Bend it like Bendis: a review of "Total Sellout"

So I've inadvertently taken a break from posting. As seems to be the case with any good habit, it's a lot harder to keep up than a bad habit [she paused, listening to the rain drone against her window and watching the smoke from her cigarette curl into nothing against the tinged gray of her laptop screen], like smoking or narrating one's everyday life in the style of melodramatic detective noir.

Speaking of which, last night, I finished (finally) Brian Michael Bendis' Total Sell Out. Now I knew as soon as I picked up this collection of etc. work from a sale rack (what was it doing there?!) in Olympia that I was going to love it. How could I not? I've been a fan of the guy since his Daredevil run, and if you haven't read Alias yet, o my god, go pick it up. Right now! Bendis' ear (and eye) for dialogue is consistently good and often hilarious, and his use of the comics medium to tell a story fills the formalist's heart with glee.

But enough preamble, let's get down the book itself, shall we? Total Sell Out is a mish mash of "a lot of autobiographical pieces, a lot of smaller crime fiction pieces, and a lot of schticky nonsense." Bendis himself assumes a cartoon form and guides us through the whole thing, always with a quip and fantastically expressive slash eyebrows. The first section includes a smattering of these autobiographical stories. He uses a variety of styles, from cartoon and caricature to the photorealistic snapshot look that the Bendis fan will recognize immediately from his crime comics. He follows with another similarly multi-styled section of OTHER people's stories. Most of these little bits of daily life and observation got a chortle out of me, if not a prolonged guffaw, although one or two were gut-wrenchingly sad. Next up, "Schtick" includes a handful of Bendis' favorite editorial cartoons, along the same lines of the previous sections in their range of visual styles and conversational or observational humor. "The Collaborations and other stuff" rounds out the narratives, featuring short pieces authored by the likes of Warren Ellis. Bendis punctuates his collection with several pages that fall under the category "portfolio" and a few essays that served as introductions to various graphic novels and trades. I.e. lots of goodies for the patient reader.

If I haven't already made it abundantly clear, Total Sell Out is good for a laugh, a couple actually, but that's not the only reason it's a worth while read. For comics aficionados, Bendis tells some amazing stories from his life in the industry, featuring escapades with David Mack (drool) and a blood feud with late Poison Elves creator Drew Hayes. He gives a bit of an 'in' to his creative process (or the obstacles to it) with the rather magnificent wordless strip "Borderlands." For comics theoreticians (not mutually exclusively from the above mentioned fan boys and girls), his experiments with the comics form offer a truly inspiring glimpse at what the medium can do for a narrative. And they give the uninitiated a peak into Bendis' oeuvre in general. I'm just going to go ahead and say that again. Ooooeuvre.

And that wraps it up for this installment! Give this volume a go for some insight, entertainment, and if nothing else, to show our dear Mr. Bendis he is loved. Hair or no.