Best 54 quotes of Brian Michael Bendis on MyQuotes

Brian Michael Bendis

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Artists are not your art monkeys. They are your collaborators. They should be given all due consideration to follow their journey.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Before the TV show of Jessica Jones, the response to Miles [Morales] is so overwhelming, and so constant, and it's been five years now. I can't even express to you how powerful it is on my end. It's overwhelming how much it was needed, that I didn't know that's what was needed.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Bike riding is where I go to solve all the problems. I know you can't tell from looking at me, but I'm a long distance bike rider, I'll ride my bike and by the time I get back I will have solved whatever problem I had creatively or found that other thing that I was looking for. That's a big part of it.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    But you have to look at your work with an honest critical eye. Work on the things that you need work on. Scare yourself. Surprise yourself. If you don't like the way it's going, you have complete control over changing the course. That's one of the best things about doing this.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Charlie Huston, who showran the first season [of Powers], is a novelist, and likes to internalize fiction as a novelist does.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    From my personal taste, it needed more of a visual style. It's so hard when you're adapting something that's so visually scrumptious like Mike Oeming's drawings. They're so unique to comics, but they're a voice.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I couldn't take my eyes off of Stan [Lee]! As good as the movie is, all I could think about is, "What's he thinking?" So the movie ended, and then he, very whimsically, expressed all of his feelings about how long he waited, and how the TV shows in the '70s were all, "If only they could do this," and now they could. And he didn't get choked up and blubbery, but he was moved. Like, "Ohmigod, it happened while I was alive." And I can't believe I got to see that. He was very raw. It was quite beautiful.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I didn't know why I was coming to this room. Someone just told me to go to Sam Raimi's office. I knew that I uniquely had the comics version of his job, which was to take Spider-Man and put him into the modern day. But I thought, "Maybe he wants to tell me to cut it out." So I come in, it's in his office, and then Stan Lee comes in, and I'd only ever met Stan as a fan, not as a professional. And then they sit us down on a couch, and roll in an AV cart with a TV on it and go, "We're going to show you the first cut of Spider-Man.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I didn't write superheroes for the first 10 years of my comic career. I was just doing fan fiction. I wasn't thinking about superheroes at all, even though I loved them. I was raised by Watchmen and Dark Knight, so I was raised in with it's all been done, they don't worry about that.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I don't take it for granted, because I saw the fruits of Stan's [Lee] 50-year labor, and I didn't have to wait 50 years myself.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    If you loved everything you were writing, you would be deluding yourself or a complete and absolute narcissist. It's not about liking what you write, it's about improving with every word, little by little, exploring your craft, becoming the artist you hope to be one day. And you can only do that by working at it every day. It doesn't happen overnight, it doesn't happen over a weekend, it is a lifelong pursuit.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I have a very strong color theory, for instance, where in 'Powers,' green means powerless, and red means power.The story was all there, but I was desperate to make sure that extra level was the case.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I'll never get sick of raising my children, but other people might get sick of them.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I looked at Tank Girl, which is the coolest comic, ever. The movie didn't make the comic book any less cool. The comic is still the comic.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I love meeting fans. The people who are fans of my books are really smart and dedicated, because some independent comics are hard to get. I will drive all the way to Pittsburgh or Detroit to put it in their hands.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I'm wired with a little bit of self-loathing, not that kind of self-loathing that paralyzes me, but it's there. The things I'm most loved for are sometimes the things that annoy me, not my favorite stuff, but those flashes of genius moments, they're called, I rarely see them as a one eureka light bulb idea.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    In the history of comics and movies and music too, it's always when things are at their bottomed-out, either creatively or financially, there's more chance-taking going on.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I obviously love those characters ['The Avengers'] with my whole heart. I was on a one-man "Luke Cage is cool" campaign for most of the Aughts. When we announced the New Avengers line-up, and Luke Cage and Spider-Woman were there, a lot of fans went, "WHAT?!?!?! Bulls--t!" And I had to prove myself. They were right: I can't just announce they're cool. What's less cool than that? I have to show that they're cool! But this is way farther than I ever thought it would go.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I see this with experienced writers, too: They worry so much about the plot that they lose sight of the characters. They lose sight of why they are telling the story. They don't let the characters actually speak. Characters will start to dictate the story in sometimes surprising, emotional, and funny ways. If the writers are not open to those surprises, they're going to strangle the life, spark, or spirit out of their work.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    It also helps that what Dan Slott is doing with Peter Parker in the comics has elevated him to something else, so that Miles Morales at the moment is the more traditional Spider-Man figure in the universe: the high school student trying to balance high school and superheroics, and he can't catch a break. That was Peter's role, but it's not his role anymore, and it's Miles' role. That was given to me, and it's pretty cool.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    It's too theatrical not to express yourself constantly.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    It was a very excellent day over there at HBO/Cinemax when they bought 'Powers' . I felt like I graduated television college, because they make amazing television. The person who said yes to Veep said yes to us, which made me feel very good about myself for five seconds. Which my self-loathing doesn't usually allow me to feel. Even I could not say that that wasn't a fun day.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I've been reading Ed Brubaker comics since the first appearance of Ed Brubaker comics and every single time he announces a new title I mutter to myself: ugh! I wish I would've thought of that!

