Brian Bendis Illuminates The Illuminati

[masteryoda]

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=66106
BRIAN BENDIS ILLUMINATES THE ILLUMINATI

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You got questions, Brian Bendis has answers...

No, he's not moonlighting as manager of his local Radio Shack. This week we asked our readers for questions regarding the just-released New Avengers: Illuminati special, and you guys didn't dissappoint.

As promised, here's the creator of the Illuminati and the writer of the special with his answers to your questions...

Q: Brian, can you give us some insight into some events the Illuminati have had a hand in over the years?

Brian Bendis: Well, there are events that have happened to our heroes without any warning. In fact, most of them have. Those the Illuminati have had no direct effect on except for being there for each other to analyze the aftermath. The ones that they did have an effect on will be addressed in the future some day.

Q: Why build the Illuminati in Marvel's past, instead of building it as a direct response to recent events?

BB: When the idea came to me the second thought I had was well, why wouldn’t they have done this in the past. After Galactus or Kree/Skrull War or the original Secret War. Once that thought came, a little research brought the Kree/Skrull War to the obvious forefront. It just fit without retconning anything.

Q: If Wolverine is supposed the be the secret Avengers and not exposed to the press...what was he doing in Detroit with Luke Cage's cleaning up the city deal?

BB: I think it has more to do with Wolvie not wanting to be a dancing monkey who gets up on stage and waves to crowds. What Luke was attempting was something anyone could get behind and it was probably easier to coax Logan away from his beer.

Q: Is Ronin ever going to be doing anything or has she not been invited to join?

BB: Ronin and that storyline are front and center after the events of Civil War.

Q: How many times have do you suppose the Illuminati have met? One would think surrounding major events (Dark Phoenix Saga, Contests of Champions, Secret Wars, Galactic Storm Onslaught, Heroes Return, etc), but have they also met in between these times?

BB: Not as many times as you would guess and not about the things you would guess. Again, those stories will probably still be told so I don’t want to give it away right now.

Q: And here's one that's kinda oddball: if they met pre-Onslaught, post-Timeslip, did teenage Tony Stark fill-in for his adult counter-part? (as Iron Man was stupidly replaced with a teen version of himself during that time)

BB: As we illustrated in the last part, not every member always made it to every gathering. Sometimes life got in the way.

Q: I don't understand why Xavier was telling the Illuminati about Krakoa. What did they have to do with Krakoa? I thought Xavier gathered mutants to attack it by himself. Can you explain the involvement of the Illuminati?

BB: The involvement was obviously minor, I think Xavier was asking for council from his intelligent friends about a situation that obviously had a profound effect on his life.

Q: Why did Namor defend the HULK from his exile, when he hates the Hulk?

BB: See, sometimes he does and others he doesn’t. In this case I think Namor hated the idea of what was happening more than any feelings about the Hulk directly.

Q: In She-Hulk #4 just 2 months ago, it was revealed that the Hulk has NEVER killed a civilian. So why are Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. saying that the Hulk has killed and continues to kill civilians? I don't get it. Is the Hulk a murderer or not?

BB: Remember in the Hulk movie when the Hulk threw a tank with a guy inside it across the desert and it crashes and the guy gets out of the tank unscathed? Didn’t that seem like complete and utter ________ to you? It did to me. I’m not saying the Hulk is a squeezing a guy’s head until his eyeballs pop out murderer but when Hulk smashes ____ gets ____ed up and people get hurt. You can’t knock down a building and everyone inside brushes off and goes to lunch. It's ridiculous.

Q: What's up with the Black Panther, T'Challa? I've been reading his monthly only sporadically, but having read the first six issues I was under the impression that he was just introduced and started interacting with the Marvel Universe during the Bush Administration (i.e. when "Dondi Reese" was in power). And yet, here he was meeting with the Illuminati way back when.

BB: Black Panther has been around since the early issues of the FF and was an Avenger during the amazing Roy Thomas years.

Q: Um, Dr. Strange says "um" now?

BB: He also pinky picks his nose when no one is looking.

Q: Will you hurry up and put Namor on the New Avengers? Group needs its Aquaman, man.

BB: He is fun to write.

Q: I may be a bit thick, but it wasn't clear to me if Black Bolt was supportive of Iron Man's position at the end of the issue. I'll assume yes, since he didn't fly off in a huff. But why would he support the voluntary registration. Like Namor, Black Bolt is the leader of a sovereign nation, not a superhero. Why would he care about something that will only be impacting America in the short term.

