posted 10-10-2001 01:15 AM               

• I liked learning that he had worked in several fields before making the final move to comics. Frequently I feel as though my life as a creative person was essentially over a couple of years after I left college, and it's niec to hear about artists who jump around a lot while keeping their goals in sight.
  
• "We put rules in art, and it drives me crazy." One of the key elements of art is innovation, and the concept of pushing the envelope. When art becomes commercial -- and I'm not saying art becoming commercial is a bad thing -- it tends to settle for the status quo, and then it's a lot less interesting. Whenever someone says you can't do something in art, the right answer is to say yes, you can.
  
• I haven't seen any of the Marvel Team-Ups that Bendis is talking about here -- I've only read Powers, Fortune and Glory and Ultimate Spider-Man -- but I'm eager to see what it's like, partially to see Bendis' storylines, but mostly to see the indie artists he's working with. It's always nice to see a recognized element of culture in a new light, and I think that when superheroes are cast in a different artistic style, it can serve to remind us that they don't always have to have the same meaning. Pencils and ink can bring as many, if not more, character ideas to the forefront as words can.
  
• "If you do this again in 20 years, it'll still work." This is proven as much in Warren Ellis' Planetary as it is in Bendis' work on Ultimate Spider-Man. If an idea is good, it can stand lots of interpretations and retellings through the ages. And Spider-Man is a good idea.
  
• I liked, in general, Bendis' rationale for Peter Parker revealing his secret identity to Mary Jane, especially so relatively early in the story. If I were 15, I would consider being a superhero a huge burden, and I'd certainly want to tell someone. And anyone who's ever been 15 with a girlfriend knows how important she can be. We don't know where Peter and Mary Jane's relationship will go, but we do know that the decision was the best -- and most realistic -- for Peter at the time.
  
• I'm getting a little tired myself of the entertainment scoop culture on the Web. I'm an avid reader of Corona's Coming Attractions, but a big part of that is because Patrick Sauriol, the site's content director, takes his news seriously and respects the reader with a wish to remain blissfully ignorant. With comics, I like to follow my favorite writers, but I still generally stick to the tried-and-true method of going into the store and buying stuff that strikes my fancy. I still appreciate the element of surprise, and it's nice that Bendis tried to keep that intact when he made the decision to have Peter tell MJ the truth.
  

posted 10-10-2001 01:15 AM               

He talked a lot about his daily creative process, which given his change in location, I hope he is able to keep up. Basically, it involves very long bicycle rides during which he maps out the stories he will be working on for the next given time period. All I can say is (and I believe someone in the audience that day actually did) that given his current workload, he'll be needing a new bike every couple of months.

I could say a lot about what I like about Brian Bendis' work and to some extent, I already have, read my review of Fortune and Glory here) but I think I am going to save some of those comments for the individual review threads. I do want to comment on two things.

Number one, I am an idiot. It took me a ridiculously long time to cave to Dave's urgings to read Powers and Bendis' other crime books. I believe I gave some half-hearted "it's probably too violent for me" excuse which in reality is a crock because I have a stack of true crime books as high as my hip. Once I started reading, I went through all the issues of Powers in a single night and though the graphic novels in short order after that. I've admitted my idiocy, I'm ready to move on.

posted 10-14-2001 02:28 PM               

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Originally posted by Kevin Ott:

I liked learning that he had worked in several fields before making the final move to comics. Frequently I feel as though my life as a creative person was essentially over a couple of years after I left college, and it's niec to hear about artists who jump around a lot while keeping their goals in sight.

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I'm at one encouraged and discouraged by this. In one sense, I've never stopped writing since college, which is a good thing. On the other hand, I haven't always written exactly the kinds of things I've wanted to write, or that I think I want to write. (Maybe the reason I haven't written them is that I haven't really wanted to write them, you know?) I don't seem to have the "I'll work my day job, plus I'll find a way to do the art that I want to do" attitude. I have the jumping around down, but I admire Bendis' focus a great deal.

quote:

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When art becomes commercial -- and I'm not saying art becoming commercial is a bad thing -- it tends to settle for the status quo, and then it's a lot less interesting. Whenever someone says you can't do something in art, the right answer is to say yes, you can.

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Or at least, maybe, "lemme give that a try."

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I'm getting a little tired myself of the entertainment scoop culture on the Web.

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Absolutely. I like to read behind the scenes stuff, but that's not the same as liking spoilers.