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Brian Michael Bendis carries a reputation for being very approachable, which was certainly the case with this conversation. The author of such comic books as “Ultimate Spider-Man,” “Powers” and “New Avengers” was more than forthcoming as he spoke about subjects ranging from Disney’s buyout of Marvel to the various film and TV projects being made about his work.

Bendis recently spoke to us by phone from his home in Portland, Oregon.

What made you take notice of Jermaine, AKA “Lord Retail,” when he would leave posts on your Jinxworld message board?

He was an outstanding poster who was posting intelligent thoughts. They were equally just smart and nerdy at the same time, and there are so few people on the entirety of the Internet that are smart, so it stands out.

I would let you know, he would show everyone things he was doing and also talk about the stories and the characters in a real passionate way, and I just responded a great deal, and everyone on my board was like, 'Oh, I wish we lived in that city, so we could have that retailer.’

And even though I live in Portland where we are very, very lucky to have a handful of outstanding comic book stores, there are many parts of the country where they don’t have outstanding comic book stores like Lord Retail’s. Then soon after we met online, and I remember saying to him, 'Please, use the board to promote your store, tell us where your store is,’ because I had to coax it out of him. Little did I know that I was creating a monster.

It quickly turned into him creating some sort of cult-like atmosphere in his store. I then met Lord Retail at a couple of shows, he came bearing gifts and couldn’t have been nicer.

Also many of his customers both online and in person who speak of him in hushed tones like how you had people talk about David Koresh, and he’s just a great guy, and he’s built a large support system in a really almost unheard of customer relationship. I used to work retail, I used to work in a comic book store, and I know how great that relationship is and how worthwhile it is to cultivate.

Many have said you’re not like the superstar writers and artists from the '80s and early '90s who sort of lorded over their fans like rock stars. Why are you more approachable at conventions and book signings than certain creators from the past?

Well you know, I did see that some people were trying to do that. They were trying to be rock stars when that absolutely does not apply to us. It is not what we do, it is not who we are, and I remember very clearly, certain creators like Walt Simonson (“Thor” and “Fantastic Four”) who were very good to me and gregarious, and generous and to the point when I was a little kid, that it just changed my life.

And also beyond professionally wanting to be like that, to be one of these journeymen comic book creators who are in for the long haul, I also want to treat people the way Walt Simonson treats me. I want that, that’s what I wanted. So I tend to hold by that almost to the way Spider-Man holds to the “With great power comes great responsibility.” I say, “Be like Walt Simonson” as I go about my life, and it has never steered me wrong. It is to make books that I would want to read and act the way I would want to be treated.

Most of those rock-star guys aren’t even in comics anymore. They’re off in (video) games or something or I don’t even know what they’re doing. But the guys I liked growing up were guys like Walt Simonson and George Perez, just cool guys making really great comics that were timeless. That’s the goal. I’m not saying I hit it every day, but Lord knows I try.

You have your own Web site and you’re on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. What is your favorite online outlet for communicating with fans?

The board is the most unique, and the board is a living breathing organism that, if I died, I don’t think it would notice for a couple of years. It’s a great community; it’s one of the, if not the most, respected communities of comic fans because they really love comics.

Other than that, Twitter is great because Twitter posts to both Facebook and MySpace, so I get a lot done with 140 characters. So that’s great, but the board is my favorite one.

“Powers” has been on hiatus for some time, but it’s about to return to the shelves. Why the break, and what inspired you to decide to bring the book back?

We never wanted to break. It’s a book we were very passionate about. I always have a lot going on, but our artist (Michael Oeming) in particular had a life-changing couple of years. He got divorced, remarried, and then he moved across the country, and things were slowing down.

It was a bummer to us, because I thought our last year on “Powers,” the storyline, “The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes of All Time” was our best story, but it was so delayed by the art coming out every three months or so, that people couldn’t get the full effect until it was all done. So I said to Mike, “We’re at a good stopping point. We definitely ended a chapter in the book. What I think we should do is stop soliciting books, get a bunch in the can, five, six, seven or however many it is, get them in the can. That way, when we’re ready, let’s ship monthly with a new number one and this new direction.”

It’s a new opportunity, and I think it was the right thing to do. That way, people can get it monthly and really get back into it, and if there was anything I could do, it would be that and I’m grateful because it’s our tenth anniversary.

What can readers expect from this newest installment of “Powers” stories?

Well to me, it feels like what we do best. Number one, it’s a very brand new chapter in Christian Walker’s life. Christian Walker is a homicide detective who at one time was a superhero, something he is no longer, and he is now speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves in the superhero homicides that take place. So what we get to do is show a superhero and peel back the layers one at a time in a very unique way. That’s what makes “Powers” a unique book in the market place.