BB: Here is the script to that scene:


4- Doctor Strange gently casts a spell. He is disappearing into a strobe light effect of magics. He does it calmly. With a very sad look on his face.


DOCTOR STRANGE
I guess we're done here.

Never call upon me again.
5- Smoke still billowing from where Doctor Strange was sitting, Iron-Man asks Blackbolt even though he's pretty sure he knows the answer.


IRON-MAN
Well.

I'm sorry you can't communicate with us, Black Bolt. I -
6- Black Bolt holds up a stern hand with stern pursed lips.
7- Black Bolt gestures at him through with pursed lips.
8- Black Bolt points at them with disappointed, hateful eyes.
9- From Behind Reed Richards, Black Bolt flies away. Iron Man hangs his head as Reed gets up to leave.


IRON-MAN
I think I got the gist.
REED RICHARDS
Well, I have to go home and fight with my wife about this for the rest of my life.

Q: Why did those who disagreed with Iron Man not give any counter-argument? Certainly there are plenty that would work (indeed, Civil War would be a very short event if there weren't).

BB: I believe they did.

Q: Is Namor such an ass because he doesn't have his own book anymore?

BB: I think he’s an ass because he’s an ass and always has been.

Q: I had thought (based on previous interviews) that the special would cover the evolution of the ILLUMINATI over the years, tracking their involvement with the Marvel Universe. (Perhaps touching on major events like INFINITY GAUNTLET and/or ONSLAUGHT.) Instead, we just got their very first meeting and their very last meeting.

BB: No, read the solicit. We always said it was it was the birth and fall of the group. And that’s what it was. No false advertising there.

Q: Were there ever plans to include this "middle years" material? And is there any chance we'll see this backstory filled in now, given that the group is essentially defunct? If not, can you share any highlights of what you had in mind for those missing, middle years?

BB: Originally I was going to do a whole mini with the middle stuff too. I still will at some point.

Q: You have men of science, monarchs and a mystic present as members, why not a member of the Marvel Universe god pantheons included? Basically why wasn't Thor or Ikaris of the Eternals included?

BB: Thor would have been interesting but he is often not on Earth and just wasn’t there for the original meeting. The Eternals I backed off on for a couple of reasons: firstly, I wasn’t sure where [Neil] Gaiman was going with his interpretation and thought it best to respectfully let him do his thing. Also, the Eternals haven’t really been in the mainstream consciousness in the last couple of decades and trying to explain them in this context would have been a real headache.

Q: When Dr. Strange says not to call on him again, does he mean as the Illuminati, or is he severing all ties with Tony and Reed?

BB: I believe he is really disappointed.

Q: Do you think we'll see more Namor in the future like say a possible mini by you?

BB: Not a mini but he’ll pop up.

Q: In Amazing Spider-Man, Stark responds to how much super-hero rumbles have cost in damages with "47" (from memory); the number of times the heroes have prevented Earth/the US from being destroyed or conquered. Shouldn't the same argument have been made about the Hulk?

BB: One could argue that’s why they tried to find him a peaceful place to call home and not shoot him into the Sun.

Q: The timeframe of the first meeting in Wakanda confuses me. It is supposed to be the within a week of the end of the Kree-Skrull War. That was well before the Sub-Mariner first donned the special costume (devised by Reed Richards!) he wore throughout this issue. Also at that time, Dr. Strange was had renounced magic and retired (about a year our time before the first Defenders story) and the Black Panther was calling himself the "Black Leopard" (okay, the last one didn't last long). Not to mention that Black Bolt must have been taking something to counteract the effects of worldwide pollution that was confining the Inhumans to Attilan at the time...

BB: See, time is an iffy thing in comics. How much actual time has gone by in the Marvel Universe versus real time? Its one of those things we have to just deal with. And books like this special make it easy to consolidate time by marking events like we did. I know this annoys some people but it just has to happen as time goes on.

Q: At the end of that first meeting, Professor X is talking about Krakoa...not only is it about four years (our time) before the events of Giant-Size X-Men #1, but if all of these key superheroes had been alerted in advance, how did it end up that he had to assemble not one but (as of X-Men: Deadly Genesis) two teams of mostly neophyte mutants!

BB: See above.

Q: I'm sorry, it just seems like everything that was going on at the time of the Kree-Skrull War was ignored just to provide a meeting with the right people at a particular time...

