gildea said:
Not disputing that he's written many, but you have claimed thats all he does. Technically I only need to provide one counter example to 'prove' you wrong.
It's still a stereotype I hate seeing. Explain why I can open up one of his comics, see a heroine in a skin tight costume and think, "She'll triumph with zero effort, and be snippy about it" and be correct about 75% of the time? I'm not against strong heroines, but if even Superman can sometimes be challenged, seeing Bendis repeat a stereotype over and over gets tedious. One of his biggest problems is he simply repeats himself and rarely grows.
I'd probably agree with you on wolverine but not cap or spider-man. Of course your definition of "done" probably varies. Regardless she wasn't unbeatable.
She defeated Klaw with ease. Name me one supervillian that Cap, Wolverine, or Spider-Man beat with ease in NA. Heck, I'd argue after all the hoopla of Spidey & Wolverine being Avengers, they've both contributed very little. Spider-Man contributed some first-hand experience with Electro & the Savage Land but when it comes to actual fighting he's about on par with Arana (with a cold) in the usefulness factor. And Wolverine's been a non-factor.
Dread you're well aware there's no real reason that she she shouldn't have been able to do that. I know you're really not arguing based on the habit writers have of vastly over-powering logan.
I was just noting how it normally takes someone of Sentry's power level to "pwn" Wolverine instantly and naturally Drew gets to do that so she comes off tough. Name me the last time Spider-Man got to embarass Wolverine like that in a book that mattered (which excludes MTU #1, as that title Marvel cared enough to publish for 2+ years but not enough to do anything major with).
One I'd agree with. Her story was shoved to the side and wrapped due to CW
Yeah, she'd degenerated into "token girl". Then CW came along and rescued Bendis from underwhelming team arcs to focus on stronger individual character issues. But CW can't last forever and he'll still need to address these problems.
He was still older then given that he graduated by #29 in ASM. Given all that had happened in issue 100 I see no reason he had not to cry, there had been no experience like that prior to prepare him for it. Cripes most adults would have.
Its completely unfair to criticise bendis for trying to create more realistic character developement than comics in the 60's would have allowed.
It just seems that every time I read an USM arc now, Spidey is either crying, being unmasked, being rescued, or losing. Or being "out of his element". This was okay in the beginning but has gotten to the point where he's like a 50's Damsel in Distress and I cannot take him seriously as a superhero. INVINCIBLE's far less incompetant (and yes, I know he's physically more powerful, but not my point.).
And yes, Bendis has 20/20 hindsight on some matters. Considering decompression, 29 issues of ASM are almost on par with 100 issues of USM. I mean he's had 17 "adventure arcs" basically.
Go on then. (not trying to be a jerk just curious as to whats greater).
A clarification; by "goon", I meant villians who are not the stars of an arc and exist as either henchmen of someone else or random costumed freaks to start off an issue, like a Bond opening sequence. Rhino fits this description easily, as does Gladiator, Shocker, Killer Shrike and Omega Red.
Green Goblin - Spidey is unable to beat him, cops shoot him. First arc, justifiable.
I'll omit LEARNING CURVE since it was part of the "moral" and Ultimate Kingpin was, frankly, a complete moron until WARRIORS. He could have gotten rid of Spidey from the beginning and figured out his ID the same way Sable would later, but didn't because he was a moron (or plot convience). Bendis can't go on about "being more realistic" and yet enguage in shoddy character logic to maintain illusions. You cannot have it both ways. Kingpin was arrogant to the point of stupidity here.
Legacy - Harry, SHIELD, etc bail out Spider-Man from Green Goblin
Venom - Peter was not winning; at best it was a draw before police and a power line beats Venom. Some people hated the anti-climatic ending, but I didn't. Quite frankly the first story of USM I outright disliked would be CARNAGE and from there the book's been hit or miss.
Elektra & Black Cat - because they are buxom females, Spider-Man is utterly helpless to stop either of them, and both overwhelm him (the former more than once). The Handbook attempts to explain this via "bad luck from Cat", something Bendis never even hinted at and thus exists as Handbook baloney to clear things up. Elektra is not even a super-soldier like Cap is and has no excuse to pwn Spidey so badly.
Ultimate Six - Spidey "is their b!tch", as Bendis so elloquently states. Good to see no "one on one kung fu logic" from ASM ANNUAL #1, but this series was just Ultimates vs. the Six (or Five). Spidey gets in one punch on Osborn and the rest is him not wearing a mask, yelling, and being manhandled. He doesn't even try to fight. He's more useless than Jubilee was here, and including this mini as an USM arc rather than Ultimates is weak.
Nightmare - Spidey is helpless until Dr. Strange saves him.
Warriors - Again manhandled by Elektra
Sable - again manhandled by a buxom, unbeatable femm fatale
Vulture - needed Sable to rescue him
Ringer - utterly helpless, needs Kitty to save him.
Deadpool - see above
Vampires - Utterly helpless, needs Morbuis to save him.
Clone Saga - so far, pwned by Ultimate Spider-Woman, yet another buxom female. Spends entire issues in crying, screaming fits. Mark Grayson had his father turn on his entire planet and whined less.
Cancelling out Venom, my list shows that the last few arcs in a row, he's been a bit of a helpless feeb when it comes to the main villians of his arcs. Not henchmen, not random grunts. I mean the star attractions. It gets draining after a while.
And that's not even touching the conveluted baloney that Clone Saga has deevolved to. And I actually gave that story a chance for 3-4 issues.
.
