Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer and artist. Starting with

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and noir comics, Bendis eventually moved to mainstream

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

work. While at

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, Bendis worked with

Bill Jemas Bill Jemas () is an American media entrepreneur, writer, and editor, known for his tenure as president of Fleer Entertainment Group during the 1990s, and for his work as vice president of Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2004. During his time at Marvel ...

and

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series ''The Authority (comics), The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ext ...

as the writer on the first book of the

Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the ...

imprint, ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate Ma ...

'', which debuted in 2000. He relaunched the

Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

franchise with ''

New Avengers The New Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The title has been used for four American comic book series. The first two were written by Brian Michael Bendis and depicted a version of Ma ...

'' in 2004, wrote the Marvel storylines "

Avengers Disassembled "Avengers Disassembled" is a 2004 crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics involving the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor. The beginning of Brian Michael Bendis's ''Avengers'' run, it depicts the destruction o ...

" (2004-2005), " Secret War" (2004–2005), "

House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of an eight-issue comic book limited series with a number of crossover tie-in books written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Its first i ...

" (2005), "

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue Limited series (comics), limited series and several ti ...

" (2008), "

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

" (2010) and "

Age of Ultron "Age of Ultron" (abbreviated AU) is a 2013 comic book fictional crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that involved the conquest of the Earth by the sentient robot tyrant Ultron. The storyline consisted of an eponymous, 10-issue core ...

" (2013), and co-created the characters

Riri Williams Ironheart (Riri Williams) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, the character first appeared in ''Invincible Iron Man'' Vol. 3 #7 (May 2016). ...

Miles Morales Spider-Man (Miles Gonzalo MoralesAhmed, Saladin (w), Garrón, Javier (a). ''Miles Morales: Spider-Man'' #1 (2018) Marvel Comics (New York). ) is a superhero and the third predominant Spider-Man to appear in American comic books published by M ...

, and

Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appea ...

. Bendis has won five

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

s for both his creator-owned work and his work on various

books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ''Powers'' TPB Vol. 9 – ''Psychotic'' (Icon, 2006), Though he has cited comic book writers such as

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

, Bendis' writing influences are less rooted in comics; drawing on the work of

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the F ...

, and

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, playwright and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a writer for stage, television, and film, Sorkin is recognized f ...

, whose dialogue, Bendis said, was "the best in any medium."Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ''Powers'' TPB Vol. 5 – ''Anarchy'' (Image, 2003), In addition to writing comics, Bendis has worked in television, video games and film. He has also taught courses on

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s at The University of Oregon and

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

. In 2014, Bendis wrote ''Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels,'' a book about comics published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Early life

Brian Michael Bendis was born on August 18, 1967, in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to a

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

family. Bendis grew up in University Heights where, despite rebelling against a religious upbringing, he attended the

Hebrew Academy of Cleveland The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland is a private day school in Cleveland, Ohio with over 1,000 students. It provides Judaic and secular education from pre-school through high school. The Hebrew Academy was established in 1943 by the Telshe Yeshiva an ...

, a private,

modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

religious school for boys. Renner, James. Cleveland Free Times, "Ulitimate Bendis: How A Jewish Kid From Cleveland Became the Hottest Name In Comics" (January 26, 2006). He decided he wanted to be a comic book industry professional when he was 13, working on his own comics, including a ''

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher ma ...

versus

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

'' story that he revised several times. A fan of

in particular, he emulated idols such as

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

John Romita Sr. John Victor Romita (; January 24, 1930 – June 12, 2023) was an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including Mary Jane Watson, the Punisher, Kingpin ...

, John Romita, Jr.,

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is an American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and co ...

and

."The Bendis-Fraction Conversation" ''

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...

Magazine'' (Winter 2010). Pages 24–28 He later discovered

crime comics Crime comics is a genre of American comic book, American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence a ...

Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comics artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, Illusionist, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with th ...

and José Muñoz, which he traced back via Jim Thompson's work to the source novels of both Thompson and

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

, which helped cement his love for crime stories. These, in turn, led him to discover the documentary ''

Visions of Light ''Visions of Light'' (also known as ''Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography'') is a 1992 documentary film directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels. The film covers the art of cinematography since the conception of cinem ...

'', which taught him the visual "rules" of

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

, an important influence on him creatively. While in high school, he submitted a "

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

assignment", a novelization of

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

's ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

and the

Starjammers The Starjammers are a fictional team of space pirates appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Starjammers have often appeared in pages of the ''X-Men'' comic books. The Starjammers first appeared in ''X-Men'' #104 (April ...

'' story, which gained him an A+ grade for imagination and inventiveness. At 19, Bendis began attending the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

, while working at a downtown comic book store where he eventually sold some of his early work. Between the ages of 20 and 25, he sent in a large number of submissions to comics companies, although he ultimately abandoned this approach to breaking into the industry, considering it too much of a "lottery."Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ''Powers'' TPB Vol. 3 – ''Little Deaths'' (Image, 2002),

Comics career

Caliber Comics

Best known as a writer, Bendis started out as an artist, doing work for local magazines and newspapers, including

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

work. He worked at ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' as an illustrator. Although he did not enjoy caricature work, it paid well and funded his interest in writing

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

for

s. He eventually moved into both writing and illustrating his work, before he began producing work for

Caliber Comics Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of Americ ...

, including ''Spunky Todd''. Through Caliber, he met many of his longtime friends and collaborators within the comics industry, including Mike Oeming, Dave Mack and

Marc Andreyko Marc Andreyko (born June 20, 1970) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter, best known for the true crime series ''Torso'' he co-wrote with Brian Michael Bendis and for co-creating the character Kate Spencer for DC Comics. Career Mar ...

, and began the first in a series of independent

noir fiction Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a subgenre of crime fiction. Definition Noir denotes a marked darkness in theme and subject matter, generally featuring a disturbing mixture of sex and violence. While related to and frequently confused with ...

crime comics when he published two issues of ''

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

'' in 1993 and five issues of '' A.K.A. Goldfish'' in 1994 with Caliber. In 1995 he illustrated ''Flaxen'' from a script by

James Hudnall James David Hudnall (April 10, 1957 – April 9, 2019) was an American writer who began his career in the comic book field in 1986 with the series '' Espers'', published by Eclipse Comics. He later worked for Marvel and DC on such titles as '' Al ...

, with David Mack providing inks to the story featuring former

Playboy Playmate A Playmate is a female Model (person), model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biograph ...

Susie Owens as mascot of the Golden Apple Comics chain f comic shopsin

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

.Kreiner, Rich (October 15, 2005)
"5,137 Pages of Brian Michael Bendis"
. ''The Comics Journal''. #271 Bendis's best-known early work, ''

Jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. Examples of "jinxing" in the 21st-century press include the suggestion a ship might be "jinxed". The connection was made wi ...

'', starring the titular

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

in a

crime noir Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

version of the

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...

film ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (, literally "''The good, the ugly, the bad''") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach a ...

'', began publication in 1996, and ran for seven issues from Caliber. He characterizes much of this period of his professional life in terms of working as "a graphic artist for almost twelve years", undergoing a period within that of "nine years" living as a stereotypical 'starving artist'.

Image Comics and Oni Comics

In 1996–1997, Bendis moved from Caliber to

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

, where ''Jinx'' and his other previous crime comics were published by Image's

Shadowline Shadowline, Inc., is an imprint of Image Comics established by Image co-founder Jim Valentino. The name is an homage to Valentino's character, ShadowHawk. History Shadowline was officially created in December 1992 when the logo first appear ...

arm in trade paperback. At Image, he also produced five more issues of ''Jinx''. Impressed with ''A.K.A. Goldfish'', Image founder

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series '' Spawn,'' as well as bein ...

sought out Bendis, which led to his writing ''

Sam and Twitch Sam Burke and Maximilian "Twitch" Williams are two fictional NYPD homicide detectives created by Todd McFarlane. Sam and Twitch were originally featured in McFarlane's hit comic series ''Spawn''. Due to their popularity, they were later given the ...

