There was a time, not all that long ago to an elderly person like me, that Brian Michael Bendis was the hottest writer in comics. He began his career on the indies at Caliber and Oni before getting his break with Image Comics, writing Torso and Sam and Twitch. These two crime books led him to Marvel and he was doing issues of Daredevil before being given the book. He earned his biggest break with Ultimate Spider-Man and soon was the go to guy for everything Marvel. It used to be you couldn’t spit online without seeing someone praising one of his books. He wrote the Avengers and set up Marvel’s event cycle for seven years, had stints on the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, the Defenders, and more before leaving for a lackluster run at DC.
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Bendis is a name that echoes through the 21st century comic industry. He was one of the most influential writers of this century, one who every fan whose been around long enough has an opinion on. Some people love him, some people hate him, but no one can deny that he’s done some good work over the years (even people like me, who have always been rather anti-Bendis). These are the ten best Brian Michael Bendis books in comic history, stories that helped define superheroes in the 21st century.
10) “Infinity Quest”
Bendis’s time on the Avengers is one of the most important phases of his career. An argument can be made that he probably never should have wrote the team (I like Avengers stories that aren’t all talking, personally, but I’m a strange sort apparently), but there are some cool stories from his run, including “Infinity Quest”, from Avengers (Vol. 4) #7-12. It brought Red Hulk to the team and saw The Hood get the Infinity Gauntlet. Infinity Gauntlet is a legendary Marvel story and this is Bendis’s version of it. It’s not as great as that story (although it has the same slow pacing, because Bendis never met a story he couldn’t stretch out), but it’s a lot of fun for Hood fans (there are dozens of us). If you’ve never read this one, give it a try.
9) New Avengers Annual (Vol. 2) #2/Avengers Annual (Vol. 4) #1
Bendis kicked off Avengers (Vol. 4) with a time travel story, but the second issue of the book saw Wonder Man attack the team. Simon had been going through it for a while, and he was angry that the Avengers hadn’t been there for him. He’d return in this one-two annual punch with his Revengers, a group of former Avengers allies with a beef with the team and attacked the two Avengers teams. Bendis is reunited with Secret War artist Gabrielle dell’Otto and gives readers an awesome little story about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes dealing with their own mistakes. Not a lot of people talk about this one, but it is fantastic.
8) Dark Avengers (Vol. 1) #1-6 and #9-16
So, this is actually several stories, but this series to me is all one big story. “Dark Reign” is the best part of Bendis’s Avengers run and Dark Avengers, by Bendis, Mike Deodato, and Mike Mayhew, was the centerpiece. After killing the Skrull Empress Veranke, Norman Osborn is made Director of SHIELD and put in charge of the Superhero Initiative and all of Tony Stark’s tech. He turn SHIELD into HAMMER and forms his own team of Avengers, bringing in Bullseye, Moonstone, Venom, Daken, and Noh-Varr in the guises of Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain Marvel, with Ares and Sentry staying on from the last team. Seeing Osborn try to hold the whole thing together, dealing with some of the most dangerous villains ever, as well as a secret member that could eat the world, was a lot of fun. It was a great change of pace.
7) Secret War
Bendis is probably one of the worst event writers ever. His style is too slow-paced and he depends more on snappy dialogue than action to move stories forward, which made for some rather boring events. However, some of his event books are actually pretty good and one of the best is Secret War, with artist Gabrielle dell’Otto. A group of Marvel heroes – Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Black Widow – are attacked by B-list tech villains, with Cage put in a coma. This leads to Nick Fury revealing the truth about why: that they were all part of a war they don’t remember. This was the first event by Bendis, and it was pretty great. It’s not exactly action-packed, but it looks gorgeous and its five-issue length means Bendis can’t stretch out, so it never gets boring.
6) “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos”
“Avengers Disassembled: Chaos” was Bendis’s first Avengers story and one of the best Avengers stories of the ’00s. Bendis and David Finch came together for a story that completely changed the course of the team. Jack of Hearts shows up at Avengers Mansion, but there’s a problem: he’s dead. He explodes and things get worse from there, as legions of the team’s enemies attack, with the last person anyone expected behind it all. This story was the second part of Bendis’ massive story that ran from Secret War to Siege and it set the Avengers on a course that would change the Marvel Universe. At only four issues, it combines action and drama beautifully, creating a story that fans went crazy for (I feel like four or five issues is the perfect length for most of his stories; it’s a shame him and Brevoort never realize that).
5) “The Trust”
Marvel can be aces at building events, and one of the best examples of that is Secret Invasion. Bendis had been building it since the beginning of New Avengers, but it all came to a head in “The Trust”. Running through New Avengers (Vol. 1) #32-37, with art by Leinil Yu, it revolves around the greatest dilemma the team ever faced. After learning that Elektra was a Skrull, the group has to figure out what to do with that information, while the Hood forms a new version of the Masters of Evil. This story doesn’t get a lot of credit, but it is fantastic. Bendis and Yu made an excellent team, and if you haven’t read this one in a while (or ever), you need to remedy that.
4) Siege
Siege was the culmination of Dark Avengers and the “Dark Reign” storyline. The four-issue event story with art by Olivier Coipel sees Norman Osborn and Loki decide to attack Asgard, which was in Broxton, Oklahoma. With the Dark Avengers, the Masters of Evil, and the forces of HAMMER attacking the Golden City, a newly returned to life Captain America leads the heroes in a desperate battle that will awaken an evil that could destroy everything. This is one of the few Bendis-written events that you can say is all-killer, no-filler, a well-paced exciting story that even Bendis’s blah action writing can’t bring down.
3) “Revolution”
Civil War changed the complexion of the Marvel Universe, and it also gave us the best year of New Avengers (Vol. 1). “Revolution” ran through New Avengers (Vol. 1) #26-31 (technically, #26 is a standalone), with art by Alex Maleev and Leinil Yu. The New Avengers have decided to stay underground, with Doctor Strange joining Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Iron Fist. Shaken by the assassination of Captain America, the group has deal with being hunted by the Mighty Avengers before they are called away by a friend who needs their help, leading to a major discovery (the Elektra as a Skrull thing). These issues are Bendis at his best, ratcheting up the tension and giving readers stories that will keep them on the edge of their seats.
2) Batman Universe
Bendis’s run at DC isn’t the most beloved, but there is one story from this time that everyone agrees is amazing – Batman Universe, with artist Nick Derington. Once upon a time in a Wizard magazine interview, Bendis said that no one would want the Batman story that he would write, and this book proves that old interview wrong. Batman is dropped into a situation unlike he’s ever been in before, getting help from the greatest heroes on Earth to solve this latest mystery. Bendis and Derington make an amazing team, making this a must-read for any Bendis fan.
1) Daredevil (Vol. 2) #26-81
So, much like the Dark Avengers, I’m doing almost his entire run (except for issues #16-19) because its basically one long story, as Daredevil has to deal with his identity being revealed and all of the headaches involved with that. Teaming with artist Alex Maleev, Bendis gave readers some of the greatest Daredevil stories of all time. This run is Bendis in completely in his own wheelhouse, building drama and tension over 55 issues. This run is so good that even if you aren’t a Daredevil fan, you’ll love it. This was the book that made all the rest possible and it’s outstanding.
What’s your favorite Bendis story? Or do you want to yell at me for not including Ultimate Spider-Man at all? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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