
Very happy to be in the mix right now.
THE PULSE: Where do you think comics are heading?
Are these dinosaurs? If so how do we save them from extinction?
BENDIS: The one thing comic industry folks
rarely do is notice how in the shitter the magazine, newspaper
and book business are. I worked for a newspaper. People don't
read. They either don't have time or they have cable. They
seem to only read Maxim. :)
Any best seller can sell less than a hit trade paperback
in our biz, I say lets try to get as many readers as we can,
absolutely!! And I have been out there hustling the mainstream
with everything I got, but at the same time, be realistic
and not so doom and gloom.
There are enough people who need to make comics and those
who need to read them to sustain us. We just need to feel
better about ourselves, that's the one area we need to work
on still.
THE PULSE: What have you enjoyed the most so far
about working in the Ultimate Universe?
BENDIS: What I like about it is what most
of the readers like about it. It's character driven, it's
both classic and new at the same time. It's clutter free storytelling.
There are no rules, you really have no idea what is going
to happen to who. No traps or cliches. It's the best playground.
THE PULSE: How daunting is it to take established
characters, revitalize them for this generation, and add your
own voice to their world?
BENDIS: I don't think of it that way. Just
tell the stories with everything I got.
THE PULSE: Which character would you NOT
want to have to write an adventure of? Which character doesn't
appeal to you at all?
BENDIS: Jamie Rich.
THE PULSE: When you first were thinking about an
"Ultimate Spider-Man" what sort of "out with
the old, in with the new" type of stuff did you want
to do?
BENDIS: I wanted to personally be moved
by the story. It is a classic story, it has been told, so
I wanted to find the truth and character in it. I said early
on, "Shakespeare stories are told and retold and every
once and awhile someone finds a really honest or clever take."
That's all [Mark] Bagley and I try to do is give the source
material everything we have. Just slice off the clutter and
get to the characters and themes.
THE PULSE: When you're working on the series now,
what areas do you consider as needing updates and what parts
do you basically want to leave as is?
BENDIS: The truth of it. The themes of it.
It didn't need fixing. There's no fixing going on. The mistake
is in thinking it needs fixing, it's not broke. The characters
and themes are all there. Every update was cosmetic and the
updates now are all in keeping with the tone of the series
and the modern take.
THE PULSE: Have you had a chance to talk with Stan
Lee about Ultimate Spider-Man? What does he think of the comic?
What advice or ideas did he offer you?
BENDIS: I didn't. When i met him I just
thought it would be inappropriate, but I was also scared he
would hate it.
But Wizard interviewed him about it for
a Spidey Scorecard they did, and he said something so over
the top nice that both Bagley and I can recite it for you.
:)
It was very cool, needless to say, Romita has given it a
thumbs up too, which also meant the God damn world to me.
So glad he did those pages in the Special ... I can't even
tell you.
THE PULSE: Is it true he wanted Venom to be purple
like Barney the Dinosaur and Tinky Winky to try to attract
even more that younger audience? Was there really a fun, friendly
Venom theme song?
BENDIS: Do you need a nap or something?
:)
THE PULSE: No! I mean ... I'm sure someone mentioned
that about Barney ... yah ... that was it! OK, so if not a
nicer, friendlier Venom, then who is the Ultimate Venom? What
sets his origin and creation apart from the alien symbiote
that Peter Parker came across in Secret Wars?
BENDIS: Well, the alien symbiote cosmic
gobbity goo would never have fit it USM as the series is pretty
down to earth as these things go, and I also suck at writing
that kind of stuff.
In our book, Peter discovers a video tape of a family picnic,
we see Peter's parents were both scientists, and that they
were partners with Eddie Brock Sr., who had a son. Peter and
Eddie were best friends, up until the day that both their
parents were killed in the same plane crash,
Peter decides to look college aged Eddie up. And Peter discovers
that Eddie has taken up working on the secret project their
parents were working on before their deaths. What that is
you'll have to read the comic :)
THE PULSE: Why add this villain to Spider-Man's rogues?
Whose idea was it for an ultimate Venom?
BENDIS: Fans screamed for it, Bill Jemas
suggested it and waited patiently for me to figure it out.
To be fair, Bill had a big hand in this take on Venom. A lot
of good ideas were bounced back and forth.
THE PULSE: With the introduction of Ultimate Venom,
we also met some people from Pete's past ... what plans do
you have to do more stories that showcase the "young
Parker" and people familiar to his folks or aunt and
uncle?
BENDIS: I don't want to give too much away.
THE PULSE: Ok, but is it true Aunt May used to be
a Go-Go Dancer?
BENDIS: She has quite the sordid past, we
hint at it pretty often.
THE PULSE: In the regular continuity, Aunt May has
discovered Peter's secret. Do you have any plans to have that
happen in Ultimate Spider-Man? If so ... what does that add
to the story having him be able to confide in his aunt. If
not, what does that add to the story having her in the dark
about his dual identity?
BENDIS: Well, we did the whole Peter coming
out to MJ FIRST :) I think right now in our book the death
of Uncle Ben is too new and too raw to have Aunt May deal
with Peter in costumed danger all the time. Also, I think
what people like about the two books is these kind of differences.
THE PULSE: What's coming up in 2003 for Ultimate
Spider-Man?
BENDIS: Right after Venom we are heading
into our first original villain, then we lead into a return
villain and the big issue 50.
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