Brian Michael Bendis’ Calling Card – Alias

Brian Michael Bendis is going to be a name that will define so much about this generation of comics. He’s certainly synonymous with the Marvel way of telling stories of late and he’s just about ubiquitous on the stands, especially when it comes to events. But he also has a history as an indie crime writer, and even artist, and for every bombastic blockbuster that he throws out he also tries to offer something a little more noir. Fans sometimes like one side of Bendis, others vehemently defend the other, but in the end I have had to make my choice for what can best express the greatness that can be the man they call Bendis. Hit the jump to see what and why.

Bendis is someone who has written so many stories now, and so much of it loosely termed a classic of its time, or at least the event of the day, that trying to pick his absolute best, the work that can represent him without anything else, becomes interesting because so much of his stuff instantly goes out the window because he should not be defined by Secret Invasion, or House of M, or Siege. That’s Bendis working for the man and I’m looking for Bendis working for himself. His early works, Jinx, Fire, AKA Goldfish, et al are all really good but I’m not sure they’re his lasting voice in this world. But they’re close. I think he’s hitting another classic in the works with the recently launched Scarlet but even I can see it’s far too early to call it on that one.

I’d love to suggest Bendis’ Daredevil run as his calling card but I’d rather keep that as the calling card for Daredevil. Though it hits on many great Bendis themes, such as back alley dealings, fractured narratives, great characters building up to fantastic moments. I’m wondering whether Ultimate Spider-Man or Powers might actually be his best work, but I wouldn’t know because I sadly haven’t read either. I know, trust me, I know. So, I’m going to pick something that feels like Bendis really hitting the stride of a lot of things he wants to accomplish in his writing. I have picked:

Brian Michael Bendis’ Alias

Alias was the debut work from the Marvel MAX line, adults only. It focuses on Jessica Jones, a private eye in the Marvel U. She’s a down on her luck noirish type who seems to bounce from bad situation to worse situation and she’s probably in love with Matt Murdock, in theory, but in practice she instead slams herself through an almost self-abusive relationship with Luke Cage. Bendis writes harsh characters in this series, and lays his pages out in a different form from the usual Marvel manner. The first trade looks at Jessica following a man only to find out he’s Captain America. It’s a good case to introduce us to the character and also the tone of the series. The last trade, which focuses more on the history of Jessica and how she’s related to the Purple Man, is also something that I feel could stand alone and be given to many readers. Alias is possibly a hard sell to any comic fan because it does rely, to some degree, on continuity of the regular U, even if Bendis does wash it through his own lens. You could also give the entire omnibus that collects all 24 issues, but again, is that too hefty for a calling card?

I think Alias shows Bendis at his best writing a tough female lead, crafting a twisted noir story, with capes, and also giving Luke Cage some love. It would set a benchmark for his work with Marvel that Daredevil definitely lived up to but his Avengers work tends to steer away from. Bendis seems to like writing broken people, and he’s actually quite good at it, and while superhero comics will only let you get away with that for so long in a more independent title you can keep someone’s soul in the shadows for as long as you want, and Bendis certainly controls the amount of light that ever gets to reach Jessica’s heart.

By giving this trade to someone who wants to explore Bendis I think you’d be showing them one of his best sides, a dialogue heavy story that works so well for the characters and the situations. You don’t need massive superhero fights in the sky to make this title sing, all you need are a few well chosen lines and some great art, which Michael Gaydos certainly provides. Alias is good value because Bendis manages to keep the quality, and the tone, true for the whole 24 issue run but I’d let someone new to the man’s work just try the one trade, really soak it in.

Conclusion

I chose this title because I think it shows Bendis more on his true game. He can sell the heavy hitting characters, sure, but he dominates on the smaller people in the bigger story. This is Bendis as he instinctively is; it’s him being allowed to play to his strengths. I don’t think you’d be disappointed to check it out.

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