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Joe is making more friends and influencing more people.

CHICAGO,DAY 1: BENDIS PANEL GOES WILD
by Seth Jones, Staff Writer
Posted: August 13, 2004
Batman and Daredevil.

Marvel wants it. Brian Michael Bendis wants it. According to Bendis, the fans want it. DC, however, doesn't want it. At least, they don't want it until Joe Quesada, Marvel Editor in Chief, has packed his bags and left Marvel Comics.

Indeed, the "Brian Bendis Super Happy Fun Hour" panel was fun. But moreso, it was interesting. Taking a page from the old World Wrestling Federation, with Bendis playing the role of Hulk Hogan and Wayne the part of the Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart, the two discussed why Batman and Daredevil could not happen in front of a crowd of 300-plus Bendis fans.

"This is a weird thing to talk about publicly," Bendis started. "A year ago, Michael Avon Oeming and I started talking about a big Batman/Daredevil crossover. At the time, (Quesada) told me to put it on the back burner, because of the climate between the two companies. This was perplexing to me, as JLA/Avengers was making a boatload of dough."

Bendis continued, "So this year, me and Ed Brubaker started talking about it. Batman versus Bullseye. Elektra versus Catwoman. Yeah, a lot of cool shit. Everyone was excited, a lot of people said they'd do it for free -- let's just get this shit done, let's get it green-lit. But (DC President, Publisher) Paul Levitz said no."

Bendis was apparently about to appeal to fans to plead with DC Comics to get the project approved. But then, like Batman crashing through a skylight, an unexpected visitor burst into the room.

"That's not entirely true!" Wayne called from the doorway.

Bendis asked for the visitor to identify himself, and once Wayne did, he was invited to join Bendis at the front of the room.

"May I continue?" Bendis asked.

"Yes. As long as you understand the premise that I think you're incorrect."

Bendis went on to say that he did call Levitz personally, and that Levitz cited Quesada personally as the reason the DD/Batman book could not go on.

"And that's not a good reason," Bendis said. "That's a personal reason. We could do this book without those two ever even speaking to each other."

Wayne then effectively supported what Bendis said.

"The impression I have is that we expressed an interest in it, and that Brian would be involved... and we'll do it, as soon as Joe is not at Marvel anymore," said Wayne.

The crowd, quick to react, was assured by Bendis that this was not a publicity stunt or a staged event. There was not actually a Batman/DD book in the can and they were just trying to drum up excitement. In fact, according to the two, this was the first time they had ever spoken.

Why does DC management have a problem with Quesada? The only snippet Wayne would offer was to hint about the way Quesada was conducting business, and then he specifically mentioned a story in the New York Observer in which Quesada was quoted.

"We're down to one person we want to see gone from Marvel, there used to be two," said Wayne. "If you could speed up getting (Quesada) out the door..."

Though Wayne had some harsh words, the mood was fairly cordial between the two. Then things momentarily got a little nasty.

"Did Micah Wright write this up for you?" Wayne asked, questioning the way Bendis was taking this issue straight to the fans.

"I don't know Micah Wright -- you work with him," Bendis bit back. "There's no good reason for this. You're just mad that Joe's kicking your ass."

"That's not the core type of problem... but the type of interview in the New York Observer," Wayne said.

Eventually the crowd became involved, when someone shouted "It'd be better than Dark Knight 2!"

Bendis quickly settled the crowd, stating that he didn't want this to become a DC-bashing panel, and that he hopes to one day write for DC.

Wayne put in the final word, and told the fans that the conditions did not exist where DC could do this project with Marvel. Bendis thanked Wayne for coming to the panel, and the two shook hands on stage. Before Wayne left, he gave Bendis his card.

Bendis quickly turned the panel to projects that would happen. But before he could get very far into the rest of his presentation, he admitted he was still in a bit of shock from Wayne's appearance.

"Bob Wayne showing up really threw me," Bendis said. "I have other things to tell you, but I'm really frazzled."

When a fan shouted to Bendis to explain the NY Observer interview that Wayne sited, Bendis declined, and told fans to ask Quesada if they saw him at the bar, and that Quesada would be happy to discuss it with them. Bendis told the crowd he didn't feel it was his place to get into the contents of the article.

After a couple quick jokes, Bendis was back to normal, and announced that in December, as a fifth week event, Marvel would bring back "What If?" for six one-shots. Three of the books will be by Bendis, "What if Karen Page had lived?", "What if Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers?", and a comedy book similar to "Not Brand Echhh" called "What -- huh?" with multiple creators involved.

For the Karen Page book, Kevin Smith is slated to co-write. As the crowd groaned, Bendis said that if Smith didn't finish his part, Bendis would write it for him.

For the "What huh?" book, Jim Mahfood is slated to draw, and stories included "What if Stan Lee wrote Ultimate Spider-Man" and "What if Kevin Smith finished his books."

Bendis also hinted that an Ultimate Nick Fury book was in the foreseeable future.

As the panel wound down, fans got to ask their questions about their favorite Bendis books, but there was still a shock through the room at the way the panel started.

"Bob Wayne came in here and yelled at me. They'll be talking about this for years," Bendis said. "You realize I'll never work for DC now?"

"Brian Bendis Super Happy Fun Hour." Indeed.

