Brian Michael Bendis aka the guy who gave us Miles Morales Spider-Man!

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Let's make a bet. Name the best new Marvel character for the early 2000s. Chances are most of you are thinking of one of this guy's creations.

Ok. Another bet. Name the biggest event in Marvel comics in the early 2000s. Chances are this guy was heavily involved.

Best original Ultimate line comic? Best Marvel Max book? We can go on and on.

If you are thinking of Marvel in the 2000s, you are thinking of Brian Michael Bendis. His body of work for the company is so extensive and dips in so many corners that you can very much make a case that, for better or for worse, Bendis is to Marvel's 2000s equivalent to a Stan Lee or Chris Claremont. Yes, I'm using the big words here, because we have to use big words when we talk about this guy.

Much more than the heavy dialogues full with long speeches and witty back-and-forth that he is known for, affectionately and sometimes not affectionately nicknamed Bendialogue by fans, Bendis is a go getter. He takes chances, he takes leaps of faith and more often than not those leaps pay off. Putting Spider-Man and Wolverine in the Avengers? Making Spider-Man a black kid? Iceman is gay now? What may seem like no-brainers today are often decisions that fans take with a pinch of salt (and often boulders) of salt, and Bendis collects them like I collect Bendis comics.

Here are some of our Brian Michael Bendis recommendations, and please, leap away.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) with Mark Bagley

Marvel was between a rock and a hard place by the beginning of the 2000s, and that rock was not Ben Grimm. They needed to take risks and they needed those risks to pay off like their life dependent on it (and boy, it really did).

The Ultimate line was a company-wide plea for audiences that their characters are not old and obsolete and that the company can exist in the 21st century. Spider-Man was one year away from becoming a major Hollywood I.P. And Marvel wondered: What Spider-Man books could those kids pick-up? Well, this is it.

An insane task was taken by Bendis with the focus on the simple idea that Peter Parker is as timeless as timeless can be. He's an underdog, he goes forward when the world goes against him. He's the story of every generation. And he's also FUNNY. Bendis goes to town here, he goes from moment to moment of Spidey's rich history and reinvents it with an ease and a sense of liberty, something that the main continuity of Spider-Man comics might not allow as easily for a writer.

When MJ hits Peter with “face it tiger", any fan will crack a smile. This book is a playground. And he takes Peter on maybe the fullest and most complete journey the character will probably ever get.

Almost his entire run is collected in the Omnibus format with:

There is also this handy bundle you might want to look into.

Ultimate Spider-Man is also starting to get collected in the new Ultimate Epic Collection line. Starting with Ultimate Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 1: Learning Curve.

Which brings me to..

Spider-Man MILES MORALES with Sara Pichelli

Oh, when he takes off his mask for the first time and it's a black kid, the comic landscape is changed forever. And with movies and video game franchises to boost him now, there's no denying that this decision paid off.

If Ultimate Peter embodies timelessness, Miles embodies the future. Miles not only lives up to the legacy of Spider-Man, he translates and puts into words what that legacy actually is. His struggles, his family, his friendships, his perspective on the world feels fresh while staying true to the core themes of Spider-Man. He very much owns it.

Sure, he's a household name now, but reading the early Bendis comics at least shows a dedication to changing the way you look at things. Reframing the world and capturing how different people deal with the same challenges, finding community and heroism BECAUSE of that willingness to leap. And that to me is a mission that often separates a (good) superhero comic from a (good) superhero comic that looks beyond the shelf.

Spider-Man Miles Morales is also collected in two omnibus volumes:

and is starting to be collected his own Modern Era Epic Collection.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man Modern Era Epic Collection Vol 1: Hero In Training

Alias (A.K.A Jessica Jones) with Michael Gaydos

This story is a Team Walt favourite. Do you know what it means when a dozen comic nerds can agree that something is just plain good? It is nothing short of a miracle.

Alias is another original Bendis creation. Jessica also spins out of the world of Peter Parker but in a very different way. She's not your usual female character, and she would probably tell me to f#*%-off for writing “usual female character”.

Alias is a mature detective noir story written for modern audiences with shades of Veronica Mars and other characters that were about to become very popular at the time (hey, look, here's Bendis trend-setting once again) so no wonder it translated very well into a tv show, because it's basically written like one.

It's bonkers, funny as it is tense, as the art of Gaydos almost drips off the page, the narrative leaves with a feeling that YOU might be drunk at some point - in a good way. (wait, don't tell your parents i said being drunk can be good kids).

Jessica lives in a very different world than the typical Marvel characters and has a very different attitude towards things, but that does not mean she's not living in the Marvel universe and certainly doesn't mean that she is not a hero. This discrepancy and contrast is what makes this book a modern classic and it's insanely fun.

It's for an adult audience but I read this when I was 14 and I'm not gonna say that I didn't think this was the coolest thing ever (wait kids also don't tell your parents this, maybe let's not tell them about the whole thing) but for what's it's worth, when you actually get the level of discussion Bendis hits here with things like trauma and abuse you will pinch yourself reminding this is a Marvel book. I'd say, this is the closest Marvel ever got to Vertigo levels, even surpassing it at some points.

It's available in one beautiful Omnibus, and Bendis continued to write the character up to the point when he left Marvel in 2018. Unfortunately, it is out of print. But because you seem to be really interested, you will get 10% discount if you click on the link below. It's magic (and will only work through this unique link!)

