This week, we are sharing an historic conversation among Ohio comic book royalty: Prolific, award-winning creators Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko. The conversation was moderated by Mike Sangiacomo, one of the Founders of the Siegel and Shuster Society. Recorded live on July 11, 2026, at the Cleveland Public Library as part of the weekend-long Icons Fest held in conjunction with the Icons in Ink: The Jewish Comics Experience exhibit at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (on display until August 23, 2026). Growing up together in Northeast Ohio, Bendis and Andreyko first teamed up as friends to create the true crime comic book series Torso, the story of the "Torso Murders" in Cleveland in the 1930s when Eliot Ness was the city’s Safety Director. Their wide-ranging conversation included stories about their early collaboration and the on-going challenge of bringing Torso to the screen, their storied careers in the comic book and entertainment industries, and Cleveland Public Library's role in Bendis's decision to go to DC to write for Superman. Brian Michael Bendis was born in Cleveland, took classes at Cleveland Institute of Art, and did work for several Cleveland-area newspapers and magazines in his early career. He has co-created characters like Miles Morales, Jessica Jones, and dozens of others that populate the Marvel, DC and all-new original universes. He is a New York Times bestseller and has won numerous awards for his work, including multiple Eisner Awards and a Peabody for Jessica Jones. Bendis was Executive Producer of the Academy Award winning hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Bendis’ fabled move to DC Entertainment after nearly two decades at Marvel made international headlines, making his DC debut in the landmark Action Comics 1000. Bendis continues to be a prolific creator, producer, Marc Andreyko grew up in Mentor, graduated from Mentor High School, and co-created the character Kate Spencer/Manhunter for DC and was the original writer on Wonder Woman ’77. He has written comics for Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, and Marvel. Michael Sangiacomo is a long-time writer of articles on Superman and the comics industry for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 2006, he penned an article that urged Cleveland to embrace the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and this led to the creation of the Siegel and Shuster Society of which he was a founding board member. Sangiacomo has also taught comic book history at Case Western Reserve University and is a comics writer himself. In This Episode: Brian Michael Bendis Jinxworld: Brian Michael Bendis (official site) The Peabody Awards ceremony where Bendis was called “the original hero” for his creation of Jessica Jones ‘I’d Have Been a Fool Not to Try Everything’: PW Talks with Brian Michael Bendis (Publishers Weekly, 2026) Marc Andreyko DC Comics Press Release for Love Is Love (2016) Marc Andreyko talks comic anthology Love Is Love (Entertainment Weekly, 2017) Supergirl & Superman Unite Against Krypton’s Killers (ScreenRant.com, 2019) Michael Sangiacomo Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman (Smithsonian Magazine, 2010) Cleveland Torso Murders The Torso Killer: Cleveland’s Lingering Mystery from Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Torso Murders (aka The Kingsbury Run Murders) from the Cleveland Police Museum Torso Murders from Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Siegel and Shuster Society (including information about the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Superman Plaza) Telling Lies in America (film by writer Joe Eszterhas (who also grew up in Ohio) mentioned in the conversation) Underexposed! The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made by Joshua Hall (find in a library) mentioned in the conversation and including David Fincher’s Ness based on Torso.