BB: Nope. See above.

Q: Now we know from previews that much of Iron Man's prescient speech about the start of Civil War comes true. Should fans steel ourselves for the rest of it to happen as well (Or is that too spoiler-y)?

BB: We know a little bit has come to pass. I would steel yourself for a Millar machine gun of crazy.

Q: How come we didn't see an outer space hero like Quasar present or Captain Marvel himself?

BB: They weren’t invited to the original meeting.

Q: Is the new style of art we saw from Alex Maleev in The Illuminati the type of art he will apply to the new Spider-Woman ongoing series?

BB: Nope. That will be yet another new style or styles. Alex is a painter and print maker and a true artist. He invents styles that serve the story.

Q: If the Illuminati had met in the past then wouldn't Onslaught/Xavier have just mind controlled them and taken over the world?

BB: Maybe they are J

Q: Wouldn't Cyclops, Magneto, or Storm have gotten involved as well when they were running the X-Men when Xavier was no longer available. Especially when Magneto was the headmaster in the 80's?

BB: We’ll deal with that in the future.

Q: And what about Xavier knowing that Apocalypse was destined to rule the world in the year 3000? I'd figure that issue would take prominence over anything so wouldn't the Avengers and Fantastic Four gotten involved with the X-Men to stop Apocalypse ASAP?

BB: That story is not completely told yet.

Q: And why do human super-villains suck so much? Seriously, the best one they got is Doom. Put him up against Magneto, Sinister, or Apocalypse and his ass is kicked.

BB: Welcome to the world of nerd! We have shirts.

Q: And why do you hate Carnage so much? Cuz he's got hair and you don't? *****, his ass took on Spider-Man, Captain America, Deathlok, Cloak, Dagger, Your mom and dad, Bush, Joe Quesada, Cosmic Jemas and still whooped ass. Carnage is ACTUALLY a good villain. He's the only villain that Parker faces that's pure evil and has no redeeming qualities. In fact, he's the MOST evil villain in the Marvel Universe. You can't just get rid of that in two pages. It's too valuable of an asset. He's the living perversion of the American Dream. He gets what he wants because he believes in himself. He doesn't just want your possessions...he wants you life. It's sickness for him that nothing is enough. And it's not because he had a bad childhood. He very could have been spoiled rotten which would have made even more sense...yea sorry this question has nothing to do with Civil War...UNLESS IT LEADS TO MAXIMUM CARNAGE PART II !!

BB: Glad you got that off your chest.

Q: As a person who has been behind many major events at Marvel, how does it feel to know that while Illuminati kicks off the event, another writer (Millar) will be tackling the event?

BB: I enjoyed it quite a bit. Mark is the real deal and I think Civil War is the best thing he has ever written. I got to express these ideas and then you can spend the summer yelling at him instead of me J

Q: Do Civil War/House of M threads spin into the return of Onslaught and the Heroes Reborn universe mini that Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld are doing?

BB: No.

Q: What was up with that really creepy smile Namor gave?

BB: And here comes the thing I get the most ____ for. Here is the script to that scene.


2- Iron Man's had enough of Namor all together. He's just exhausted from him.


IRON MAN
Yes, we get it!

You don't trust our teammates. We understand.
3- Low looking up, Namor doesn't take his eyes off of Reed.


NAMOR
No family, no girlfriends.
4- Reed looks up and glares at him. Reed's pretty sure Namor ____ed his girlfriend Sue - I don't care what Tom thinks.

5- Same as 3.


NAMOR
No one.

If one of you shared a secret of my Atlantis that came back to harm anyone in my kingdom the hell I would bring to this surface world...
6- Iron-Man stands up. Trying to calm Namor down with the physical act of meeting his face to face.


IRON MAN
Why are you always ready to attack us?-


Q: Why couldn't Reed give Black Bolt some sort of speak and spell? Paper and pencil? Something so the guy didn't just sit there

BB: Black Bolt can’t read or write. It’s a point of embarrassment for him and I wish you’d be sensitive enough not to bring it up.

Q: The scene where Iron Man was speaking to Director Hill and she said about Spider-Man's responsibility to Norman Osborn and how it is his fault that he is still alive - just what is stopping anyone else (super-human or otherwise) putting a bullet in his head?

BB: It was a theory.

