Marvel Honors Bendis With Plaque For Eight Years of Avengers

For the past eight years, Brian Michael Bendis has been the lead writer of the Avengers titles, and with that, the lead writer for the Marvel Universe as a whole. From The Avengers to New to Mighty to Dark and some others I’m probably forgetting, Bendis was the keystone for the rejuvenation of Marvel’s Avengers… but as of last Friday, that era has ended.

Yesterday, Marvel Senior VP of Publishing (and longtime Avengers editor) Tom Brevoort gave Bendis a plaque to signify the the Cleveland-born writer’s contributions to the Avengers franchise over the past years.

“The lovely @TomBrevoort just presented me with this. I’m quite touched,” said Bendis in a tweet. Brevoort himself replied to that, stating “@BRIANMBENDIS Worked with me for eight years–well earned!”

The trophy/statue/plaque, given during a brief two day retreat in New York City, marks a changing of the guard at Marvel and a ideal vantage point to see all that Brian Michael Bendis has done. Although the writer is staying on with the publisher with new titles like All-New X-Men, and continuing his long-running Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Bendis’ run on Avengers is one of the longest in American comics history, joining the rarefied ranks of Chris Claremont’ s X-Men, Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier’s Groo, Dave Sim’s Cerebus and Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s Fantastic Four.

Here is a close-up view:

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Comments

  1. ‘Not like this-“

  2. I am so lost on this closet joke

    • There was an issue of Avengers after Hawkeye was resurrected where he tracked down Wanda. They slept together and in the middle of the night he woke up, saw a light emanating from her closet and opened it and all the reader saw was a shocked look on his face. We’ve never been told what Clint saw and it’s been bugging a lot of us to the point where it’s become a running joke.

  3. No love for Peter David’s Incredible Hulk run?

    • Or his current long X-Factor run?

    • ^^ What they said.

    • I wouldn’t look into it too much. I get the impression that the intent behind this award is somewhere between sincere and tongue in cheek. It seems like it’s entirely Tom Brevoort’s idea, not something Marvel regularly does to recognize talent contributions.

      But subjective opinions of quality aside (X-Factor is a very good book), Bendis has moved a hell of a lot more units than Peter David in the past 8 years, and can be given *some* credit for putting the Avengers franchise in a position to allow for a hit movie.

      So even if it is an official recognition from Marvel, I’d say Bendis earned it.

  4. I wish the statue was a tiny closet door.

  5. NOT LIKE THIS!!!!

    That was awesome! Josh will love this…

  6. Anyone know the total number of issues across all the Avengers titles?

  7. 4 out of 5 dentists disapprove of Marvel’s decision to reward Bendis with ugly and destructive plaque, recommend a multipack of Dentyne instead.

  8. Thanks to Mr.Bendis, every marvel character that was not an Avenger became one.

  9. Well Earned Bendis ( with a little Geoff Johns) got me to read avengers and fall in love with the mythology, It was great while it lasted! Bendis Rules. Good Job Sir.

  10. I’m an Avengers fan, and Bendis did some good work, but I am so ready for a new set of hands on the tiller…

  11. I read, ‘Marvel honors Bendis with plague…”

  12. well deserve great work

  13. Thank you Mr. Bendis.

    Maybe Marvel could have splurged and got him a trophy or even a ribbon.

  14. I just like to say thank you Mr. Bendis for all the amazing Avengers storys you have given me. You are the very first comics writer i “Realized” since the age where i started reading New Avengers at I dident care to know who the Writers were. I just wanted to read something awesome. So thank you for that. My favorite super hero team in comics will always be the New Avengers. Again, Thank you.
    TO BENDIS!!!

  15. I’ll admit I’m not Marvel guy but Bendis deserves to be reconized for contributions for rebuilding the Marvel universe, But me being a fan of his indie work want him to do a new creator owned mini plzz.

  16. Bendis reminds me of Chunk.

  17. Closets. The traditional place for keeping skeletons in.

  18. Thank you Mr. Bendis for Darecevil , the avengers and I’m sure you sir will get one more plaque with the x-men.
    I”m enjoying Bendis’ time in marvel. And it`s good news to see him recogniced.

  19. Back when Marvel Comics were actually a growing business, they didn’t feel the need to congratulate themselves so much or talk in pretentious hyperbole about their every overblown storyline. Peter David never got a plague, and he took the Hulk to higher and higher sales and critical acclaim. Chris Claremont never got a plaque, and he took a C-list title and turned it into Marvel’s most profitable franchise, with a flagship title that sold nearly a million copies a month, on average, for over a decade.

    Bendis? He predictably put Spider-Man and Wolverine in the Avengers, squeezed out all the sales he could for eight years, double-shipping and padding “story”lines as much as possible, and now Marvel is in a state where they have to charge $4 per issue and double-ship over half their line just to stay competitive with a stagnant DC. They give him an award for being the #1 guy during that descent. Because, when Bendis came in, his writing was good, and Marvel was at a peak of critical acclaim, with the Marvel Knights stuff, and Morrison’s X-Men, and soon enough Ultimate Spidey and Bendis’s Daredevil (again, back when he actually wrote well and didn’t toss off ten scripts a month without thinking).

    It’s so weird that as companies/corporations/governments/colleges/people fail, they always feel the need to give each other more and more awards, as if to hide the fact that they’re presiding over a sinking ship. Everyone with a clear mind undiluted by hype and propaganda knows that Bendis’s usual quality control plummeted around 2003. Celebrating the guy is a joke. He’s the face of the decline of mainstream superhero comic books.

    • Man! I’d be very afraid to give you a Christmas card.

    • I’m sorry, your just wrong. Bendis is not the “face of the decline of mainstream superhero comic books”. Marvel has ALWAYS spoken w/ pretentious hyperbole about their storylines. And 8 years ago the industry was still in deep shit and Bendis didn’t have anything to do with it.

      The sinking ship is WAY bigger than any creator, and the guy did something memorable by staying on the title this long. Why begrudge him a fucking plaque?

  20. We produced that award! diyawards.com!
    Just like this…