On The Shelf: Has Brian Bendis lost his mind?

Remember "Manny being Manny", when Manny Ramirez was playing baseball for Cleveland, Boston, Tampa Bay, et al? In comics, it's "Bendis being Bendis".

Brian Michael Bendis, that is.

While Bendis has rightfully gotten the huzzahs from fans not only for bringing back the Legion of Superheroes & Young Justice and creating Naomi for DC over the last year, his latest idea will divide the fan base for sure.

Solicitations for December, released online on Friday, suggest that Superman will, after 80 years, publicly reveal himself to the world, effectively removing Clark Kent from the playing field.

Is nothing in comics sacred anymore?

In recent times at Marvel, Spider-Man and Daredevil both went public, the latter on Bendis' watch, but in both cases, the genie got back in the bottle with a retcon. That Bendis would try it with Superman shouldn't surprise anyone, if but because there's no shock value in comics anymore. Something tells me this is equal parts Bendis looking for shock value, and DC suffering a drop in sales on Superman & Action Comics on Bendis' watch over the past year.

It all goes down just in time for Christmas. Now, if only I could find a book of Santayana to send to Bendis....
=======================================
If you've ever wondered why writer-artist Rob Liefeld has engendered such polarizing attention from fans since the early 90's, this Levi's ad, with Spike Lee off-camera interviewing Liefeld, should answer some questions:



Liefeld was only 23 when the commercial was made. Dude should've gone to art school, anyway.
=================================
DC's current Deathstroke series ends in December with issue 50, as Suicide Squad is relaunched yet again. The "#1 mentality" in the business  has gotten past jumping the shark. Just sayin'.
===================================
An early sketch intended for January's Young Justice issue 12 shows the team is growing even bigger, with the addition of the aforementioned Naomi, who joins the team in issue 10, out in November, and, to the surprise of no one, the Wonder Twins, whose limited series wraps in February. Now, all that's needed is for Bendis to hand the reins of Young Justice to Mark Russell, and we're all set.