Q: My other question is - Why was Tony so secretive at the end of the New Avengers 'Sentry' arc about the events in the Savage Land when he seemed much more honest, open and less Machiavellian in this issue?

BB: He realized he doesn’t even know if he can trust that room anymore.

Q: Who do you think will be most pissed off they were left off the Illuminati?

BB: Motteditor.

 

[masteryoda]

Q: Was no one asked to replace Xavier after his disappearance because they've become less trusting of the X-Men?

BB: They don’t replace members. Whoever shows up shows up.

Q: How come you didn't cover the Acts of Vengeance period since it was the closest time period where the Illuminati almost had a comparable threat on their hands with Dr. Doom, Wizard, Kingpin, Red Skull, Loki, Magneto, and other villains working together?

BB: See above.

Q: Why have Iron Man spend an entire page describing what's going to happen in the near future, only to then add the Civil War preview pages showing those exact events happening? Iron Man being so precise is really annoying - if he can predict the future that precisely, then can't he just tell us now who's gonna win the Civil War?

BB: I actually didn’t know there would be a preview. I didn’t find it annoying though, I thought it illustrated that this is really going down.

Q: Just curious: In your opinion, how would have Xavier voted on the Hulk issue? Also, how would Xavier have reacted to Tony's proposal to back the registration bill?

BB: We’ll know soon.

Q: Did the Illuminati have any say/opinion on the recent outing of Matt Murdock? At one of the earliest points in the trial, Reed Richards tries to testify on Matt's behalf. Was that Illuminati-motivated or what? Did the Ill Boyz ever discuss this?

BB: If you remember in issue #56 of Daredevil, some of the Illuminati came to Matt and expressed their feelings. Matt didn’t care for it.

Q: How did you decide who would take what position on the Registration Act? Did the characters just write themselves? Or did you decide a certain number would be for it, a certain number against, and then figure out who made sense to go which way?

BB: Some characters just write themselves while others surprise you. But as illustrated in the most recent Wizard, it's not up to me or Millar alone how this all goes down. Many, many people get together and discuss and vote on this stuff. No one person has total say which I think is the way big things like this should go.

Q: Xavier has gone missing and presumed dead a few times over the course of years, even after the Kree/Skrull War. Yet he always comes back somehow. Why did they think House of M would be different?

BB: See, House was one of those things that happened overnight. They didn’t see it coming. Obviously.

Q: Illuminati (Marvel) vs. Stonecutters (Simpsons) vs. CTU (24) vs. Barry Bonds (Baseball /steroids). Who's side are you on?

BB: Your therapist’s J

Q: Why wasn't Captain America in on this?

BB: See above.

Q: In the first meeting between the Illuminati in Wakanda, there are a couple of panels that feature simply what looks like an African mask. Actually two different panels with two different masks. What is the significance of this? Or is there none?

BB: This was Alex’s contribution. I liked them. I think they gave the scene a little symbolism about masks and authority and legend and was a nice Hellboy nod.

Q: The succeeding times the Illuminati gather they are shown meeting in surroundings that are abandoned and dilapidated. One of which (the Hydrobase) looks like it's on the verge of collapsing. Was this meant to reflect the psychological health of the Illuminati at the time of these happenings and the team disintegration that was occurring around them?

BB: Yes. Nicely put. I also think it added a lot of history to the scenes that people who know the history will appreciate it while those who don’t will not be bogged down or confused.

Q: BMB, mah man, I was wondering how Civil War would be dealing with the heroes loss of autonomy, in that, if the act comes to fruition, will heroes lose their motivation to actually be heroes?

BB: Ask me at the end of the summer.

Q: Will there be MORE Illuminati specials/issues in the works showing others that they have set up or was this special truly the end of them?

BB: We’ll see.

Q: Any characters you had in mind as members of the Illuminati that you ended up cutting out for any reason?

BB: Nope.

Q: Was the Illuminati group created specifically for a lead-in to Civil War, or had the idea been cooking in your head for a while before that?

BB: No, the idea happened first. It was a nice bit of synergy that it served the Civil War and Hulk pies so well. I was very happy about that.

Q: Will "Bucky's Law" be passed, so that convicted super-villains that're recently released from prison will have to announce to their neighbors around their remote mountain-top fortresses that they've served time and often wear lycra/spandex?

BB: No Bucky’s Law will be a law for sidekicks who aren’t properly searched for after they apparently died.