The funny thing is that I don't blame Levitz one bit. Quesada sure seems like a huge asshole in half of the interviews he does. Plus, Daredevil/Batman is exciting, but no more exciting than the last twenty-five DC/Marvel Crossovers I've read. The only one to ever actually get me pumped is JLA/Avengers, and that was mainly to see George Perez draw them all.

my friend emailed me the NY Observer interview with Quesada and in it he mentiones that dc should be called AOL comics and compares Dc to a Porn star with a big penis that "can't get it up!" in reference to the fact that DC comics has Superman & Batman in it's roster two of the biggest comic book icons and in his opinon they (DC) can't do anything right with them.
this i've heard is one of the reasons that Paul Levitz won't greenlight any Marvel/DC (that's the rumor) ventures while Joe Quesada is EIC at Marvel.

jq is fat. jim lee on bats/supes kix his ass.

If he thinks he's a modern day Stan Lee, he's about as wrong as possible.

Yes, but take a look at the date of that Observer article..., April 2002. Since then, DC and Marvel collaborated on JLA/Avengers, so it's got to be something else besides this Observer interview.

Way to go, Bob Wayne! Running on in there when he heard something erroneous! He's certainly got the truth and justice thing down. *chuckle*

I think maybe the sheer weight of George Perez's undying desire to do JL/Avengers overruled everything (and thank the gods they let him do it -- the man deserved it!)

I think that had been inthe works before everything went down.

I agree, I think George Perez drawing JLA/Avengers was one of the most important factors for it being published.

I kind of like that Bob Wayne ran in there! How cool is that? It's Bendis sensationalism at it's best, and Wayne stepping in was a good move on his part.

I still think Joe Q is a total jerk in all his interviews, just like Bill Jemas was. I have no idea what they're like in their personnel lives, but they come across as total assholes.

Good for Wayne, Bob Wayne.

A friendly rivalry is one thing. I remember when they used to give the scores of the DC/Marvel softball games in the actual books.

But Quesada is an ass and Bendis was clearly trying to trump Levitz. Levitz has done more for DC in his time there, some several decades, than Bendis has ever done. I would go with Levitz's desires for the company any day. Bendis tried a punkass move, and it got stuffed down his throat.

Good for him. he is the principal reason i don't read Daredevil anymore. His stories took forever and a day to develop, and the art was so bad from the artists used that it looked like someone had puked on paper and called it a comic.

Good for Levitz, and good for DC. I hope the guy never writes for DC.

I got a chance to speak with Paul Levitz at this year's and last year's San Diego Con. I've also emailed him a few times over the past couple of years. In EVERY single communication with me, he's been humble, friendly and interesting. He was respectful without being "chummy."

Quesada, on the other hand, seems like a guy who wants everyone to think he's "cool," that he's not a "corporate suit," that he's somone who cares more about "what the fans want" than filling up Marvel's coffers with loads of money.

Quesada and Levitz present opposing personalities and self-images, and it certainly would be profitable for both Marvel and DC to produce a Batman/Daredevil team-up. But I don't blame Levitz for refusing to collaborate with man who disparages DC at every opportunity. It would be like asking George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, to collaborate with John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, on some lucrative venture. The two men despise each other.

So maybe Levitz isn't making a good business decision here by refusing to green-light a Batman/Daredevil book..., but I don't blame him.

oookay, but wasn't there a Batman/Daredevil one shot put out a few years back? ( i guess nobody read it. :-( ) i don't remember who wrote it but i do remember that Scott McDaniel penciled it and this was just before he got the Nightwing gig.

There probably was. I've read so many DC/Marvel crossovers, that another one doesn't seem like a big deal at all.

Nothing short of George Perez drawing the entire DCU and Marvel U will get me excited about another crossover b/t the two.

How about a Legion/Avengers/Fantastic Four crossover?

Too bad about the Batman/ Daredevil thing, but I'll hardly lose any sleep over it.

It would be fine with me if this didn't happen.

If DC is going to do inter-company crossovers, they need to make sure everything's on an equal footing. Batman is a first-tier DC character. Daredevil, no matter the level of talent working on the book, is a second-tier Marvel character in terms of stature. Always has been, probably always will be.

Over at Comicbookresources in their Pipeline column, you can access .wav files and hear the Bendis/Wayne confrontation. If you listen to the files, you'll hear that Wayne and Bendis agree on the "facts" of the matter just disagree about DC's reasoning for not backing the project:

(Bendis: "Paul Levitz doesn't want to do the cross-over"
Wayne: "No, Levitz wants to do it... only when Quesada is no longer a Marvel employee.
Bendis: "Quesada isn't involved in the project. Why let a personal problem with Quesada decide a business matter?"
I'M PARAPHRASING HERE.)

I think Bendis actually was very respectful to Wayne (and DC and Paul Levitz) and since the audience clearly was full of Bendis/Marvel devotees, Bendis did a remarkable job making sure the forum did NOT descend into chaos. A couple of fans shouted out some disparaging remarks about DC, and Bendis was quick to remark that he didn't want to hear DC bashing.

I don't think Bendis was trying to "trump Levitz," as Rickshaw claims. I think he genuinely doesn't understand why a book which he thinks will make some decent money for DC AND Marvel AND comic book retailers which the fans will enjoy, has to be canned because Levitz doesn't like Quesada.

So I respect how Bendis handled himself and his audience at Chicago, but again, I'm with Levitz on this one. If I were him, I wouldn't colloborate with a guy who at every opportunity bashes me and my company.

Did anyone else read the hysterically biased version of this story in this weeks "Lying In The Gutters?" I know that Rich guy seems to hate DC management, but you'd have thought Paul Levitz had put out a contract on Quesada, his family and his pets. What a chump.