Rampage (UK) #10 (Story 2)

Background

This backup story picks up from last issue's lead story. See Rampage (UK) #9 for what went before. Though really, all you need to know is that Spider-Man has an anti-Lizard serum in his hand, and is tracking the Lizard through the sewers. Meanwhile, the Vulture isn't too far away.

Story 'Havoc Underground'

The Vulture is sneaking around incognito above ground, but decide to seek the Lizard to see if he's interested in an alliance of some sort. Hmm... I guess Toomes doesn't really know much about the Lizard. Our scaly-skinned friend doesn't go much for alliances, unless it's to eliminate the pink-skins.

Ah well, back into the sewers. Spidey finds Lizard and they fight for a bit. The Vulture turns up to help the Lizard destroy Spider-Man, but the Lizard turns and attacks the Vulture. Spider-Man takes advantage of the distraction to dose the Lizard with "the antidote" (which he picked up in the Doc's lab last issue, presumably).

Smash! Crash! The fight smashes through a wall... water floods in, the Vulture is swept away, but Spider-Man manages to rescue Doctor Connors, after the antidote has taken effect. And that's the end of that.

General Comments

There really isn't much going on here. It's absolute textbook stuff right from "Chapter 6: How to write a Lizard story." Even if I had been following the story from the start, I'm not sure I could muster much interest. There's absolutely nothing new going on here. There's no cleverness in the script, and no originality in the plot. The artwork is perfectly serviceable, but it can't rescue a yawn of a story like this one.

The Rampage magazine itself doesn't do much to impress me either. It's messy to the point of unattractive, and the content is shallow and trite. I'm not sure if the "game previews" are actually subtle paid advertisements, but in any case there's no depth in any of the reviews, they may as well just be advertisements.

Overall Rating

A story so small you could stick it in your eye and not even need to blink. A very disappointing one and a half webs for this bland piece of filler.

Footnote

One final note. At 8 3/4" x 11 3/4" in size, Rampage is larger than normal magazine. This incredibly awkward format is too big to fit in a standard magazine bag, and too big to even fit on a standard scanner. It will also take a heck of a battering on the news-stands too, so don't expect to find mint copies at your local newsagent.

I'm not sure if this title is still running. I haven't seen one in a while.