Rampage (UK) #18 (Story 2)

Background

The backup story in this issue is a standalone six-page tale which stars Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.

Story 'The Perfect Trap'

Peter Parker is kicking around at the Daily Bugle when his Spider-Sense suddenly goes wild. He makes his standard excuses, then makes a quick costume change as well.

His raging Spider-Sense leads him to a warehouse, where he finds the Green Goblin trapped like bait in the midst of a huge collection of computers, robots and other deadly high-tech whatsits.

The Goblin explains that he built a giant computer, the "Oscorp 13-31" to control "The Perfect Deathtrap" in which to destroy Spider-Man. However, the computer has gone rogue and intends to make war on humanity. The computer held the Goblin hostage and "forced" him to enhance it further. However the Goblin managed to incorporate a stolen spider-tracer into the design, summoning Spider-Man to the rescue.

Oh No! Only Spider-Man can turn off the machine before mankind is destroyed! And so he does, dodging lasers, robots and other deadly devices and finally lobbing a borrowed pumpkin-bomb at the main console.

Of course, the Green Goblin is also released at the same time. The Goblin grabs a pumpkin bomb and makes to destroy Spider-Man. However, Spider-Man had anticipated this and had shortened all the fuses. Bomb go Boom! The Goblin is somewhat the worse for wear, but still manages to escape.

General Comments

Since when was the Goblin a computer designer? Explosive stuff, for sure. But artificial intelligence is a Doctor Octopus thing. Hey, guys, you have the wrong villain in this story! At least the Green Goblin does has some precedent for sophisticated death-traps, although he does generally prefer to ruin Spider-Man's life, rather than actually killing him right out.

Overall Rating

Facile, contrived and unconvincing. Also lacking in atmosphere, with a poorly selected villain.

One and a half webs.