Bendis to leave Avengers in 2012

Brian Michael Bendis, to me, will always be the cartoonist who created Jinx, AKA Goldfish and Torso before going over to Marvel Comics. If you have any opinion on the man’s work at all and have not read any of those books, go do so now. Full of remarkable dialog and intriguing points of view, those black and white comics were very hip and cool.

The announcement of his Ultimate Spider-Man post got me very excited until I read them and thus begins the love/hate relationship with Bendis. His style either works for you or it doesn’t. Heavy on dialog, the action is usually down to the artists that he works with (and he has been paired with some remarkable names in comics from Chaykin to Maleev). His ‘speaking voice’ can get more than a bit conversational, rambling and overly repetitive where Aunt May ends up speaking the same as Peter Parker. Nevertheless, he revived interest in the web spinner and attracted lapsed comic book fans back to the medium.

Alongside Spider-Man, Bendis crafted what I still consider to be a masterpiece with his run on Daredevil with Alex Maleev. His grasp of cinematic timing and crisp dialog along with a fearlessness in storytelling made the series a hit and continues to attract attention. The strange move from vigilante solo books to the Avengers surprised many and… took time getting used to. Never a man to make a small impression, he began his relationship with the Avengers by destroying the team only to re-invent them anew.

The New Avengers series has its supporters and detractors (I’ve been in both camps) but you can’t deny his enthusiasm for the series. Introducing characters who would never have been in the book traditionally, Bendis took obscure cult characters like Luke Cage and made them headliners. The series out-sold X-Men and became a mega-hit. With a unique comedic tone and high octane action, the series has often been accused as being like a Hollywood Blockbuster which is usually intended as an insult but that is perfect for a book like the Avengers.

Bendis’ arrival on the Avengers coincided with what jump-started the string of interconnected event stories from House of M, Avengers Disassembled, Secret War, Civil War, Secret Invasion and Siege. In his time, the Avengers have added Wolverine top their line-up, fought terrorists in the Savage Land, defeated Magneto, survived a superhero Civil War and betrayal from within. A constantly shifting direction kept the series fresh and spawned a near endless line of spin-offs. Whether you are a fan of his or not, Bendis has made his mark on the Avengers and his departure is big news.

“I’m going to wrap up Avengers and New Avengers. At the same time the first storyline of ‘Avengers Assemble’ will be done. It’s a good time to move on to other things. Before I go, though, I’m ending things big. I’m in countdown mode. You know when you’re watching a show like Breaking Bad, and every episode feels like the second to last episode? That’s where I’m at. I’ve been on the Avengers longer than anybody in the history of the book. When you take everything into account, I’ve written over 200 issues. I’m very, very proud of that, and what we have coming up this summer gives me the opportunity to go out on a high note. I know enough about showbiz to know that’s a great time to go.”

– writer Brian Michael Bendis, revealing plans to leave Marvel’s Avengers franchise after eight years
Via Robot6 

Below is a gallery of the many changes the Avengers have gone through in just eight years.

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Daredevil joins the Avengers

Daredevil's previous brush with Avengers membership in 1970

The Man Without Fear is finally a member of Marvel Comics biggest superhero team, the Avengers. Joining the ranks of Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and that guy who looks like Wolverine but is actually Demolition Man, DD is classically a loner, though many fans knew that Brian Michael Bendis had planned to include Murdock in his New Avengers line up when the comic book rebooted several years ago.

Present on the Raft during the supervillain breakout, Murdock strangely didn’t join the team after the initial tussle that brought Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, Spider-Woman and Luke Cage together. Even though a character resembling Daredevil appeared on the cover and promotional material, that wasn’t actually Daredevil, it was a new mystery hero named Ronin. Bendis revealed in a USA Today interview that he was waiting for the right time for old horn head to join the ranks of the Avengers and that the clean slate that is on its way via Mark Waid is the perfect opportunity.

Just don’t expect Daredevil to have mellowed just because he’s an Avenger now. Not only is he is regular old loner self, he’s also still got an eye for the ladies.

“Daredevil, particularly — and I’m to fault for this as anybody — is never really involved in any of the big events,” Bendis says. “His story line just never lines up with Skrulls or whatever the hell else we’re doing. It was nice to get him in line for an Avengers team, but at the same time have him involved in some of this crazy mishegas we’ve got going on.”
During Fear Itself, the New Avengers are dealing with the Worthy’s all-out blitzkrieg on New York City, and Daredevil comes to the rescue as Avengers Mansion comes under siege with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s little baby inside. “That opens his eyes to maybe this is a good place for him to be right now,” Bendis says.

“He needs to rediscover his relationships with the other Marvel characters, and the New Avengers team is filled with a lot of characters he has a lot of history with — some good history and some bad history, and that makes for what we writers call ‘awesome drama.'”

Bendis looks forward to writing banter between Daredevil and the likes of Luke Cage and Doctor Strange, whom he has that familiarity with. And then there are the new women in his superhero life.
“Let’s not forget that he is one of, if not the, Marvel horndog of all time — no pun intended,” Bendis quips. “He does always find a way with the ladies, and we do have a house full of ladies for him to do his extrasensory hitting on that he does. Look forward to some of that!”

Full article here

Bendis more recently was interviewed at Newsarama about the announcement along with several other cool news items and his love for Howard Chaykin. Make sure to click on the link below…

Nrama: At C2E2, you said that both teams would be dramatically shifted post-Fear Itself, correct?

Bendis: There’s a lot coming. There are a lot of comings and goings on both Avengers teams.

And for those who think that we shake up the teams too often, I present to you the entirety of Roy Thomas’ run on the Avengers, where they shook it up every issue.

It’s funny, because people go, “Stop moving these characters around!” And I’m like, “Have you read the Avengers before?” Because I just re-read everything for the oral histories. Holy crap! Hawkeye came and left that team 70,000 teams in the year 1971.

Nrama: Well, it was by issue #16 that it was “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.”



Bendis: Yeah, the big shake-up. But even after the shake-up, Thor and Iron Man are coming and going, they’re in, they’re out — it’s what we like about it.

Nrama: And it’s interesting to hear you mention that Daredevil was considered to be part of New Avengers since the beginning, because the popular fan speculation back when the identity of Ronin was still a mystery was that it was going to be Matt Murdock.

Bendis: It was going to be Matt Murdock. I’ve been teasing people with this, and telling stories and meshugas, but it was supposed to be Daredevil, it just didn’t work. We joked that it was because the Internet guessed it that we changed it, but I would never do that. If Daredevil’s going to jail, then how can he be in Avengers? Not the time. But now is the time. He needs this more than he’s ever needed it.

Nrama: A lot of the New Avengers characters are the ones he screwed over in Shadowland.

Bendis: Yes. Exactly.

(read the interview here)

The Avengers have been very hit and miss with me, but I have to admit that Bendis’ enthusiasm for the title has contributed to its high ranking in sale figures. Bendis’ adoration for Daredevil is also evident as his award-winning run is still very worthy of recognition today. Combining these two great successes seems like a no-brainer. But should Daredevil be an Avenger at all?

Daredevil debuts as a member of the Avengers in issue 16

What do you think?