Bendis’s New Avengers Has Always Been Overrated

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In the 2000s, if you were a Marvel comic reader, it’s highly likely that you encountered works by Brian Michael Bendis. Kicking off his career at Caliber Comics before making a significant impact at Image with titles like “Torso,” “Sam and Twitch,” and “Jinx,” Bendis’ talent was recognized by Marvel, who entrusted him with “Ultimate Spider-Man.” This led to a surge in popularity that made him one of the most sought-after comic writers. Following the success of “Ultimate Spider-Man,” he moved on to titles such as “Daredevil,” “Elektra,” and “Alias,” which eventually led him to “Avengers.” The writing team of Bendis and artist David Finch took over after writer Chuck Austen had created some chaos. Their collaboration, titled “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos,” was a massive hit, earning them the responsibility for “New Avengers.

During the 2000s, Brian Michael Bendis contributed some remarkable Avengers narratives that continue to be highly regarded. The acclaim and financial success of his work, particularly “New Avengers,” are well-deserved, as this series significantly boosted the popularity of the Avengers after a period of decline and surpassed the X-Men’s sales dominance. However, I believe the series has received excessive praise, with some arguing that it’s not quite as perfect as some suggest. In truth, there have been recurring issues within “New Avengers” that can be attributed to Bendis’ writing style during this era, a time when many Marvel comics were often overrated.

New Avengers Was Often Boring

Reading New Avengers again remains a delight due to its consistently impressive artwork throughout its entire duration. Brian Michael Bendis collaborated with some of Marvel’s finest artists from the ’00s, including names like Finch, Steve McNiven, Mike Deodato, Leinil Yu, Billy Tan, Olivier Coipel, Jimmy Cheung, Stuart Immonen, and many others. The visual experience provided by this book is certainly appealing, enhancing its overall appeal.

Bendis also showcased his skill in character development, breathing new life into characters like Spider-Woman, Iron Fist, Echo, and Luke Cage, who hadn’t been as intriguing for years. His portrayal of Spider-Man and Wolverine was always commendable, and it can be argued that Bendis is somewhat underappreciated when it comes to writing Wolverine.

These strengths certainly add value to the book, but New Avengers also faces some persistent issues found in most of Bendis’s Marvel work – a fragmented narrative structure, a street-level focus, and a relatively low action quotient.

The shift towards more decentralized storytelling in comics during Bendis’s time wasn’t solely his doing, as it was a trend across the industry. However, Bendis was particularly noted for this style, often including excessive dialogue and multiple talking characters, which came to be known as his “talking heads” trademark. While his work was generally humorous, it also had a drawback: characters frequently exchanged witty banter similar to Spider-Man’s, which muddled their individual personalities. In titles like New Avengers, the characters often felt more like different versions of Spider-Man, with only a few (Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, and Captain America) having distinct voices. Bendis is credited for popularizing the humor seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

During his tenure, Bendis’s work was a reflection of a broader industry trend towards more decentralized storytelling, characterized by lengthy dialogues and multiple talking characters. While his stories were generally humorous, they often blurred character personalities with excessive Spider-Man-like quips. In titles like New Avengers, only a few characters (Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, and Captain America) stood out with unique voices. Bendis is recognized for introducing the humor now synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Despite the potential for forgiveness due to other aspects of the book, the absence of significant action and a grounded street-level vibe was disappointing. The Avengers have always been associated with grand action sequences, being renowned as one of the most potent forces in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, Bendis chose to keep the Avengers on Earth, and rarely utilized iconic villains that fans adore. Characters like Ultron and Kang were conspicuously absent from the book (though he later introduced them into other Avengers titles with varying success). In truth, there weren’t many genuine villains in the book until the Hood’s supervillain coalition, which can be considered a rebranding of the Masters of Evil. The Avengers engaged more with entities like the Void, the Hand, and other heroes rather than traditional villains. It’s also debatable whether they fought anyone at all, given that much of the book was filled with drama and setup. Bendis struggled to write action scenes effectively, as many issues contained little to no action, and he often teased fights at the end of issues only to skip them entirely, discussing the skipped fights in the opening of the following issue.

Occasionally throughout the series, especially during the initial “Breakout” arc, the narrative flow would stumble noticeably when there was action involved. The Avengers franchise, once known for its wild and exciting action, took a different direction under Bendis’s tenure. It seems to me that Bendis aimed to create an Avengers comic akin to Claremont’s “Uncanny X-Men”, focusing on character development and turning the Avengers into a soap opera. However, Bendis lacked Claremont’s knack for handling science fiction and action storytelling. As a result, “New Avengers” often felt like one dialogue-heavy issue after another, which has long been a criticism of Bendis’s writing style. Works such as “House of M” and “Secret Invasion” were particularly dull, much to the disappointment of many readers. The issues with disjointed storytelling, excessive dialogue, street-level feel, and poor action make “New Avengers” one of the most overrated comics in history.

New Avengers Could be Fun but It’s Not as Amazing as Its Reputation

During the 2000s, the New Avengers comic series by Marvel Comics stood out as a significant and influential title. Despite other prominent Avengers comics written by Bendis like Mighty Avengers and Dark Avengers, New Avengers served as the leading series. In certain aspects, this approach proved effective.

From the conclusion of Civil War to the end of Secret Invasion, New Avengers was genuinely excellent, finally meeting its high expectations (although the Dark Reign New Avengers was good, it didn’t quite reach the same heights; Bendis was primarily focusing on Dark Avengers during that time). However, periods before and following this peak were marred by various issues.

As a diehard comic fan, I’ve noticed that Brian Michael Bendis’ work at Marvel has been re-examined in recent years. Stripping away the hype, many of his books haven’t held up as well as fans initially thought. While New Avengers was generally enjoyable with its blend of drama and humor, I feel it’s been overhyped. It had its moments, even during those action-lite Avengers story arcs, but it rarely lived up to its reputation.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad book most of the time. However, I’d argue that some stories, like the first Ronin story, the post-House of M story, and the Civil War tie-ins, were mediocre at best. Similarly, a lot of the content during Dark Reign fell short. When it was good, it was fantastic, but those moments weren’t as frequent as its reputation suggests.

What do you think about Bendis’s New Avengers? Sound off in the comment below.

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2025-08-07 00:52