Brian Michael Bendis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brian Michael Bendis |
|
|---|---|
Bendis at Midtown Comics in 2019
|
|
| Born | August 18, 1967 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Writer, Artist |
|
Notable works
|
Jinx Torso Powers Ultimate Spider-Man Alias Daredevil The New Avengers House of M Secret Invasion Siege All-New X-Men Age of Ultron Civil War II |
| Awards | Five Eisner Awards including:
|
| Spouse(s) | Alisa |
| Children | 4 |
Brian Michael Bendis (born August 18, 1967) is a famous American writer and artist for comic books. He is known for his exciting stories. He started by creating crime and mystery comics. Later, he became well-known for his superhero stories.
At Marvel Comics, Bendis helped launch the Ultimate Marvel series. He wrote the very first book, Ultimate Spider-Man, which came out in 2000. He also brought back the Avengers team with New Avengers in 2004. Bendis wrote many big Marvel storylines. These include "Avengers Disassembled" (2004–2005) and "Secret Invasion" (2008). He also helped create popular characters. These characters are Riri Williams, Miles Morales, and Jessica Jones.
Bendis has won five Eisner Awards. These awards are for his own comics and his work for Marvel. He has also worked on TV shows, video games, and movies. He taught classes about graphic novels at universities. In 2014, Bendis wrote a book called Words for Pictures. This book teaches about writing comics.
Contents
Early Life and Comic Dreams
Brian Michael Bendis was born on August 18, 1967. His family lived in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in University Heights. When he was 13, he decided he wanted to work in comics. He started making his own comic stories. One story was about Punisher versus Captain America.
Bendis loved Marvel Comics. He looked up to artists like Jack Kirby and Frank Miller. He also found crime comics that he loved. These stories taught him about film noir, a style of movie. This style became a big influence on his creative work.
When he was 19, Bendis went to the Cleveland Institute of Art. He also worked at a comic book store. He tried sending his work to comic companies. But he decided it was better to find another way into the industry.
Starting a Comics Career
Bendis is mostly known as a writer. But he started his career as an artist. He drew for local magazines and newspapers. He even did caricatures for The Plain Dealer. He used the money from his art to fund his writing. He wanted to write crime fiction for graphic novels.
Soon, he started both writing and drawing his own comics. He began working for Caliber Comics. There, he met many friends in the comics world. He published his first independent crime comics. These included Fire in 1993 and A.K.A. Goldfish in 1994.
His early well-known work was Jinx. This comic started in 1996. It was about a bounty hunter in a crime story. Bendis has said he worked as a graphic artist for almost 12 years. For nine of those years, he was a "starving artist."
Moving to Image and Oni Comics
In 1996, Bendis moved to Image Comics. His earlier crime comics, like Jinx, were reprinted there. He also made more issues of Jinx at Image.
Todd McFarlane, who started Image, was impressed by Bendis's work. He asked Bendis to write Sam and Twitch. This comic was set in the Spawn universe. Bendis wrote 20 issues of Sam and Twitch. He also wrote for Hellspawn. This work helped him learn to develop characters for others.
In 1998, Bendis co-wrote and drew Torso. This comic was about Eliot Ness. In 2000, he made Fortune and Glory for Oni Comics. This comic was about his own life.
That same year, Powers debuted. This series was about superhero police detectives. Bendis co-created it with Michael Avon Oeming. Powers won many awards in the comics industry.
Working at Marvel Comics
Bendis started working for Marvel Comics around 2000. He was hired to write Ultimate Spider-Man. This comic was made for new readers. Bendis took Spider-Man's original story and made it longer. The comic became a bestseller.
Bendis and artist Mark Bagley worked on 111 issues together. This was one of the longest partnerships in American comic history. It was the longest for a Marvel creative team. Bendis also wrote other Ultimate comics. These included Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men. In 2011, Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli created Miles Morales. Miles became the new Ultimate Spider-Man.
In 2001, Bendis started writing Daredevil. He wrote 55 issues with artist Alex Maleev. Also in 2001, Bendis helped start Marvel's adult comic line, MAX. He wrote Alias, which featured former superhero Jessica Jones. In 2004, Powers moved to Marvel's Icon imprint.
In 2004, Bendis wrote the end of The Avengers series. This led to him relaunching the team with The New Avengers. He wrote many big Marvel events. These include "House of M" (2005) and "Secret Invasion" (2008). After "Secret Invasion," Bendis launched Dark Avengers.
Bendis also worked on "Siege" in 2009. This story ended the "Dark Reign" storyline. After "Siege," Bendis relaunched both Avengers and New Avengers.
In 2010, Bendis launched Scarlet. This was his first new comic he owned in over ten years. He also created Takio and Brilliant. In 2012, Bendis started writing Avengers Assemble. He also wrote the "Age of Ultron" storyline in 2013. This story brought the character Angela into the Marvel Universe.
Bendis finished his work on Avengers and New Avengers in 2012. After Marvel's "Marvel NOW!" relaunch, Bendis wrote All New X-Men. He also wrote Uncanny X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Working at DC Comics
In November 2017, Bendis announced he would work only for DC Comics. His first DC work was in Action Comics #1000 in 2018. He wrote The Man of Steel limited series. He also relaunched the Superman series in 2018. Bendis took over writing Action Comics after its 1,000th issue.
In December 2021, Bendis shared that he was developing an animated Legion of Super-Heroes series. This show is for the streaming service HBO Max. It is based on his comic book series.
Work in Other Media
Besides comics, Bendis has written for video games, TV, and movies.
He was a writer for the 2003 animated Spider-Man show on MTV. He also wrote for the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, which started in 2012.
Bendis was a developer and writer for the TV show Powers. This show was based on his comic. It ran for two seasons from 2015 to 2016 on PlayStation Network.
His video game work includes Ultimate Spider-Man for Activision. He also wrote for Marvel Heroes. In 2014, he wrote the story for the Disney Infinity 2.0 video game.
For movies, he wrote screenplays for A.K.A. Goldfish and Jinx. In 2024, Bendis signed a deal with Amazon Prime Video. He is developing TV shows based on his comics like Jinx and Pearl. In 2025, Bendis was a consulting producer for the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again.
Writing Style and Personal Life
When Bendis creates characters, he often starts with someone he knows. He then builds on that person to make the character unique. For example, his version of Aunt May in Ultimate Spider-Man looks a lot like his mother.
Bendis met his wife Alisa in 1995. They married within a year. Alisa Bendis manages JINXWORLD. This company handles Bendis's own comics. They have four children. Their oldest daughter is Olivia. They adopted two younger daughters, Tabatha and Sabrina. They also have a son named London.
Awards and Recognition
Brian Michael Bendis has received many awards for his work.
- 1999 Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition
- 2001 Eisner Award for Best New Series (for Powers)
- 2002 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for Powers, Alias, Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man)
- 2003 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for Powers, Alias, Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man)
- 2003 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (for Daredevil)
- 2000 Cleveland Press "Excellence in Journalism" Award
- 2000 Wizard Magazine 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 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 Ultimate Spider-Man
- 2010 Inkpot Award
See also
In Spanish: Brian Michael Bendis para niños
