Julius Schwartz Memorial Lecture - Brian Michael Bendis

On November 8th, I had the luck of driving just a few miles from my place of work to MIT. And there, I was able to take in the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program 2018 Julius Schwartz Memorial Lecture. Past lecturers have been Neil Gaiman and J. Michael Straczynski.

This year it was Brian Michael Bendis.

The lecture was open to the public and held in a big auditorium style class room on campus. It looked like about 100 people were in attendance.

Given that he is now on the Superman books and has written a bunch of books I loved, I was thrilled that I was able to attend.

Fellow comic professional Marjorie Liu led the discussion, interviewing Bendis and talking a lot about his history, his process, and his favorite moments.

It was really fascinating to hear Bendis talk about his childhood reading comics, his desire to be an artist, and his ultimate conversion to writer. At one point, Bendis talked about how the XMen fandom was like a religion and the fans were passionate and vocal. Later, Bendis talked about how much fun he was having playing in the DC Universe. One of the properties he mentioned was the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Well, the last 30 minutes were a Q and A session. And I got up.

I asked him if he could talk more about the Legion and any plans there were for the team. (I also warned him that Legion fans were probably on par with Xmen fans in regards to their zeal.)

He first out said that he thought the Legion was great (he might have said 'cool'). But then he said in a way that sounded almost like a obfuscation, something like this (and I am paraphrasing).

"If someone were trying to do the research on the Legion and its history to bring back a book starring them, I would say that it is one of the hardest jobs they would ever undertake."

Now maybe I am transferring hopes, but the tone in which he said that made it sound like HE was the person who was trying to wrangle some sense out of the LSH mythos. Maybe I am just hoping. If not him, someone is out there trying to prep the history of the book.

So what do people think of Bendis being on a Legion book? And would people accept a Legion book in the 'Wonder Comics' imprint? Would you mind a quatro-boot, making the team a young heroes team again?

I also asked how he (and Liu) dealt with reviews and opinions about their work given the immediate reaction of social media. As a reviewer myself, I has always wondered. Both talked about trying to both listen to critiques but also distancing themselves from the morass that social media can be.

You can hear the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjPGu_5UBf0

I have to say Bendis was just awesome and appoachable. When the lecture was open, both he and Liu stuck around to meet the fans and sign stuff. (Had I known Liu was going to be there I would have brought books for her!)

I was able to thank Bendis for his treatment of Kara in Man of Steel. (Heck, she was the hero, banishing Rogol Zaar!) I also got 4 books signed including my variant Action Comics #1000, now signed by 9 of the creators involved.

I feel very lucky that I was able to attend, ask a question, and meet Bendis. You could feel his passion for comics, talking about them both as a fan and a professional.

Posted in: Reviews