The Pickytarian

I usually only post when I disagree with you, so I think I'll write this time to say that you're right about everything here (except for only 17 people reading Runaways -- counting me, there must be at least 18).

Bendis sucks. I never paid much attention to him in the past, figuring that he even if he wasn't for me, at least some people liked him. But I decided to start reading Daredevil when this arc started, and now I don't understand why anyone likes him. I'm relieved to hear your reaction to it, because now every time I hear a reasonable person say that they like Bendis, it throws my whole worldview into question. My local comic guy tells me that several of his long-time Marvel fans have switched to DC in recent months, and I hope that's a nationwide trend. Marvel really needs a wakeup call.

I couldn't think of a better wake-up call than having Runaways be a success. I love that book. (I haven't quite finished the original series -- the third trade never arrived for me, so I had to buy the back issues on Wednesday. But
I have no reason to suspect that it won't continue to be wonderful.) I'm curious about people who tried it out and then dropped it. Can you tell me why you weren't impressed by the first issue? I think it's the best thing I've seen from Marvel recently, and it's made me trusting enough to pre-order all their upcoming "like-Tsunami-but-not-called-that" titles (even though I've dropped half of the other Marvel series I've been following.)

Hey Nevin, good to see you back on the comments!

I kind of liked that issue of Runaways that I read last year, but it was somewhere in the middle of the story and I think I decided to just wait for the trades. Of course, the trades never came out and they did those manga-format reprints instead. I understand that this probably had more potential from a marketing perspective, but to me the books looked crummy. The paper stock was low-grade and the art looked like what it was: shrunk down farther than the artist ever intended. After reading Vol. 2 #1, though, I kind of want to read the first series. I have been trying to decide whether I want to track down the back issues on eBay or in back-issue bins, or just bite the bullet and buy the digests. But my decision not to keep buying it really had little to do with the quality of the story itself.

As for Bendis, I think that he has grossly over-extended himself lately. This Daredevil arc started out strong, but lost all its steam and stumbled into an ending that was just pathetic. That Avengers mess seemed like it went straight from a one-sentence concept to a final script with no attempt at craft. He's coasting on reputation at this point and it's a painful and sad thing to witness.

I have to wonder if maybe he was sort of a one-trick pony with more style than substance. His Buffy the Vampire Slayer-type dialogue was charming and fresh a few years ago, but by now it's sort of tired. Maybe the novelty of his style has worn off and now there's not much else left? But I don't know, some of the older stuff he wrote was really good. I think it's more a case of him not trying as hard or being spread too thin.

Anyway if you want to read some pre-shark-jump Bendis, "The Secret Origin of Jessica Jones," which I think was the 4th and final Alias trade, was awesome. Up until the last couple of arcs, most of his Daredevil stuff has been classic. The first few Powers trades are also very cool - "Roleplay" in particular.

I've read the first Powers trade, and it supported my original "he has his fans, but I'm not one of them" theory. I'll try Roleplay, though. My library doesn't have "The Secret Origin of Jessica Jones", so I'll have to pass on that for the time being. (It does have a couple other Alias books. Maybe I'll get those eventually.)

I sympathise with you about the Runaways collections. I still felt they were great reads, but I'm not as art-focused as you are. Still, for $8, it's not a very big risk to take.

The entire Image Powers run is fantastic, as is 80% of his Ultimate Spider-man run. I think the over-extension theory is the best one. He's writing what, thirty books a month? And basking in his sudden fame and fortune. It never takes long for the artist who speaks to the common people to separate themself from that base at their first opportunity. I don't yet turn my nose up at Bendis books, but I've long-since stopped buying anything with his name on it.

Warren Ellis, however, is a rising star in my eyes.

This week's books really got me thinking about comic book creators in whom I have implicit trust. In other words, as long as their name is on the cover, I'll buy the comic and ask questions later. Bendis lost his seat on that council somehwere around The Pulse, Secret War, and A:D. That spot remained vacant until this week, when Brian K. Vaughan's membership was unanimously approved. I don't know if anybody else is really in there. I like Warren Ellis a lot, but the sheer volume of his output precludes his inclusion. Alan Moore is more or less a member (it should be noted, though, that I have no interest in the adapted versions of his prose work). Ed Brubaker... close but no cigar. If the art or characters don't appeal to me (e.g., post-cartoony Catwoman) I may not buy it. Kurt Busiek is very close, but I just couldn't get excited about JLA/Avengers. His current run on JLA may be good, but I can't sit through the sloppy visuals.

There are more small-press creators in whom I have implicit trust, but that's sort of a different animal. For one thing, they are often the writer and artist. Secondly, they aren't usually dealing with established characters. There are less factors that are out of the creator's hands. So it's less of a gamble when I pick something up with Peter Bagge's or R. Crumb's name on the cover.

