'SECRET INVASION' #2 DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY WITH BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
The skrull scribe leads a tour through each issue of Marvel's mega-event as he takes a panel-to-panel look at his highly anticipated series!
By Kevin Mahadeo
Posted 5/8/2008
Part two in a regular series, Wizard Universe catches up with Secret Invasion scribe Brian Michael Bendis for an SI Director's Commentary every Thursday after an issue of the event comes out. Check in each time for insight from the writer on the inner workings of numerous scenes from Marvel's mega-event.
[BE WARNED, KIDDIES! THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD! Go read Secret Invasion #2 and come back and see us!]
WIZARD UNIVERSE: Alright, Brian. The first two pages of this issue showcase this spread of the two eras of the Marvel Universe. You've said so much about this spread—from the metacontextual elements to the oozing atmosphere of mistrust for the characters. Is there anything else you have to say about this that hasn't been said?
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS: Yeah. A couple things. Number one: it was cool to write. It was cool to see. It was just so cool the whole damn time. I gave it some room, and it was significant image and certainly one of those ideas that any artist worth his mettle would just go bananas with—and Leinil did, as well. I've been thinking a lot about cliffhangers and the promise to the audience. I know there is a lot going on in Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion #1 had, like, 10 significant cliffhangers, and that's very unusual for a book. You're like, "What about the Baxter Building" and "What about this? What about that?" I thought, "You know what, man? A good 60 percent of the characters are involved with this story in the Savage Land. So, I'm going to angle issue #2 right on that pickup and not bounce back and forth and have every story just crawl." I was just going to focus on this one and really develop it and really get the fight going because I think that's really the promise that was made. And I know there's going to be some people who are like, "Well, what about Thunderbolt's Mountain?" We will get to that next issue, but I thought this was the most significant thing. I mean, it was on the cover of Wizard for Christ's sake. It's definitely I thought where we should put a majority of effort into issue #2—this Savage Land situation.
After those first two pages, there's another two pages where you can really feel the buildup here. It's practically palpable.
Yeah. And I know there's some people who wanted the fight to happen on page two, right there. But there's a lot to take in. There's a lot going on. It isn't just here are good guys and bad guys. No one knows who anybody is—at all. No one even knows who they're standing next to. They don't know what they're looking. Even the Mockingbird, Hawkeye situation—you got Clint looking at his dead wife, but she's not looking at her husband because her husband has got a black mask on and doesn't recognize it to be him. So, there are all these elements, like Luke Cage and the younger version of his wife. Imagine the you of high school appearing before you. Your instinct wouldn't be to slap it. Well, maybe it would. But it would be to try to deal with it and then slap it. [Laughs] The point is, there's a lot of dynamics here and it's an inevitable buildup to a smackdown. But at the same time, these aren't dumb people. It's going to happen. There's Luke in that moment. I wanted someone to go, "I know you're f--king with me, but just the idea that you're f--king with me means I have to slap you." It's the, "I know I'm better than this, but I'm sorry. I just have to punch you in the head."
Especially Luke. He's been waiting for this moment. He's been waiting to hit something.
And he knows he's being f—ked with. "I know that you're f—king with me, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you're f—king with me."
Before we flip over to the next page, I want to talk about Ares. What's going through his mind? He's the God of War. He's got to like slapping around things.
Well, God of War doesn't mean God of Battle. There's wartime tactics, you know? I always like when someone surprises you being the voice of reason. And in this instance, if Ares is the voice of reason, you know you're f--ked. But he's the God of War, and this is a war. There's a smart war move and a dumb war move, and he's trying to convince them not to be dumb. But at the same time, it's inevitable. And once the battle starts, he will make the most of it.
Speaking of… The next page. Holy Hell. Here we go. That is one hell of a splash.
Yeah. Booyah!
How much detail you go into when describing this for Leinil?
I do two things. Number one: go nuts. Draw whatever aspect of this that most intrigues you, but at the same time here's some elements that are in my head and you can do with them what you want. I find that sometimes the fight and the choreography gets really clear in my head. There are things you want to see or things that you want to se happen. It helps me push to the moment where the Sentry and Vision are happening. There's a rhythm and a release in storytelling. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, release. You kind of have to control these things. I write a full script and this script was very, very long because any punch you're seeing, I did write down a version of it. But I say at the time, anything that's in your head, go for it. What happens is that 95 percent of the time they agree with me or we're on the same page because not only am I writing thing that I think will be cool, I'm writing things that I think will be cool to see Leinil draw. And he feels that and he draws them accordingly. So, I do both. I write everything down so I'm being clear, and at the same time I let the artist know, "Do you what you got to do. This is a lot of drawing. This is a massive drawing." You don't get paid any more or less for how many figures are on the page, and he doesn't do any cheats or any shortcuts. There's not smoke billowing around or giant capes covering up half the panel. And I bring up movies or shots of movies that bring up a certain feel and tone to the battle, and he handles it amazingly. And I knew that going in. I knew before he was hired that this is what he does best. There's a choreographed chaos. You don't want it to be like a Jackie Chan movie where it feels more like a dance. You want it to feel like a pile on and it's bedlam. But at the same time, everyone is skilled fighters. So, they're handling it.
