More Bendis & Slott Thoughts…

It’s funny how once you’re aware of something, you just see it everywhere, kinda like the number 108. But regardless, as I was scanning my various bookmarks, I came across this week’s edition of the Pipeline Commentary & Review by the esteemed Augie De Blieck Jr. This week he reviews the TPB of the last Secret War arc in The Pulse by Bendis as well as takes a hard look at Dan Slott’s The Thing. Given the lively conversation last week that started with these two guys, I thought why not try and catch lightning in a bottle twice?

And if that doesn’t float your boat, Augie found a link to this cell phone shaped like a comic book word balloon. I wish the link had more info, cause this is the kinda stupid thing i’d actually spend money on.

I think Augie has some legit criticisms of both books, while I don’t really know where he stands on this Old School vs. New School debate…

Comments

  1. i would do anything to have that phone. i wonder when it’s going to go on sale and what smartphone OS it’s running… but non-the-less, the form-factor is sweet.

  2. I knew the phone was the real hot item…talk about burying the lead….

  3. That phone does indeed kick ass. As for getting a hold of one, it’s patent pending and the pictures are all CG knock-ups, so I wouldn’t hold your breath, this’ll probably be one of those cool ideas that’ll never get made.

    As to the lead story… yeah the article is ok. I found the Pulse a very weak substitute for Alias, and Secret War a pretty dire title to tie-in to, but the specified arc wasn’t too bad in hindsight. I didn’t read Thing, so I can’t really comment, but I will probably read it in trade, as I’m a fan of Slott’s She Hulk.

  4. I’m going to start reading the Pulse in trade form soon. I was all Bendis’d out when that book came out, and I was pretty angry about Alias being cancelled. What’s the deal with MAX comics anyway? are there still any max titles out there?

    Anyway, completely unrelated, here’s the whole first issue of ex machina, free. Everybody who hasn’t read this needs to get on it:
    http://dccomics.com/features/exmachina/intro.html

  5. On the “New School vs. Old School” debate, I would like to know why it has to be one or the other? There are all kinds of different characters in Marvel Comics alone, does it have to come down to one or the other? Do we want a mature and edgey Thing comic? Do we want Jessica Jones fighting Hulk and Thing robots? I think that it is more likely that new writing styles are going to evolve out of the mordern Bendis-style of writing, but I would bet that there are some new tricks to be learned by revisiting the old school Slott-style. I prefer a mature and clever plot about Nick Fury commiting a terrorist-like act against Latveria to a goofy adventure about the Thing becoming a billionaire. However, the industry works well on different levels and I think we are wrong to turn this into Thunderdome, where only one style can emerge for today’s comics.

  6. Agreed. There’s a part of me that really wants to see the “serious” writers like Bendis and Whedon taking onn some ridiculous shit.

    I’d like Whedon to write an X-Men vs Arcade story arc. Arcade rules.

  7. Dude – I deleted the dupe comment (and you’d never be an abusive user)

    Dave – I think youhit the nail on the head, in that it doesn’t have to be one way or another, and I too enjoy the evolution comics have taken, but surprise surprise, some people I guess have a hard time letting go of the past, old habits die hard and all that.

    Dude – you’re absolutely correct – Arcade rules – they should totally use him again..

  8. I dont think Bendis deserves all the accolades he recieves but i do think hes a good writer. I love superhero comics and in a way im old school but then I like Ex Machina,Sleepers,Powers,and Planetary. Every era of comics had its problems and that includes this one but overall I think comics are in a healthy place right now. I like Dan Slott but I dont agree that comics are too dark right now. My problem with the New school per se is the pacing of the books and the forced cliff hangers every issue. Sometimes I think Bendis and Ellis fall into the one trick pony syndrome where I know im reading a story by them without even looking to see if their names are on it.

  9. I don’t know that comics are in a healthy place at the moment, but I think they are trending upwards. There was a great surge of creativity in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. Then things went very stagnant for a while. Now it feels like things are getting better, and more exciting.

    As far as why it has to be one or the other, it doesn’t. I think for some it does, but here, it’s just a matter of preference for the sake of academic argument.

    Finally, I totally lost interest in the Pulse, while I’ve only read some of Alias, I thought it was excellent.

  10. i recently bought the hefty Alias omnibus.

    i don’t usually like hardback books, they can be difficult to read; with the parts of the page closest to the spine getting lost, however this collection was just too good to be passed on. It collects all 28 issues in the regular HB oversized format, and also has a healthy compliment of extras in the back for good measure.

    Alias is undoubtedly Bendis’ best Marvel work, which is why I think a lot of people were disappointed with the Pulse. The Pulse finale was great however, it was the only issue where they used the entire original team behind Alias, and also had the most Jessica-centric storyline.

    The concept behind the Pulse was a good one – taking a look at the biggest stories in the Marvel universe from an outside perspective, however when The Pulse tied in to Secret War it was doomed to failure.