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I was into comics because these were my real male role models, even though at the time, I didn't know it.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I was listening to the inclusiveness of Spider-Man, and why he's so appealing to so many people, but I didn't connect it all at first.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I was on the set of the first Powers pilot, and an actor of color came up to me and said, "When I was a kid, my friends wouldn't let me play Batman or Superman, because I wasn't their color. But they would let me play Spider-Man. And that's the difference." And I realized I had heard this story a hundred times from different people, but I wasn't there in my head yet.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I was there when Sam Raimi showed Stan Lee the first cut of the first Spider-Man movie. I was on a couch next to Stan, watching how special effects had finally caught up to his imagination. It was insane. And I'm thinking, "He had to wait until he was 80 years old for that to happen." When they announced 'Powers' and 'Jessica Jones,' I thought, "Oh, that's nice!

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Jeph (Loeb) will call me with updates, and I'll go, "Are you f--king with me?" I never saw this coming, and certainly never saw it coming while I was still coherent and in the game. That's the difference between me and the previous generations. (Legendary X-Men writer) Chris Claremont had to wait decades before his s - t was on the screen.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Lettering should be invisible. You shouldn't notice it, unless it is a determined piece of storytelling in graphic design. Whether handmade or digital, the lettering should be easy on the eye and well placed. It should help tell the story and do nothing to get in the way of it.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    One of the things I like to do is people's hearts are on their sleeve, whether it's a good or a bad heart. And I think that's one of the things living in a world with Powers would do: it's too theatrical not to express yourself constantly. It would change them socially and sexually, everything would be altered because of superheroes.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    One of the things I like to do is people's hearts are on their sleeve, whether it's a good or a bad heart.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    One of the things I'm most proud of over the years, is time management and balancing family and work. Everyday, you just look at what needs to be done and do that, what needs to be done. That includes the idea that family is first, kids are first and when you're with the family, put the phone down, look them right in the eye.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    One similarity I see between peers and some of the people who read my books is that comics were definitely an outlet for us.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Reading Homicide by David Simon was the first time I said, "What if this was in a world of superheroes?" That was a very good idea. What if Chinatown took place in a world of superheroes, that became Jessica Jones. Just things that I love, you can match up the genres and have fun with it, those moments.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    The drawing and the crafting of the story are fun, but it's the overall meaning that matters to me. It might escape some people who just want to read a comic, and that's fine. The overall meaning is what matters.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    The one thing that Jessica [Johnson] and Miles[Morales] have in common is that there's a great many people in the audience who were desperate for that kind of material. They didn't say anything, didn't tell anybody.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    The only damn thing I ever learned in all my years in art school was a piece is never done, it is just finished. You have to trust your inner voice, your instincts, when they tell you pencils down. And you roll up your sleeves and you start over again.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    The other cool thing is, even with Jessica [Johnson], or Daredevil, I had taken a break from those characters for a while in the comics, so I can enjoy the shows without the agita. I completely love the Daredevil show. I feel no physical connection to it, because it was 10 years ago since I wrote that comic, so I can just enjoy it. And when people connect it in a positive way to me, I go, "Well, that's very f - king flattering!

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    The trick is not caring what EVERYBODY thinks of you and just caring about what the RIGHT people think of you.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    This is something I learned when I was working at a newspaper: when you put something on paper, whether it's words or pictures, and it's staring back at the reader, they are now alone in the room with them for as long as it takes them to turn the page. Whereas on television, the images fly by.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Well it's been about 100 years and every attempt at a comics writers' union has failed miserably. There is, sadly, a long history of short-term thinking and self-destructive behavior among my fellow comic book creators. No matter how many horror stories they have heard they won't even go so far as to hire themselves a lawyer when they need it. It breaks my heart. I am a very proud union member of the Writers Guild. And I can't imagine my fellow comic creators being able to pull something like this together.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    When it was announced that Spider-Man was going to be in Captain America: Civil War, "Miles Morales" was trending on Twitter for like a week. More people than I ever thought had heard of it. Listen, people go to Build-a-Bear and make your Miles Morales Build-a-Bears and tell everybody that's what we want!

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    With every script, I write a note to my collaborator that says: 'I write full script. But see it as a guide. You take us where we need to go any way you see fit. I tried to write something specifically for you. If you agree with my choices, fine. If not, you do what you have to do.'

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    Write. Write every day. Write honestly. Write something that doesn’t exist, and you wish did. Read. Learn. Study. Watch people. Listen to what they say, listen to how they say it and listen to what they do not say. Surprise yourself. Scare yourself.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    You can't just have a fight scene. In my opinion, it has to be a character moment or story moment.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    You find there's no magic trick, sometimes in the shower, sometimes you're just lying in bed calm, sometimes you're just enjoying life and just have a notepad, it's never far away. Always have a notepad on you, because you never know what's going to happen, take a moment and write it down the minute that comes in your head. Even if you can't deal with it until later, I've had that experience where I was in a wedding party and I'm on stage, I'm like, "I hope I don't forget this, something just occurred to me.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    And each ripple builds and builds into the tidal wave of anarchy to which we are now doomed.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I love being talked down to, Rocket. It's my favorite thing." -Tony Stark

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    I respect the shit out of you.

  • By Anonym
    Brian Michael Bendis

    It means Daredevil had files, history, dirt, on all of his enemies. He was a lawyer. That's what lawyers do. They stack the deck in their favor. A lawyer doesn't ask the question unless he knows the answer. A lawyer doesn't go into a courtroom unless he knows he can WIN. That's what separated Murdock from the rest of the idiots like Spider-Man flailing around. Daredevil was PRECISE. Thought OUT. PREPARED.