Questions for Brian Michael Bendis
So far I've had two or three people fail to respond to my requests for interviews.
1) Jury's still out on one guy, so I won't mention him till I'm sure.
2) I always knew Mr. T was a long shot.
3) No word from Brian Michael Bendis for a while now.
This doesn't shock me. Bendis is in great demand as an interview subject, and the only way I know to contact him is an AOL e-mail address that is probably spam-choked, and a forum which is infrequently traveled. Wouldn't surprise me even if the message got through and he's too busy to answer to anyone who isn't from one of a few "name" comics sites. I might get the chance to ambush him at Wizard World Philadelphia, but I'm not counting on it.
If I did interview him, though, here's what my big questions would be.
1) What's your feelings about the Internet? You've spoken out against it pretty strongly in the past, but you haven't avoided using it altogether.
2) I'm gonna zero right in on one of your stories which resonated strongly with me. I thought New Avengers #15 seemed like it contained some veiled comments on modern online communications. On the one hand, you've got Carol Danvers' blog, which unfortunately didn't read much like a blog to me. Or at least it had no distinguishing characteristics that made it a blog instead of a magazine article. No comments section, one long post instead of five or six read in reverse chronological order, no hyperlinks... I note that you've avoided blogging for the most part, just posting links to the latest articles of interest to Bendis fans. Does the form repel you? Or does the environment?
3) The other big connection to the Internet in New Avengers #15... again, just how I'm reading this... is J. Jonah Jameson and the way the Avengers try and fail to handle him. Being a writer in your position, you deal with a lot of trolls who are clinging to irrational hatreds for their own reasons. (Not all critics are trolls, but the trolls are so much louder!) Have you ever felt, as Iron Man seems to feel, "Oh, I just need to invite these guys into the penthouse, look 'em in the eye and clasp their hands as human beings, and we'll get past all this silliness...?"
4) Is there any sympathy to Jameson's point of view? I mean, he's not totally wrong when he says the Avengers tried to buy him. Do we have to just let trolls be trolls?
5) Your forum has stricter rules about member behavior than most and, to the casual observer, they seem well-enforced. Would you like to see those rules adopted in other discussion forums across the Internet?
6) What's your take on digital distribution for Marvel? For independents?
7) Do you think your views on these things are fairly typical among Marvel's current creators? With a few exceptions, your crowd doesn't mingle with the indy webcartoonists much.
Maybe I'll get my chance. Till then...
1) Jury's still out on one guy, so I won't mention him till I'm sure.
2) I always knew Mr. T was a long shot.
3) No word from Brian Michael Bendis for a while now.
This doesn't shock me. Bendis is in great demand as an interview subject, and the only way I know to contact him is an AOL e-mail address that is probably spam-choked, and a forum which is infrequently traveled. Wouldn't surprise me even if the message got through and he's too busy to answer to anyone who isn't from one of a few "name" comics sites. I might get the chance to ambush him at Wizard World Philadelphia, but I'm not counting on it.
If I did interview him, though, here's what my big questions would be.
1) What's your feelings about the Internet? You've spoken out against it pretty strongly in the past, but you haven't avoided using it altogether.
2) I'm gonna zero right in on one of your stories which resonated strongly with me. I thought New Avengers #15 seemed like it contained some veiled comments on modern online communications. On the one hand, you've got Carol Danvers' blog, which unfortunately didn't read much like a blog to me. Or at least it had no distinguishing characteristics that made it a blog instead of a magazine article. No comments section, one long post instead of five or six read in reverse chronological order, no hyperlinks... I note that you've avoided blogging for the most part, just posting links to the latest articles of interest to Bendis fans. Does the form repel you? Or does the environment?
3) The other big connection to the Internet in New Avengers #15... again, just how I'm reading this... is J. Jonah Jameson and the way the Avengers try and fail to handle him. Being a writer in your position, you deal with a lot of trolls who are clinging to irrational hatreds for their own reasons. (Not all critics are trolls, but the trolls are so much louder!) Have you ever felt, as Iron Man seems to feel, "Oh, I just need to invite these guys into the penthouse, look 'em in the eye and clasp their hands as human beings, and we'll get past all this silliness...?"
4) Is there any sympathy to Jameson's point of view? I mean, he's not totally wrong when he says the Avengers tried to buy him. Do we have to just let trolls be trolls?
5) Your forum has stricter rules about member behavior than most and, to the casual observer, they seem well-enforced. Would you like to see those rules adopted in other discussion forums across the Internet?
6) What's your take on digital distribution for Marvel? For independents?
7) Do you think your views on these things are fairly typical among Marvel's current creators? With a few exceptions, your crowd doesn't mingle with the indy webcartoonists much.
Maybe I'll get my chance. Till then...
Posted at
2:03 PM
3 Comments:
You know, I have noticed a barely disguised disdain for internet fanboys coming from Marvel's top brass.
I think it's plenty justified when some geek fundamentalists calls for your head because you wrote a character in a way they didn't want. And on top of that, they're finally coming to realize that the people screaming at them on the internet are NOT representative of their true audience, and that these guys will continue to buy the comics no matter what.
So, what I'm saying is, you not getting a reply from Bendis is probably due to some association to these clowns.
While your Wikipedia interview and the fall-out proved that you're far more reasonable than some militant fanboys on the web, well, Bendis doesn't know that...
Heh, sorry, I just re-read this and it looks like I'm calling you a militant fanboy... Which I'm not. I'm just saying that he likely sees everyone with a blog as one in the same.
Nah, it makes sense.
Dan Slott has agreed to be interviewed, so that's one.
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