Jessica Jones #14

   There's not much to say about the latest issue of Jessica Jones that hasn't been said before.

   The story by Brian Michael Bendis is powerful, edgy and unsettling, and the art by Michael Gaydos is terrific - moody and striking. It's a terrific adults-only series and well worth your time - if you can handle the intense nature of the stories.

   But instead of the comic, I want to take a moment to talk about Bendis.

   It was announced this week that he's signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, so after spending virtually his entire career working at Marvel, he's off to new lands.

   He's certainly had a profound effect on Marvel, from his work on the Ultimate Universe, crafting a new course for Spider-Man and creating Mile Morales, to creating new characters like Jessica Jones.

    He (almost) invented the event series, beginning with House of M, and following it up with several other universe-shaking events, including Secret Invasion. He deconstructed and reinvented the Avengers and created the New Avengers. He had memorable runs on Daredevil, the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Iron Man.

   He killed characters off, including Ultimate (Peter Parker) Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Jack of Hearts. (So yes, he made mistakes.)

   In addition to the impressive number of great stories he's written, I think he deserves credit for pushing Marvel in the direction of focusing on the writing end of the equation. Art is very important, of course - the medium is a terrific merger of writing and art - but as the old theatre saying goes, "If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage."

   Marvel became the top company in the business thanks largely to its focus on the writing, building great stories and characters. It helps to have writers like Bendis who focus on the visuals, but aren't afraid to devote lots of time to fleshing out the characters and making the reader care about them. And there are few writers who write better dialogue.

   Hopefully he'll be able to have a similar impact on DC's line - both companies are in need of focus, to bring their bloated continuities into line, and to focus on the terrific characters they have in their stables.

   It'll be interesting to see what books he tackles - one would expect Batman and Justice League, but Bendis rarely does the obvious, so we'll see.

   Hopefully Marvel can find some fresh talent to step in and carry on Bendis' traditions - and someone who can continue the edgy drama we've come to expect from Jessica Jones.

Grade: A-

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