''. Although set in the

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

universe, Bendis approached ''Sam and Twitch'' primarily as a crime comic. He wrote ''Sam and Twitch'' for twenty issues, as well as most of the first ten issues of '' Hellspawn'', another ''Spawn'' spin-off title. This non-creator-owned work allowed him to, in the words of Rich Kriener in ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'', " ddthe responsibility of caretaker to his resume, in that he would answer to a vested owner about developing a property as a tangible asset with the future in mind," rather than only working on his own characters under his own terms. In 1998, Bendis co-wrote and illustrated the

Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Bureau of Prohibition, Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone while enforcing Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition in Chicago. He was leader of a team ...

-starring ''

Torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical terminology, anatomical term for the central part, or the core (anatomy), core, of the body (biology), body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limb (anatomy), limbs, tail an ...

'' with Marc Andreyko, again for Image, and in 2000 he produced three issues of the autobiographical '' Fortune and Glory'' for Oni Comics. That same year saw the debut of the superhero police/ noir detective series '' Powers'', co-created with and drawn by

Michael Avon Oeming Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer. Career Oeming is a fan of ancient mythology, having written or drawn several projects centering on the Norse gods. He frequently collaborates with long-time f ...

and published by Image. ''Powers'' won major comics industry awards, including Harvey, Eisner, and

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic ''Eagle'', the awards were launched in ...

Marvel Comics

Around the time Bendis began ''

'', his friend David Mack began working for

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, ...

Marvel Knights Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe ( Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles ('' Black Panther'', '' Punisher'', '' Dared ...

imprint, which Bendis was a fan of. Based on Bendis' work on ''Jinx'', Quesada invited him to pitch ideas for

, which included a planned, but ultimately unproduced,

Nick Fury Colonel (United States), Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and ...

story. Marvel Comics President

, on the recommendation of Quesada, hired Bendis to write ''

'', which debuted in 2000, and was targeted at the new generation of readers. Bendis adapted the 11-page origin story of

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

from 1962's ''

Amazing Fantasy ''Amazing Adult Fantasy'', retitled ''Amazing Fantasy'' in its final issue, is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, with the latter title revived with superhero features in 1995 and in the 20 ...

'' #15 into a seven issues story arc, with Peter Parker becoming the titular hero after the fifth issue, making the book a bestseller, often surpassing in sales those of the mainstream Marvel universe title, ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...

''. The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of the longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by a Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

''. Bendis subsequently wrote other books in the Ultimate line, including ''

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up ''Ultimate Marvel Team-Up'' is a comic book series, published by Marvel Comics which ran for 16 issues, including a concluding ''Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special''. It is set in one of Marvel's shared universes, the Ultimate Universe and is base ...

'', which Bendis pitched to Marvel as a follow-up to ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', as well as ''

Ultimate Fantastic Four ''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running ''Fantastic Four'' comic book franchise as part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. The Ultimate ...

'', ''

Ultimate X-Men ''Ultimate X-Men'' is a superhero comic book series, which was published by Marvel Comics, from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. The ...

'', ''

Ultimate Origins ''Ultimate Origins'' is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics, released in June 2008. It falls under Marvel's Ultimate Marvel imprint. It is written by Brian Bendis and illustrated by Butch Guice. It is intended to be a chapter ...

'', ''

Ultimate Six ''Ultimate Six'' is a seven-issue comic book limited series and crossover between Spider-Man and the Ultimates (2003), featuring the Ultimate Marvel version of the Sinister Six. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, penciled by Trevor H ...

