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Brian Michael Bendis is known for his quick-witted, and sometimes acerbic dialogue, a trait he once carried over into what he calls a "Don Rickles" relationship with his fans, in which he would trade barbs with many of his critics and admirers alike. Now that he's left that attitude behind, he's opening up about his motivations for evolving his approach to fan interactions.

"I'm not looking for a fight. I'm not looking to goof on you. But, like, there would be a time where that would be more fun to me. Even in the Powers letter column, people would write obnoxious letters knowing I was going to goof on them. It was a Don Rickles relationship that I quite enjoyed and, to me, added to the entertainment value of this expensive hobby, right? Like every ounce of this is filled with fun," Bendis says in an interview with Direct Edition, referring to the legendary insult comic who was expected to rip his knowing fans to shreds as a key part of his performance. It made him beloved in an ironic way, with an insult from Rickles considered something of a badge of honor.

"Then that would spill on into social media. And then as I got older, I'm like, 'Oh, no. I've been put into a more ambassador situation. I didn't put myself there, it just kind of happened to me. So I'm like, act accordingly, you know?," he continues. "So for many, many, years now, you cannot pick a fight with me. You cannot do it. You can say whatever you want. My lanes are wide open, but you're not going to get any juice from me."

He also cites his increasingly adversarial interactions on social media as a wake-up call for the need to be more patient in his approach.

"I was in the generation of creators that, like, had to deal with Twitter. And then some of us were horrified by it and ran away. And some of us went, 'Oh, this is hilarious. You're really mad at me for changing Iron Man's eye-slits?' And I'm like, 'I'm just gonna find this hilarious,' right?,"  Bendis explains. "And then for a while it is funny, and then you're like 'Oh, maybe like there's some issues here that have nothing to do with my work.' Someone's bringing their life here that isn't anything I can do anything about. So I don't goof around too much. Some people are in sensitive situations, and you don't know what's going on."

Bendis made his name as a top mainstream creator as the writer of Ultimate Spider-Man in a years-long run that culminated in the creation of Miles Morales, as well as the long-time steward of the Avengers franchise after rebooting it as New Avengers. After several years at DC and in the creator-owned sphere, Bendis is now back at Marvel contributing a story to the impending milestone issue Amazing Spider-Man #1000, with the writer promising more stories to come with announcements potentially coming this year.

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