Q: Was putting Captain Britain on the team considered? I know he's not the intellectual type, but he is the guardian of the multiverse, which is pretty dang important... will his role be touched upon in Civil War, even though he's British? (after all, if its Blair's England, I rather imagine there'll be a British Superhero Registration Act of some sort...)

BB: You’ll see.

Q: Why is Reed Richards supporting the Superpowers Registration Act now when he didn't support the Act when it was first introduced 15 years ago in Fantastic Four. During Acts of Vengeance and the first few issues of Walt Simonson's great run on FF, Reed and the family went to Congress to testify against the Superpower Registration Act. It seemed Congress wanted to pass this bill that was very similar to the Mutant Registration Act from a few years before. Reed came out against it and it wasn't passed.

BB: That is described in issue #2 of Civil War.

Q: I found the in-dialogue use of such things as 'House of M' and 'the 198' pretty dumb, but will forgive all if you have Reed say: "Hey, Namor, remember Assistant Editors' Month?"

BB: Done!

Q: So Tony and Reed are Futurists, in which they adhere to Strategic foresight...looking at things from a system's theory approach in which the future isn't all known, but highly predictable. Reed and Tony can see into the future by understanding how systems operate. That makes sense because both can create technologies far beyond what is reasonable in this day and age.

BB: Thank you.

Q: Where do the other members fall in the group? Is Black Panther a Pragmatist? Is Xavier an Integrationist? Is Doctor Strange a Situationist? Is Black Bolt a Segretist? How do these powerful men see themselves philosophically or, if you could equate these men to great leaders of our time, who would they be?

BB: I’m going to leave that up to you to debate, I think I expressed my feelings on it. Great question though.

Q: How can Iron Man sit in a chair? I mean, he must way a ton.

BB: That’s funny.

Q: As a long time reader (I've read Marvel comics for over 25 years, skipping the mid-90's), I was wondering if you feel you have to disregard some continuity to pull off a story like this? Parts of this story seem to contradict a lot of what has gone on over the years in the Marvel Universe.

BB: Actually, I don’t think it does. I think it adds another layer to things. No continuity is ignored and just because it isn’t referenced doesn’t mean it’s ignored. Its just not referenced.

Q: Page 1) When the members of this group 1st meet, why are they in costumes that they've either abandoned or won't create for years to come?

BB: Years in what context, Marvel time?

Q: Page 5) Hawkeye is NOT a "convicted" criminal. Why would Namor say that - or why wouldn't Tony correct him? Namor may not, but Tony trusts his teammates yet he won't defend them. Seems odd.

BB: See your Marvel Handbook.

Q: Page 6) Who's idea was it to shoehorn a Wolverine reference? And why, in Namor's book at the time where he's struggling with his own identity, does he suddenly know about Canadian Mutant Assassins? And why wouldn't that be an instant priority for this Illuminati?

BB: It was an example of problems to come, I don’t think it has anything to do with Namor’s own struggles.

Q: 6) Reed implies that many people died during Avengers #89-97. When and where did this happen?

BB: A big dangerous cosmic war just happened right in their own backyard. We can assume some people got hurt.

Q: page 8) Charles just 'returned' from the dead and constantly lies about being a mutant. Yet Tony trusts him so? Why?

BB: He doesn’t lie to Tony. Or maybe Tony was drunk J

Q: page 8-9) Why does Xavier say that the vote MUST be unanimous and when it isn't he STILL goes along with it?

BB: It is.

Q: page 8 - 9) Whose job is it in the creation of a comic book to look for continuity within THAT very issue? Namor, Charles, and a couple of others all hold up one hand on Page 8, but the 1st panel of Page 9 shows them holding up the other hand. Likewise Strange's gloves on gloves off magic trick.

BB: There is a team of editors. So many it’s embarrassing to me. J

BB: And, yes, Strange has magic gloves.

Q: page 10) Did you plan for the irony by having Xavier mention Krakoa? That being the fact that Xavier WILL recruit a Canadian Mutant Assassin.

BB: Yes.

Q: page 11) Since when does the Hulk have a body count?

BB: Since page 11.

Q: Page 14) Doesn't "genetic sciences" deal with "genetics"? Is there something hereditary about Ben & Bruce's condition that we've never been told about before?

BB: There’s also unnatural damage. It's Marvel science baby.

Q: Page 15) Why is dumping the Hulk on another planet "safer" than dumping in the Crossroads or the Negative Zone or wherever?

