Writer Brian Michael Bendis has issued a statement about the WizardWorld Chicago panel in which he talked about the Daredevil/Batman crossover that didn't happen (see 'Top Cow Announces DC Crossovers'):

For those who care I just have a couple of things to say about what went on at my panel at Chicago con.

I regret the whole thing.  Can't say it any simpler that that.  What I intended was to start a grass roots campaign to get the proposed Batman/DD book off the ground, not to create a wrestle mania circus.

I apologize to everyone involved at DC comics.  It was wrong for me to try and do this without your involvement.  My frustration with the current climate between the companies pushed me to make what I feel now was the wrong choice.

For those of you who think this was a marketing stunt.  There is no book so there is nothing to market.  This was not a stunt.  This book does not exist and probably never will under current conditions.  I do not need nor do I want this type of publicity.

For the record, I do not know and had never met Bob Wayne from DC Comics.  I have never spoken with him on the phone.  I was genuinely surprised by his involvement in my panel.  And while I greatly admire his blunt honesty that day it did take the panel into places I would never have gone.  Things were said in the debate that I was not going to say out loud and the tone of the panel, by the nature of crowd reaction turned very circus like.  In fact, for those who know me, I am the polar opposite of a wrestling guy and have never pulled a stunt like that in my life.  And I can almost guarantee that I never will again.

I will say that the conversation between us on stage was probably one of the most honest conversations I have ever seen on a panel.  Most panels being 'rah rah' panels, this was a lively debate about the mechanics 'behind the curtain.'  Those looking for a show certainly got one but I felt like shit afterwards and it only escalated as the weekend continued.

There was one thing in particular I said during the debate that I instantly wished I could take back.  I wished I could grab the words out of the air and pull them back.  And that was the line about DC being mad about Joe 'kicking their ass every month.'  I truly regret saying that immature line.  I am not a professional public speaker, in fact, I spend 99 percent on my life not speaking but writing.  And my inexperience at public speaking is to blame.

I am in no way calling for or supporting any kind of ban on DC Comics.  Some of my very favorite comics and creators work at dc comics and I purchase dozens of them every month and will continue to do so.