Jessica Jones Alias Omnibus

The New Avengers / Mighty Avengers / Dark Avengers

Here's another leap. Let's blow-up the Avengers mansion, kill a few characters and split the group apart. That's Avengers Disassembled, his first arc. How do you rebuild after this? Bendis takes The Avengers from A title to THE title of the line. Everything revolves around this and it feels like they're right in the place they deserve to be.

The setups here are insanely underrated, usually because sometimes the payoffs are not exactly the most popular. We can argue though, that the issues building up for Civil War and particularly Secret Invasion are the reason why the expectations for the events are so high in the first place. These characters are put into hardcore situations that feel impossible to beat, and sometimes they beat the odds and sometimes not.

The selling point of all this was putting the most popular characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine in the main team. Another thing that should generate a “DUHHH, of course!” but that was not a common idea of the time!

What really makes you stay though, it's that Bendis mixes in characters like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Doctor Strange and even The Sentry. Luke’s journey during the Civil War arc solidifies him as one of the most compelling Avengers of all time. And Bendis stayed for a decade. We could also talk about the now often missed Dark Avengers era, with Norman Osborn in command. It's bold and again, Sentry's arc, is some of the best.

Bendis knows how to take advantage of every corner of the Marvel Universe and it's often the one actually moving the pieces forward.

Also, Squirrel Girl as a nanny? Hell Yeah! Why not?

It's a great moment to collect all this. You can buy the recent omnibus line:

or go for the Modern Era Epic Collections:

Daredevil (2001) with Alex Maleev

It says a lot that we're talking about a lot of things and we haven't even touched on what is probably his most popular work. And that is Daredevil. Throw another one in the blender and see what comes out with the idea of revealing Daredevil's identity as Matt Murdock. And if there's one character perfectly suited to having his life torn apart, only to rebuild it, it's Daredevil. Another crime-noir, something that Bendis is a master at.

Matt's skill as a lawyer is as great as the visceral brutality and sacrifices he goes through as Daredevil on behalf of a city that is more than ready to beat him up instead of saying thank you.

If you see a friend complaining about Bendis' dialogue, this is the one you show to prove how he uses it for intensity, tonality and world-building. When the characters speak you want to read them and when they don't, when Bendis just leaves the gorgeous Maleev art speaks for itself… the violence hits, and it's heart-pumping. Striking the perfect balance between these two aspects in comics is harder than it looks, but Bendis nailed it. Daredevil continues to be good for almost all of the 21st century, and part of that responsibility is the foundation work he does here.

Read this in Omnibus format:

or in the Modern Era Epic Collection line.

Brian Michael Bendis isn’t afraid to reshape entire worlds

And there's more, of course there is more. He leaves the Avengers for the X-Men in what is a very controversial run, but one that I would recommend giving it a shot.

He brings the young Classic X-Men to the present timeline, a choice not universally loved, but rich with symbolism. Forcing these idyllic-looking younger versions to confront their future selves, whose choices often don’t align with their own expectations, is a bold concept. It also serves as a meta-commentary on fan expectations of who these characters are, or should be, within the Marvel lexicon. This leads to some fascinating developments, especially for Cyclops.

By the end of his run on the title, Bendis has Iceman come out as gay. While the ‘Bobby was never gay for decades’ comments often flood the comment sections, the way Bendis handles it, from the perspective of a gay X-Men fan, makes perfect sense. It’s a beautiful, poetic moment that I’ll always appreciate and be thankful for. And this story is being collected in an omnibus this year.

All New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus

And what about Bendis time on DC Comics?

While he’s the king of Marvel for decades, his time at DC is short-lived and not particularly successful. Still, I’d say it’s worth giving a try.

He takes on Superman, and the 'Bendis-blender' moments here are the hugely unpopular ones: making Clark reveal his identity to the public, followed by the even more controversial decision to age Jon Kent away from his family. Bendis takes leaps, he doesn’t always land them, but it’s rare to achieve this level of success without them. There are some standout moments, particularly in how he writes the Daily Planet crew and gives Lois a noir-style investigative reporter arc.

He also created Naomi for DC and she's not Miles or Jessica but she is certainly a fresh take for the DC World and I highly recommend reading both seasons trades (Collected in Naomi: Season One and Naomi: Season Two). I also want to say that I appreciate the Wonder Comics line he tried to revive, a good idea with perhaps not the best execution, something that seems to be the norm.

Can't get enough of Brian Michael Bendis?

Never. He has wild stints on Moon Knight, Iron Man (where he creates the wonderful Ironheart), also is responsible for rebooting Guardians of the Galaxy after the film, with a great romance arc for Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde (??) that end up in a team with The Thing from the Fantastic Four and Venom Space Knight version. Yeah. That one is my guilty pleasure.

You can also check out his original work with titles like Powers, Pearl and Jinx.

Brian Michael Bendis' influence is undeniable. Whether it is for redefining legacy heroes, creating original characters, or rebooting entire franchises, his fingerprints are everywhere. Love him or not, he is willing to take risks, sometimes wildly successful, sometimes controversial, sometimes controversial and wildly successful at the same time.

I think I won this bet. My prize? You take a leap of faith with me on a few of these. What's the first?

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Written by Matheus

Hey, I’m Matheus.

I’m a writer and filmmaker from Brazil! If I’m not reading comics you can probably find me trying to see everything that comes out in my local cinema, giving a lecture (again) on Kamala Khan to my boyfriend or, most likely, researching reading orders for characters that I want to read next (I’ll get to you someday Doctor Fate!! I promise, my king).

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