BB: They thought they found a safe planet. They’ve never found a safe anything in the Negative Zone.

Q: Page 15-16) If Xavier learned that Bruce wants to kill himself, why didn't he or Strange just fubar his brain?

BB: Its impolite.

Q: Page 23) I'd guess this is the most asked question - Why would Steven, Reed & Tony be so stupid to ANNOUNCE their plan to the Hulk?

BB: Respect.

Q: Page 24) Since the Hulk didn't end up where he was supposed to, are the Three Stooges ever going to look for Bruce?

BB: I think Bruce will be looking for them.

Q: Page 28) The reasons Tony gives for the Superhero Registration Act are IMO small potatoes to the Marvel Universe's US Congress. I thought only a handful of people have knowledge of the House of M world for example? To use that as an excuse seems odd compared to the horrors brought down recently in Thor: Vikings, Magneto's attack on NY, Reed's one man coup of a sovereign nation, etc. Is it just coincidence that the examples cited are mostly your stories?

BB: No, just arrogance J

BB: Honestly, you could list fifty stories that would fit the argument.

Q: Page 29) Tony's ability to see into the future isn't consistent in this issue. On page 8 he says a 5th grader can figure out that the Kree/Skrulls will be back. On this page he goes into a very detailed dissertation on what will happen (and so far it WILL come true) - yet on Page 23 he CAN'T see that the Hulk is going to come back? Why write him so blind on the Hydrobase pages?

BB: His arguments are sound. But ____ happens.

Q: Page 31) I'm told you're familiar with the character's you write, yet you have Reed doing an absolutely complete reversal from his stance on Super Hero Registration Acts. Fantastic Four #336 clearly shows that Reed is against them. Why the drastic change in Reed's beliefs?

BB: Tony made a convincing argument. I know it’s hard to imagine in the world of comic’s fiction, but sometimes people change their minds.

Q: Page 15 - Iron Man states emphatically that he never killed anyone. What do you think the following characters would have to say about that: Marilla, Yellowjacket 2, Titanium Man 2, The Supreme Intelligence and the US Ambassador to Carnelia (not to mention all those that died because of his munitions designs/sales and sentient armor?

BB: They’d say: Tony killed us AND he’s a liar. Also, there is rampaging murder and there is self-defense. There is murdering bedlam and there is a fight to the finish.

Q: If the US government can't even register and track all the illegal immigrants in the US, how do you expect them to track all the powerful superheroes?

BB: Good Q.

Q: Was the analogy of Norman Osborne killing "lots of people" just a way for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to threaten Spider-Man (everyone's favorite whipping boy) as a story point or has the Green Goblin actually killed a lot of people?

BB: It was an example. But, yes, Spidey’s not going to have a good time of it in Civil War.

Q: In the Marvel Universe, when a character is killed and leaves behind a girlfriend/crush/etc who is also a hero, the girl in question either goes on a grief-fueled rampage, redefines herself as a darker/grittier character or both.

Q: If Speedball dies, can the Marvel Universe handle a grief-fueled rampage by a darker, grittier Squirrel-Girl?

BB: Yes, Squirrel Girl will now become a max character.

Q: After reading all these questions, if you had to change one thing in the book what would it be?

BB: More nudity.

BB: Again, thanks to all of you. Really thoughtful, passionate questions. I’m honored by it. Thanks…



Have fun, kids.

 

[DBM]

Q: In She-Hulk #4 just 2 months ago, it was revealed that the Hulk has NEVER killed a civilian. So why are Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. saying that the Hulk has killed and continues to kill civilians? I don't get it. Is the Hulk a murderer or not?

BB: Remember in the Hulk movie when the Hulk threw a tank with a guy inside it across the desert and it crashes and the guy gets out of the tank unscathed? Didn’t that seem like complete and utter ________ to you? It did to me. I’m not saying the Hulk is a squeezing a guy’s head until his eyeballs pop out murderer but when Hulk smashes ____ gets ____ed up and people get hurt. You can’t knock down a building and everyone inside brushes off and goes to lunch. It's ridiculous.

This attitude right here is why I dislike Bendis. We have an established fact that's been in place for decades, has be explicitly stated multiple times and has even been the focus of entire storylines, and since he doesn't like it, he just ignores it and changes things.

To me, that's total bull****.