There is no name in all comicdom able to get me to lay down money for a JLA/Avengers crossover. Sometimes just the nature of the project is a turn-off, but that shouldn't he held against the writer. There were plenty of drooling fanboys eager to gobble up JLA/Avengers, so why not hire a big name to write it?

Here's my must-buy list*:

Warren Ellis
Frank Miller
Mark Millar
Brian Azzarello
Mark Texiera
Kazuo Koike
Ryoichi Ikegami

Uhhh. I guess that's it. Wow. Short list. Here's the ones that ALMOST make that cut (i.e., the odds of my buying the book are heavily in their favor, but may change as I flip through/read the back:

Brian Michael Bendis
J. Michael Straczynski (sp?)
Matt Wagner
Garth Ennis
Frank Quitely
Kurt Busiek
Mark Waid
Alan Moore
Robert Kirkman
Brian K Vaughn

Other than that, everyone is on their own.

*List does not include writers/artists known exclusively for one book, i.e. Dave Sim or Terry Moore.

"There is no name in all comicdom able to get me to lay down money for a JLA/Avengers crossover."

I dunno...I'd buy it if Dan Slott were writing. But on the other hand, I don't consider Dan Slott to be a "must buy" author in general. It's usually how the author's strengths work with the theme that make the difference. (I also think that a lot of indie artists would do a cool JLA/Avengers. James Kochalka, for example :)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Grant Morrison. While there are a lot of people who could get me to try out their first issue or two just on the strength of their names, he's the only one that will have me waiting excitedly during the months before I get the chance to start buying it. (Seven Soldiers starts this week!!!!) Brian K. Vaughan may be rising to that level, too.

Warren Ellis does some great stuff, but he's too unpredictable for me to even bother trying everything he writes. I've pretty much decided to pass on his superhero work sight unseen, but a good science fiction story will usually get a look, and maybe even end up on my pull list before it comes out.

Oh, silly me. After submitting my comment and seeing the original post reload, I see that the very first two sentences are "Grant Morrison, move over. Brain K. Vaughan has officially joined the illustrious ranks of comic book writers in whom I have implicit trust." So I guess what I said wasn't very original, was it?

Now I feel I have to say something different, so I'll point out that Runners #5 also ships this week. Honestly, I'm as excited about that as I am about Seven Soldiers. Sean Wang (artist/writer) would easily make it on to my "implicit trust" list, except that right now, he falls under the exception of people "known exclusively for one book". Anyway, check it out (seanwang.com). The high concept (a motley group of aliens smugglers reminiscent of the Star Wars Cantina scene) is one that I wouldn't normally try out, but almost everything in it (action, plot, humor, cool-looking aliens) is done perfectly.

Several of the crew from the Flight Anthology would probably make my list, too. The only ones I can think of that have done multiple things so far are Vera Brosgol and Kazu Kibuishi (I'm buying the upcoming Hopeless Savages anthology just because Vera is doing a piece in it -- I've never read Hopeless Savages before.)

Runners, eh? I haven't heard anything about it. I will check it out.

I bought an issue of Hopeless Savages because the art appealed to me... the story left me kind of cold though. I'm eager to hear how that anthology works out.

I deliberately left Grant Morrison off my list. He has written some amazing stuff (Arkham Asylum, E for Extinction, the X-men Manifesto, etc.), but he also has an irritating tendency to suck me into a story and then leave me high and dry halfway through with no idea what the f**k is going on (see Invisibles, later issues of X-men, etc.).

I don't need Chris Claremont style explanation captions on every page, but sometimes I think Morrison is writing on acid laced with speed, and not bothering to look behind him and see who is lost in the dust.

"Runners, eh? I haven't heard anything about it. I will check it out."

I just re-read issues 1-4 to prepare for #5 coming out tomorrow. I have to admit that a lot of my excitement comes from the fact that a new issue is FINALLY coming out. (This is the first one since I discovered the comic a few months ago, but from the dates on them, it looks like it's about 2 issues per year.) So I shouldn't have mentioned it on the "implicit trust" discussion, but I can still recommend it to anyone who's gotten tired of Adam Strange and wants a new space-faring adventure :)

#1 is being re-released for Free Comic Book Day, so if the samples at the website look interesting, let your dealer know that you want to check it out.

I think Bendis really is a one-trick pony. I quit Daredevil (after buying the title for 21 years) a few issues after he begun to write it. The Kingpin being shot between the eyes and not dying was just plain stupid. And that arc involving the little son of a supervillain was awful, nothing happened there.

To me, Bendis always came of as a lazy, lame and crap writer, since years ago. Try to read his Daredevil: Ninja. There's no plot in that and the cell phone scene alone contains all Bendis' many flaws in just three pages. It's past time for Bendis to quit comics. At least, as soon as Quesada drops off Marvel, Bendis (and Millar) will follow him (to oblivion). The same happened with Jim Shooter and his proteg鳮