And in this new chapter, Walker has a new partner named Enki Sunshine, and she used to be Internal Affairs assigned to Walker, and now they’re partnered up together, and they have a very combustible relationship. Basically, it’s because no one will ride with either one of them. And the case that they’re dealing with on their first time out deals with an untold chapter from Walker’s past, which was in the ’50s after World War II; he was part of a superhero squad that turned into more of a Rat Pack, and they kind of had a nasty chapter there in that time. And Walker has to deal with the death of the Frank Sinatra type character in that group, so we get to unveil a brand new chapter in Walker’s life.

It’s just some really cool ’50s, Rat Pack-y cool dialogue and artwork, so we’re pretty excited about it.

One of the biggest entertainment stories of the year is Marvel being bought by Disney. How do you see this affecting Marvel Comics, and do you foresee being asked to write 'Spider-Mouse,’ 'X-Ducks,’ 'Iron Goofy’ or anything like that?

First of all, the deal’s not done yet, so right now it’s just business as usual and though I certainly don’t speak for Marvel, it was explained to me very clearly that the Disney guy who showed up at Marvel said, 'We’re treating you like we treat Pixar. We don’t touch Pixar, we won’t touch you. Go do your thing.” So I think they bought us to do what we do, and we’re going to keep doing it.

For the last couple of years, you’ve been banging out Marvel books left and right. Do you see your Marvel output increasing or decreasing as you take on “Powers” again?

It hits these big giant waves, and then it slows down just a little bit. It definitely slowed down some after the “Secret Invasion” storyline, though it might not seem like that way to others because of how things ship.

“Siege” is this big event that I’m doing for Marvel that begins in January. It’s a beautiful, beautiful book, and a lot happens in four issues. After that, there’s going to be a big change to the Avengers franchise that I will be part of, and soon after that, I will be embarking on a few creator-owned titles that I am excited to get back into. It’s long overdue that I should get back into more creator-owned, like “Powers.”

You’ve written a few screenplays and you’ve written a lot of comic books. Would you ever be interested in writing a movie for a Marvel character, and if so, which one?

Oh sure, yeah. There’s very few that I wouldn’t want to get a shot to write. I have a lot of love for all of them, but I get the best of both worlds. I’m on the creative committee (at Marvel Films), so I get to give a lot of my thoughts and notes on the movies, and then I just get to go back to what I am doing over here.

I certainly wouldn’t mind taking a crack at “Daredevil.” That’s the one that universally, I feel could have a “Batman Begins” type of re-launch. And the examination of that material is just great and wasn’t handled as good as it could have been.

But the project that is closest to maybe happening is the “Powers” TV pilot, which is at FX and is getting closer to a green light every day, so we’ll see what happens.

In terms of mainstream comics, you’ve primarily been a Marvel man. But has there been any DC Comics character that you would like to write or maybe even revamp like “Ultimate Spider-Man”?

Oh absolutely. I was a Marvel kid, but I followed creators. When George Perez left “The Avengers” to go to DC, I followed him. The same thing with John Byrne (“Uncanny X-Men” and “Superman”).

One day, it would be great to dig into those characters no doubt, but it just seemed that with a lot of the politics there, that they were not interested in what I had to say, and I am a Joe Quesada (editor-in-chief at Marvel) loyalist. As long as Joe is at Marvel, I am at Marvel. He’s been very good to me. He’s the one who took a chance on me and put me on “Daredevil” off a book that had only sold 2,000 copies, so I’m certainly not going anywhere as long as he’s there. But eventually, you never know.

I’m on contract for Marvel for quite a while, but I’ve got plenty of ideas in my little notebook, and one day maybe I will crack it open if I’m ready, if they’re even interested. The thing is, they have Geoff Johns and he just loves those characters as much as I love the Marvel characters and we appreciate each other a great deal for that.

In your creator-owned book “Fortune and Glory,” you wrote about the tribulations you faced while pitching two screenplays in Hollywood. Are there any updates on either of those projects?

Well the best news is that “Fortune and Glory” is now coming out through Marvel Icon in December in full color with all kinds of extra goodies, which I’m very, very excited about. It’s a book that surprisingly looks so much better in color that it’s almost embarrassing that I didn’t release it that way the first time.

As far as those projects go, “Torso” has been a never-ending journey that will one day get its own “Fortune and Glory” book. The behind the scenes back and forth is just crazy. It was greenlit last Christmas, and then all of the sudden it was un-greenlit as a David Fincher film starring Matt Damon. Interestingly it had a lot of headlines in the entertainment world, and it was really weird to be a part of that, and it’s still going on. We just got another offer to deal with, and we’ll see what happens there.

As far as “Jinx” goes, “Jinx” was set up with Charlize Theron, but it didn’t go further, so we’ll see.

Sometimes it takes a long time, sometimes it gets done right away, sometimes it takes forever. That’s why I made comic books, where whatever you think of, you can just go do. I don’t have to worry about it, and I like that. That’s why comics are good.

I’m just more interested in just not making something embarrassing. I’ve had friends that have had movies made, and they were just perfect adaptations. Then I’ve had friends who have had horrible movies made about their stuff that’s so bad they actually ruined what people thought of the comic. So it’s a gamble either way.

Contact Joe Scott at movieshowjoe@gmail.com.

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