'', the first three issues of '' Ultimate Power'', and the '' Ultimate Comics: Doomsday''

metaseries A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

. In 2011, Bendis and artist

Sara Pichelli Sara Pichelli (born 15 April 1983) is an Italian comics artist best known for co-creating and first illustrating the Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Miles Morales version of ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. After starting her career in animation, Pichelli en ...

created the

character as the new version of the Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis wrote every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, including its second iteration, '' Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man''. Quesada offered Bendis the writing duties on '' Daredevil'', which he took over in 2001, writing most of the subsequent 55 issues until 2006, collaborating mostly with artist

Alex Maleev Alex Maleev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Алекс Малеев) is a Bulgarian comic book illustrator, best known for the Marvel Comics' series ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'' (vol. 2) with frequent collaborator Brian Michael ...

. As a major Daredevil author, Bendis's name is one of the names used for boxers mentioned by a corrupt boxing manager in the 2003 '' Daredevil'' movie. Also in 2001, Bendis helped launch Marvel's non-

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. The c ...

-approved, adult

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

imprint with '' Alias'', featuring former superhero

operating as a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

. The series ran for 28 issues before many of the characters moved to Bendis's mainstream Marvel Universe series '' The Pulse''. In 2004 ''Powers'' moved from Image to Marvel's creator-owned imprint

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

, where it was relaunched as ''Powers'' Vol. 2 alongside another ex-Image series, David Mack's ''

Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

''. Also in 2004, Bendis oversaw the closing issues of ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'' as part of the crossover storyline "

". This led directly to the Bendis-helmed relaunch of one version of the eponymous team in the pages of '' The New Avengers''. Bendis's work on this storyline included the death of Avenger Hawkeye, which proved controversial. In 2005, with artist

Olivier Coipel Olivier Coipel (; November 7, 1969) is a French people, French comic book artist, known for his work on books such as ''House of M'', ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Thor (Marvel Comics), Thor''. Career Olivier Coipel started as a movie animator ...

, Bendis wrote the New Avengers /

crossover, "

", which would retroactively be considered the second act of a three-act super-event beginning with "Avengers Disassembled" and culminating in the Bendis-written 2008 storyline "

". Bendis also wrote the storyline " Secret War", which was published between 2004 and 2005. The series, which was not connected to the 1984 miniseries ''

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter ...

'', served as a prelude to ''Secret Invasion''. After Marvel's 2006 "

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

" storyline, Bendis helmed another ''Avengers'' revival, launching ''

Mighty Avengers ''The Mighty Avengers'' is a comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics. Originally written by Brian Michael Bendis, also the writer of ''New Avengers'', the title first featured an officially sanctioned Avengers team of registered s ...

'' with

Frank Cho Frank Cho (born Duk Hyun Cho; 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series '' Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as '' Shanna the She-Devil'', '' Mighty Avengers'' and ''Hulk'' for M ...

in 2007. Post-"Secret Invasion", Bendis left ''Mighty Avengers'' with issue #20 and wrote ''Secret Invasion: Dark Reign'', a one-shot that preceded another ongoing Avengers series, ''

Dark Avengers ''Dark Avengers'' is a 2009–2013 American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is part of a series of titles that features various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers, with this version of the team – unbeknownst to the ...

''. In 2009, Bendis and former ''Daredevil'' collaborator Maleev launched the long-delayed ''

Spider-Woman Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first major version is Jessica Drew (and later impersonated by Veranke), the second major version is Julia Carpenter, and the third m ...

'', following up on her role in the "Secret Invasion" storyline. ''Spider-Woman'' was the first comic book to be offered simultaneously on the Internet as a "motion comic" and in comic stores in print form. Bendis re-teamed with Olivier Coipel for the 2009 crossover series "

", which brought the "Dark Reign" storyline to a close, and with-it, ''Dark Avengers''. Springboarding out of ''Siege'', Bendis relaunched both ''Avengers'' and ''New Avengers'' as part of the " Heroic Age". Also in 2010, Bendis launched '' Scarlet'' through

Icon Comics Icon Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers. History Icon Comics was launched in 200 ...

, his first new

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-publishing, self-published or published by a corporate publisher. I ...

comic book in over a decade, re-teaming once again with Maleev. In February 2011, Icon released the all-ages

, '' Takio'' by Bendis and his ''Powers'' collaborator Mike Oeming, and in mid-2011 a maxiseries called '' Brilliant'' with artist Bagley. Bendis's other 2011 projects included a new ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabbi, Marc S ...

