Question on modern Writers

[RTBrandy]

Whenever I think about great writers in comics, I automatically think of Claremont, Byrne, Miller, etc.

 

Obviously Bendis is quite popular today. a little less wordy and reads more like an episode of The West Wing.....

 

I'm actually enjoying Bendis more lately and finding Claremont's stuff to be almost painful...

 

Am I alone, and this is due to my notoriously short attention span?

[delekkerste]

I have 2 problems with Bendis:

 

#1 - His dialogue is poor. Almost every character speaks in nearly the same "voice" - everybody from teenaged Peter Parker to aging Aunt May has the same hip, wisecracking, tone to their speaking.

 

#2 - He turns a lot of mediocre issues into very good stories. What do I mean by that? His stories are usually pretty good, but he paces them like a movie and not a comic book. It takes him 6 issues to do what other writers can do in 2.

 

I recently read Moon Knight (1980) #1 (by Doug Moench, I believe) for the first time and was amazed how much happened in that one issue compared to the typical #1 issue that comes out nowadays. Compare that book with the launch 23 years later of Bendis' Ultimate FF #1 where practically nothing happens in the first issue. Not saying it was a bad issue, just that it takes Bendis and many other Modern writers 3 or 4 issues to show what a good Bronze/early Modern age writer could do in 1. Part of that I'm sure is that they have editorial pressures on them to make 6 issue storylines to be collected in the eventual TPB, but, regardless, I think the finished product is not as good as things were 25 years ago.

 

Gene

[joe_collector]

Part of that I'm sure is that they have editorial pressures on them to make 6 issue storylines to be collected in the eventual TPB, but, regardless, I think the finished product is not as good as things were 25 years ago.

 

Actually, I think it's the opposite, and as there is only so much time in one day, and Marvel wants Bendis to write multiple monthly books, he simply writes one "issue" and the artist/editor transform it into 6.

 

Just for fun, take a Bendis USM issue and mentally remove each panel that really doesn't move the story forward, and is simply in there for "mood". It you kept what was left from a 6-issue story, you'd have about 1 comic.

[Illiterati-migration]

Part of that I'm sure is that they have editorial pressures on them to make 6 issue storylines to be collected in the eventual TPB, but, regardless, I think the finished product is not as good as things were 25 years ago.

 

Actually, I think it's the opposite, and as there is only so much time in one day, and Marvel wants Bendis to write multiple monthly books, he simply writes one "issue" and the artist/editor transform it into 6.

 

Just for fun, take a Bendis USM issue and mentally remove each panel that really doesn't move the story forward, and is simply in there for "mood". It you kept what was left from a 6-issue story, you'd have about 1 comic.

 

Yep. Bendis is spread WAY too thin and it is exposing his weaknesses as a writer. This is why his graphic novels (Image) are actually FUN to read and are surprisingly innovative, while the garbage (USM, UXM, etc) that he's been doing for Marvel, is unreadable trash. Like Gene said, it's the same voice for everyone and when they aren't delivering insipid one-liners, they're rambling on incoherently (and worse, uninterestingly) about absolutely nothing at all (see "Secret War" #1).

 

For good Bendis, read Torso, Fire, Fortune and Glory, etc.

[cd4ever]

Part of that I'm sure is that they have editorial pressures on them to make 6 issue storylines to be collected in the eventual TPB, but, regardless, I think the finished product is not as good as things were 25 years ago.

 

Actually, I think it's the opposite, and as there is only so much time in one day, and Marvel wants Bendis to write multiple monthly books, he simply writes one "issue" and the artist/editor transform it into 6.

 

Just for fun, take a Bendis USM issue and mentally remove each panel that really doesn't move the story forward, and is simply in there for "mood". It you kept what was left from a 6-issue story, you'd have about 1 comic.

 

Yep. Bendis is spread WAY too thin and it is exposing his weaknesses as a writer. This is why his graphic novels (Image) are actually FUN to read and are surprisingly innovative, while the garbage (USM, UXM, etc) that he's been doing for Marvel, is unreadable trash. Like Gene said, it's the same voice for everyone and when they aren't delivering insipid one-liners, they're rambling on incoherently (and worse, uninterestingly) about absolutely nothing at all (see "Secret War" #1).

 

For good Bendis, read Torso, Fire, Fortune and Glory, etc.

 

I agree, his Marvel work is getting pretty mediocre (except I still like Daredevil).

But I will argue that Powers remains one of the best books on the market today.

His dialogue is very sharp there and the characters do all have a different tone to them. And it never ceases to surprise me. However, I can't stand those self-serving letters pages he writes!