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Bendis Board: Now with less Bendis!

October 30th, 2007
Author Graeme McMillan

Ethan Van Sciver has a problem with the Bendis Board. Namely, there’s not enough Bendis:

How come Bendis doesn’t start threads that aren’t entertainment news reports? He never just says how is day is going.

I feel like I know Mark Millar from his board, but Bendis is an enigma.

(An example of a recent Millar thread that lets you into his world can be found here, for those who’re curious.)

The Board has some theories as to why Bendis is a man of mystery:

“He probably knows better by now.”

“he probably feels there’s enough new and strange threads going on here as it is. plus, he does post his live reports from airports and stuff. (sometimes) [...] either that, or he’s busy working.”

Apparently, we’re not missing anything, however:

“We get to know him pretty well from those five-hour gabfests on wordballoon. And what have we learned? He’s a foul-mouthed little man who writes comics, that’s what.”

18 Responses to “Bendis Board: Now with less Bendis!”
  1. Joe Lawler Says:

    Maybe his internet is broken… in half?

  2. sluggo Says:

    Please, no. Let’s just let that one die quietly.

  3. The Ugly American Says:

    Maybe Bendis has a life? Ever think of that?

  4. Dan Coyle in Real Life Says:

    Maybe Bendis has work to do instead of screwing around on message boards like the notoriously slow Ethan Van Sciver?

  5. Ken B. Says:

    “Maybe Bendis has work to do instead of screwing around on message boards like the notoriously slow Ethan Van Sciver?”

    Isn’t that the truth. I can see posting once you hit your deadlines, but, hmmm…. when was the last time anything that wasn’t a one-shot by Van Sciver shipped on time?

  6. Dan Coyle in Real Life Says:

    Say what you will about Bendis, and I’ve been saying a lot lately that’s negative, but the guy has a really respectable work ethic.

  7. Frank Says:

    Sounds like J. Scott Campbell’s boards, he’s pretty much abandoned them as well.

  8. Kirk Boxleitner, a.k.a. K-Box Says:

    Dan Coyle -

    I’ll actually agree with this. Damned if I can remember the last time Bendis EVER missed a deadline.

  9. El Bastardo Magnifico Says:

    Dan-

    How long does it take to write “uh” in a single panel?

  10. Ian Says:

    I’m assuming thats a joke because there is no possible way you could think that that is all thats involved to writing comics. If anything, dialouge (of characters that have been around for years) is probably the easiest part.

  11. Kirk Boxleitner, a.k.a. K-Box Says:

    Ian,

    I’ll agree with this, but the degree to which Bendis keeps reusing certain non-dialogue-related storytelling tricks (oh, look, yet another “15 minutes ago” flashback, in the middle of an action scene, with a deus ex machina to wrap it all up!) show that Bendis has a lack of either a) skill or b) regard for a lot of other aspects of his storytelling craft.

    It’s kind of like Kevin Smith, who has openly stated that he is a “shit director,” who only directs his own films because he wants to keep his scripts intact, but admits that he still knows next to nothing about actual cinematography. In both cases, when the storytellers fail to develop their other skills, they’re going to get pegged for the traits that got them noticed in the first place, and for both Bendis and Smith, that’s their dialogue.

  12. nickmaynard Says:

    jesus christ, this post makes me hate newsarama.

  13. Jef UK Says:

    This is the best you can come up with for a blog article? Perhaps you can write your next one about how stupid the Bendis Board thanks this blog article is.

  14. Jef UK Says:

    Edit: “thinks.”

  15. Ben Says:

    I’m going to write a blog article about how Jef UK misspelled ‘thinks’

  16. Pimpsquad Marc Says:

    Wow. Nice “news” story. Can we find out on Thursday what Graeme eats for breakfast? It sounds just as riveting as this bit on non-information.

    Great digging there, Cronkite!

  17. Kirk Boxleitner, a.k.a. K-Box Says:

    How dare Graeme post about something that I’m not interested in, since I have no free will of my own and thus am obligated to read every single article on the Newsarama blog! This article is such a waste of my time that I had to devote even MORE time to writing a reply about how much I hate it!

    No one should be allowed to write anything that I disagree with. YAAARRRG!

  18. Pimpsquad Marc Says:

    K-Box, there’s a difference between something people are interested in and something that is a non-story being ‘reported’ as if it were in fact a story.

    Also, you forgot to say “Seventeenth!”

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