Ugh, well I like him, however I do see your point. The problem is I can only really read what's in Britains CE's. We're on the last part of Seige and I just think he's brilliant! Though I can see how he's been rulling the Avenger's series for quite some time now, and you must get bored. Another thing is that I don't really want complex stories, which twist and turn everything and turn Marvel too dark. I enjoy a good Marvel story! Bendis does mean quite a bit to me as well, as it was him who really got me into the Avengers with Disembled, which was his best, pure genius. Up until then, I had been reading X-Men, the comic my Dad had loved since his childhood (60's.) Suddenly, Chris Claremont comes along, with stories that just made me want to fall asleep. A bit of a dissopointment, as the guy wrote amazingly in his prime. Reading Bendis was like going from reading Charles Dickens, to David Beneof.
Don't you ever blooming knock dickens in my presence.
But I think the main problem here and actually you're making the case against bendis is you said you don't like complex stories. If so then sadly most advanced storytelling of any medium (comics, books, movies, music) is lost on you. I wish this wasn't so and I hope that changes for you because complexity (when it actually has a purpose and isn't complex just to show how clever the writer is) is the thing that really hooks any story and makes taking the journey again worthwhile.
The other thing you said you don't like is dark, but bendis and especially millar are in fact dark. Most of their "original" ideas are to take something established and try and make it darker. Both of these guys are known for slaughtering scores of established characters just to give a story some edge. Examples of this:
Bendis: Alias, the hood's rise to power by beating up women, the dark avengers, carnage being ripped apart by the sentry, turning purple man into a mass murdering sex slave rapist, his major arc in daredevil featuring mysterio doing some very nasty stuff.
Millar: Ultimates volume one featuring one of the most graphic wife beating scenes in the history of comics, rapist rampaging hulk also in ultimates, old man wolverine also featuring rapist rampaging hulk but now with cannibal action.
^this can go on and on but those are some choice examples.
I never really liked most of claremont's work either.
I'm sorry you don't get too many comics and that you live in britain. If I could recommend something maybe you should consider ordering a few trades rather than bother with a comic store. I guessing you're new to comics and that's great, as such, and please don't take me as being all high and mighty, but your tastes are going to change as you get more into them and some of the things you loved early on aren't going to be too impressive once you get a taste of other things. It's true for all mediums, the things that might hook you at first do have a special place in your heart for that reason but eventually you explore around and discover some of the best that medium has to offer.
Anubis is exactly right, it's just hard to read a story that throws all characterization out the window to work, a good writer does it the other way around.
