One of the biggest names in modern comics is Brian Michael Bendis. He is a critically-acclaimed writer and artist, with key contributions to the Ultimate Marvel universe — notably, Ultimate Spider-Man and New Avengers. He was one of the driving forces behind the adoption of these characters and many more. He is also no stranger to television and movie reproductions of his characters, such as Jessica Jones on Netflix. Most recently, Bendis has been invited to write for a mysterious project titled simply 143 from 20th Century Fox. He will be working alongside Deadpool director Tim Miller.
Though the content of the film is not yet known, there is a strong likelihood that it will be a solo Kitty Pryde movie — Marvel discussed this quite some time back. Regardless of who it stars, it will almost certainly be another entry into the X-Men franchise. Bendis’ invitation to write for the show came as a surprise as he recently left Marvel to write for DC. However, he is a great choice for the film — no matter what subject matter it has — as Bendis is a phenomenal writer and artist. If you want to learn more about him, check out these five things you didn’t know about Brian Michael Bendis.
He Has Won Five Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards — more commonly known as just the Eisner Awards — are bestowed upon those who show considerable creative achievement in the comic industry. They have been compared to the Oscar Awards for actors and actresses. Bendis has won five of them, starting in 1999 with a Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition win. He has also won two Best Writers back-to-back as well as a Best New Series and Best Continuing Series — leading to a total of five Eisner wins.
He Has Taught College Courses
Brian Michael Bendis is a big proponent of sharing knowledge. Thus, he has taught courses at Portland State University and the University of Oregon about comic book creation. His instruction covered everything from the story to the drawings and the distribution of a graphic novel or comic book. It even featured a bit of the philosophical history of comics. Bendis also organized many workshops, believing that actually performing comic book creation is the best way to learn.
He Started Out as a Caricature Artist
When Brian Bendis first started in the comic book scene, he needed to do something to boost his income and cover the bills. So, he took up the art of caricature. This type of art oversimplifies many features, but it places special emphasis on others. While Bendis didn’t enjoy creating these, his caricature work at Bar Mitzvahs and weddings kept food on the table and let him focus on creating his comics in his free time.
His Work with Mark Bagley Was Record-Breaking
Mark Bagley and Brian Bendis worked on Ultimate Spider-Man together for quite some time. In fact, they ended up creating 111 consecutive issues. This beat out a lot of the most famous comic duos — including Stan Lee and Jack Kirby — and set a record for the most consecutive issues of any Marvel duo. While Bagley eventually left the project to work at DC, they still occasionally collaborate — such as with their creator-owned book called Brilliant.
He is a Father of Four
In 1995, Bendis met his future wife Alisa at the Hillel Foundation in Cleveland. They worked there together — she was general staff, whereas he was an illustrator. They hit it off immediately and were married within the year. They raise four children together (three daughters and a son). Two of their daughters are adopted, and one of them was born in Ethiopia. They also have a son who was born in 2013. Bendis has to balance kids and work, which can be tough. But he wouldn’t trade it for the world — and parenting never stopped him (or even slowed him down) on his path to success.
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