'' series with Maleev, which concluded with issue 12. In 2012, in conjunction with Marvel Studios' feature film ''

'', Bendis began writing a new ''Avengers'' comic, ''Avengers Assemble''. Bendis wrote the first eight issues of ''Avengers Assemble'', a series that premiered in March 2012 that featured a new incarnation of the Zodiac, as well as the return of the

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Comic book teams 1969 team The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...

, which teamed with the Avengers against Thanos. Bendis concluded his stint on ''Avengers'' and ''New Avengers'' in 2012 with the "End Times" arc. His final issue of ''Avengers'', released September 2012, was a "jam issue", featuring splash pages by Marvel artists including

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned ...

Jim Cheung Jim Cheung ( ; born 1972) is a British comic book artist, known for his work on the series such as ''Scion (comics), Scion'', ''New Avengers: Illuminati'', ''Young Avengers'' and ''Avengers: The Children's Crusade''. He co-created the Marvel su ...

, and

Leinil Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a People of the Philippines, Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the United States, American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the ...

. Following Marvel's "Marvel NOW!" relaunch of its titles, Bendis took on writing duties on ''All New X-Men'', which saw the return of the original 1960s X-Men to the present, ''Uncanny X-Men'', whose focus shifts to Cyclops' team of X-Men going rogue after the events of "Avengers Vs. X-Men", and ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', picking up where his ''Avengers Assemble'' run left off. Bendis wrote the "

" crossover storyline, which included an eponymous 10-issue miniseries, that was published between March and June 2013. Issue 10 saw the introduction of the

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

character Angela into the Marvel Universe. On July 22, 2014,

published Bendis's instruction book on comics, ''Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels.'' The day after that book's publication,

CBR.com ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

published an interview in which Bendis talked about the course on writing Graphic Novels he had taught for the past few years, initially at

, and beginning with the Fall 2013 semester, at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. His decision to teach came at the urging of

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

editor

Diana Schutz Diana Schutz (born February 1, 1955) is a Canadian-born comic book editor, serving as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years, followed by a 25-year tenure at Dark Horse Comics. Some of the best-known works she has edited are Frank Miller ...

. Among the works he employs as teaching guides are the works of

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (2006), are made in comic ...

and

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

DC Comics

In November 2017, Bendis announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he would be working exclusively with

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. His DC debut was in ''Action Comics'' #1000 (June 2018).

Ivan Reis Ivan Reis is a Brazilians, Brazilian comics artist. He is known for his work on comic books such as Dark Horse Comics' ''Ghost (Dark Horse Comics), Ghost'', Marvel Comics' ''Genis-Vell, Captain Marvel'' and ''Vision (Marvel Comics), Avengers Icons ...

drew the first issue of Bendis's ''The Man of Steel'' limited series, and collaborated with Bendis on the relaunched the ongoing ''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

'' series in 2018. Bendis took over writing ''Action Comics'' following its 1,000th issue. On December 21, 2021, Bendis announced that he was developing an adult animated ''

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

'' series for the streaming service

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. The show is set to be based on his run of the comic book series and will not connect to the original

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

Work in other media

In addition to his primary work in comics, Bendis has produced written work in several other media, such as

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s, TV and film. Bendis was the co-executive producer and series-

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

writer for

Mainframe Entertainment Mainframe Studios is a Canadian animation studio owned by Wow Unlimited Media and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell, Gavin Blair and John Gr ...

