F.O.O.M. #2 - Long Dark Pizza of the Soul!

[Paul Brian McCoy]

And F.O.O.M. #2 is up and running!

For this installment, Dazzlin' Dave Wallace returns to the issue that pulled him back into comics full time: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #32!

Check it out, then come share your comics memories!

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/soapbo...3414385494.htm

[Dave Wallace]

Thanks Paul!

I'm very tempted to use "Dazzlin' Dave Wallace" as my official review handle from now on.

[Paul Brian McCoy]

Very nice piece of work here, Dave.

These columns bring a good variety of voices and approaches to the F.O.O.M. concept. Can't wait to read more!

[Jason Sacks]

Originally Posted by Paul Brian McCoy

Very nice piece of work here, Dave.

These columns bring a good variety of voices and approaches to the F.O.O.M. concept. Can't wait to read more!

I agree, very nice column, and you did a terrific job of combining your personal history with comics with your reaction to this book in particular, while also giving us some history and perspective on the character. That's a hard trick to pull off, and you did it well.

I think it's interesting how we both brought in comparisons to Alan Moore's Swamp Thing work. That series really does loom large over every other comic series, doesn't it?

[Dave Wallace]

Originally Posted by Jason Sacks

I agree, very nice column, and you did a terrific job of combining your personal history with comics with your reaction to this book in particular, while also giving us some history and perspective on the character. That's a hard trick to pull off, and you did it well.

Thanks Jason, I appreciate the compliment, as that's exactly the mixture that I was going for with this piece.

Originally Posted by Jason Sacks

I think it's interesting how we both brought in comparisons to Alan Moore's Swamp Thing work. That series really does loom large over every other comic series, doesn't it?

It really does! And I haven't even read all of it...

I really need to track down the other TPBs of Moore's run.

[Terry C]

Thanks for the column, Dave.

This issue was the one that got me back into comics after a fifteen year absence. I picked it up at a 7-11 when I was buying my kids some Sonic the Hedgehog comics and have been hooked on comics (again) ever since.

I loved how JMS hit the right notes with Peter's character, the awareness of the history of the title and the approach to evolving Peter's spider connection in an intelligent and (to my mind) integral way. As well, I was floored by JRJRs "new" style. What a combo!

I really felt that the plot-line with Ezekiel and Morlun was going somewhere but that it got derailed somewhere around the 9-11 tribute issue and the release of the first Spider-Man movie. I got the feeling that someone in editorial was trying to make the book "more like the movie" as the relationships became more simple and iconic. For example, Peter and MJ were going through a heartbreaking separation at the start of that run. It was handled very well by the comic, added to Peter's "on the outside looking in" persona and provided a real glimpse into what it must be like for MJ to have to live under the shadow of the spider. Then they brought MJ back and she seemed a bit more Kirsten Dunst-y than she had been. Then they made her go away again because it made Spidey seem too "mature". I mean, Mephisto still could have "erased" the marriage if they were separated and it would have made for an even more poignant choice for Peter and MJ. Imagine what would happen if you had lost the love of your life and you were given the option to make it "all go away". And what are the consequences of that?

I had high hopes for The Other and thought it was going to be the conclusion to the Ezekial/Morlun story but, by the time it came out, it was too little, too late, with too many cooks -- if you know what I mean.

All in all though, this book was the start of a great run that was better than the sum of its parts and the one that got me back to reading comics. Thanks for bringing it up in your column!

[Dave Wallace]

Glad you enjoyed the column, Terry.

I've said before on these boards that I love the issues of Amazing Spider-Man that JMS did with Romita Jr. It was a real renaissance for the book and for the character. The long-running story arc involving Ezekiel was very compelling, even if the eventual ending was a little too sudden.

But after Romita left, the mediocre stories started: "Sins Past", "The Other", "Back in Black" and "One More Day" were all pretty poor, in my opinion. And it wasn't just due to the change in artists: it's perhaps no coincidence that all of those stories were subject to heavy editorial interference (changing the father of Gwen's twins from Peter to Norman Osborn; sharing out JMS' plot for "The Other" among several different creative teams, resulting in a lack of consistency and focus; demanding that JMS write a 5-issue storyline involving the black costume to tie into the Spider-Man 3 movie, without actually moving any of the book's big subplots forwards; and finally, Mephisting the Spider-marriage out of continuity).

The only time that the book threatened to get really good again was during the Civil War tie-in storyline - but even then, JMS was forced to characterise certain characters in ill-fitting ways due to the needs of that event.

I believe that JMS has gone on record as saying that he had a lot of problems with the editorial restrictions that were placed on him during the second half of his ASM run, and that that's the main reason why he wanted to leave the book.

Of course, Marvel then gave him Thor, which apparently came with a guarantee that they would let him plough his own furrow with the book, and wouldn't be subject to the same kind of interference again. But, unsurprisingly, that didn't last long - and I'm guessing that the "Dark Reign" tie-ins and the upcoming "Siege" event were the last straw for JMS at Marvel, since he decided to leave the title (and the company) and go and work for DC instead.

I wonder if we'll ever see his conclusion to The Twelve.

[Paul Brian McCoy]

I'm gonna have to start working "Mephisting" into my reviews, posts, and everyday conversations, I think.

[Terry C]

Originally Posted by Dave Wallace

...demanding that JMS write a 5-issue storyline involving the black costume to tie into the Spider-Man 3 movie...

I hadn't heard that one, Dave, but it sure makes sense.

And I really want to read the end of The Twelve, too.

[Dave Wallace]

Originally Posted by Paul Brian McCoy

I'm gonna have to start working "Mephisting" into my reviews, posts, and everyday conversations, I think.

I think it might have been Kelvin who coined that one, but I'm not sure.