For the last eight years, there hasn't been an Avengers title on the shelves of any comic book store that didn't have Brian Michael Bendis' name on the cover. Coming on board with Avengers volume one's closing storyline Avengers Disassembled which led to a new series New Avengers, Bendis has been a stable of the creative team crafting far reaching stories and masterminding new titles, such as Mighty Avengers and Dark Avengers. Now, in an exclusive interview with Comic Book Resources, the scribe has revealed that he will leave the title in 2012. Bendis is a writer known for his long runs on books. His run on Daredevil lasted for five years, while he has written, and continues to write, Ultimate Spider-Man since 2000 (setting the record, along with artist Mark Bagley, for the longest continual run on a Marvel Comic by two people when the book reached issue 103). Speaking of his decision to leave The Avengers, he said:
It's a good time to move on to other things. Before I go, though, I'm ending things big. I'm in countdown mode. You know when you're watching a show like 'Breaking Bad,' and every episode feels like the second to last episode? That's where I'm at. I've been on the Avengers longer than anybody in the history of the book. When you take everything into account, I've written over 200 issues. I'm very, very proud of that, and what we have coming up this summer gives me the opportunity to go out on a high note. I know enough about showbiz to know that's a great time to go.
Bendis plans to leave the title with a bang though, bringing X-Men member Storm onto the team, and elevating Norman Osborn into a credible threat for the entire Marvel Universe, something he started with 2008's Dark Reign event.