's 2003 animated ''

'' show, '' Spider-Man: The New Animated Series'' that aired on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and YTV, which features a college-aged Peter Parker, and was written to tie-into the then-unreleased 2002 film ''

''. The pilot episode that Bendis wrote became the third episode aired. His dismay at being credited for something written by someone else, and the multitude of corporate and legal departments involved in the animation process soured him on the show. Bendis was one of the writers on the ''

'' animated series, which debuted in 2012. He was credited as a developer and wrote several episodes for the TV adaptation of his comic, '' Powers'', which starred

Sharlto Copley Sharlto Copley (born November 27, 1973) is a South African actor. His acting credits include roles in the Academy Award-nominated science fiction film ''District 9'', the 2010 adaptation of ''The A-Team'', the science fiction film ''Elysium'', ...

and ran on

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

for two seasons from 2015 to 2016. Bendis's video game work includes

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

's ''

, which Bendis wrote. He also wrote an ''

'' game, which was never released. He was also a writer of Marvel's MMO, '' Marvel Heroes''. His film work includes the screenplay adaptation of '' A.K.A. Goldfish'' for

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

, and the screenplay adaptation of ''

'' for

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. In 2014, he wrote the plot of the ''

Disney Infinity 2.0 ''Disney Infinity 2.0'' (also known as ''Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes'') is a 2014 toys-to-life action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios. It is the sequel to '' Disney Infinity'' ( ...

'' video game. In 2024, Bendis signed a

first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...

with

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

to develop television shows based on ''

, Murder Inc.,'' and ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

.'' In 2025, Bendis served as a consulting producer on the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series ''Daredevil: Born Again''. In 2013, he was named on

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

's list of "The Best Tweeters in Comics", in part for his frequent Twitter posts highlighting the work of other creators.

Writing style

When creating characters, Bendis says that he always begins with someone he knows and builds upon that inspiration, allowing the character to eventually evolve naturally. His depiction of

Aunt May Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...

in ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', for example, strongly resembles his mother.

Personal life

Bendis met his wife Alisa in 1995 through the Cleveland chapter of the Hillel Foundation, where Alisa worked and Bendis was a staff illustrator. The two were married within a year. Alisa Bendis manages JINXWORLD, the company through which Bendis produces his creator-owned and licensed comics work. They have four children, of which three are daughters. Bendis's oldest daughter, Olivia, is his biological daughter. He and his wife adopted their two younger daughters, one of whom is African-American, and the other of whom is Ethiopian. Their names are Tabatha (adopted in June 2011) and Sabrina. Bendis mentioned in a July 2013 post on his

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

account that they had a newborn son, who is named London.

Awards

* 1999

for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition * 2001 Eisner Award for Best New Series (for ''Powers'' with

) * 2002 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for '' Powers'', '' Alias'', '' Daredevil'' and ''

)'' * 2003 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for ''Powers'', ''Alias'', ''Daredevil'' and ''Ultimate Spider-Man'') * 2003 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (for ''Daredevil'' with

) * 2000 Cleveland Press "Excellence in Journalism" Award * 2000 ''

Wizard Magazine ''Wizard'' or ''Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture'' (previously titled ''Wizard: The Guide to Comics'' and ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'') was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by ...

'' Best Writer of the Year * 2001 ''Wizard Magazine'' Best Writer of the Year * 2002 ''Wizard Magazine'' Best Writer of the Year * 2003 ''Wizard Magazine'' Best Writer of the Year * 2002 ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...

'' Best Writer of the Year * 2003 ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' Best Writer of the Year * 2004 ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' Best Writer of the Year * 2005 E3's People's Choice Award for Activision's ''

'' * 2010 Inkpot Award

Nominations

* 2001 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series (for ''Fortune & Glory'') * 2001 Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication (for ''Fortune & Glory'') * 2001 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for ''Powers'', ''Fortune & Glory'' and ''

'') * 2003 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story (with

for "Out"; '' Daredevil'' #32–37)

Bibliography

References

External links

*
Jinxworld
Bendis's now-defunct message board * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bendis, Brian Michael 1967 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers American comics writers Cleveland Institute of Art alumni DC Comics people Eisner Award winners for Best Writer Eisner Award winners for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition Image Comics writers Inkpot Award winners Jewish American comics artists Jewish American comics writers Jews from Ohio Jews from Oregon Marvel Comics writers People from University Heights, Ohio University of Oregon faculty Writers from Cleveland Portland State University faculty Writers from Portland, Oregon