 

[Spectre722]

i dont think that one is irrational to think but overall, that interview was big bomb. bendis definately dropped the ball on a bunch of those questions

 

[Manic]

Everytime a question came up about Bendis ignoring continuity, he bull****ed the answer.

"Why would Namor defend Hulk if he hates him?" "Well, he didn't hate him this time."

"None of the events surrounding their first meeting correspond in any way. Why?" "Uh... comic books aren't in real time."

 

[masteryoda]

Everytime a question came up about Bendis ignoring continuity, he bull****ed the answer.

"Why would Namor defend Hulk if he hates him?" "Well, he didn't hate him this time."

uhh...that's not what he said.

 

[masteryoda]

This attitude right here is why I dislike Bendis. We have an established fact that's been in place for decades, has be explicitly stated multiple times and has even been the focus of entire storylines, and since he doesn't like it, he just ignores it and changes things.

To me, that's total bull****.

I always assumed the Hulk killed people (accidently). Why else would people be afraid of him?

 

[Spectre722]

basically his answer to any question that provided any challenge whatsoever was "because i said so"

 

[Manic]

uhh...that's not what he said.

I was summarizing. That's essentially the point he was trying to make.

 

[rjb182]

I dunno, I have to admit, I tend to like Bendis. While he stonewalled on some things, I didn't see any real disrespect... and c'mon. Some of those answers are funny...

 

[Speedball]

Still, nothing about the New Warriors or Speedball, GOD!

 

[deathshead2]

Still, nothing about the New Warriors or Speedball, GOD!

Why do you want to know about them?

 

[Speedball]

Why not, i wanna know if Speedball lives.
His power should protect him from the blast.

 

[Kotagg]

Overall I think the interview showed him to be a capable cat - he's only working with the ****ty continuity Marvel gave him in the first place, after all.

 

[Langoth]

The one thing I can say I like that Bendis has said was about the Hulk. Seriously, there is no way that Hulk hasn't killed a good number of people by now...

 

[Darren Daring]

Did he label all his jokes?

 

[Deep Thought]

The one thing I can say I like that Bendis has said was about the Hulk. Seriously, there is no way that Hulk hasn't killed a good number of people by now...

Agreed.

 

[Wolverazio]

Overall I think the interview showed him to be a capable cat - he's only working with the ****ty continuity Marvel gave him in the first place, after all.

No, that's the point...he's ignoring a lot of continuity and that's again, why a lot of people don't like him.

Maybe it wouldn't matter, but personally, I wouldn't mind him so much if when faced with "this flies in the face of everything established so far" he was to at least go "yeah, but I want to do something different."

But the way he acts, he comes across like a self-righteous prick that knows better than us what we want.

 

[gildea]

But the way he acts, he comes across like a self-righteous prick that knows better than us what we want.

That's your thing not his.

He's the one answering questions from fans to the best of his ability (and for the most part honestly), he doesn't need to.

You're the one sitting at the computer judging a man because he has a different opinion on comics from you and is in place to do something about it.

Get some perspective.

 

[Kotagg]

I'd go so far as to say that he knows what you NEED better than you do.

Comics fans need to get out of their asses and get ready for CHANGE. This whole "We like our stagnant comic characters, weee" mentality is genuinely starting too annoy me.

 

[BrianWilly]

Hell, I agree with his logic about the Hulk and I still can't stand his attitude. Several of these questions were quite valid or interesting and the man can't help but to dismiss them with a snide, smartass remark. If he's not going to answer seriously, then why the heck is he having this interview at all in the first place??

 

[Harlekin]

It wasn't all that informative, and his dismissing of contuinity really really bugged me. He didn't even try and properly explain it, he just went on saying: Well, are you really sure? (referring to real-time and Marvel-time)

 

[Electro UK]

That Carnage part in the 1st post annoys me. Not the stupidness of the question, but how Bendis writes it off without giving him an actual answer.

 

[Spectre722]

Why not, i wanna know if Speedball lives.
His power should protect him from the blast.

according to marvel, one of the new warriors survives the blast and is incarcerated for provoking the accident in the first place. im guessing its speedball.

 

[GNR]

Bendis is a great writer and this one shot was testament to that.I think it's about time Marvel got real and finally established the fact that after all of Hulk's rampages there HAD TO have been casualties.There is no way that nobody was ever hurt or killed whenever Hulk was involved in a slober knocker in downtown NYC.Millar showed this in Ultimates with that church ceremony scene.I think's it's about time that somebody established that in the MU.