Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #239

Background

Doc Connors has reverted to the Lizard once more. Hmm... then who is the other lizard? Guess we'll find out in the conclusion of this two-part arc.

Story 'Sudden Sacrifices'

Spidey has arrived on the scene just in time to get caught in between the two battling Lizards. The old Lizard easily handles its newer counterpart, and the issue quickly turns into a battle between Spider-man and the "classic" Lizard.

After an entertaining fight, Spidey manages to trap the Lizard under a fallen tree on the edge of the river. The catch is that Doc Conners, who is waging a battle for control within the Lizard, is just barely managing to hold off the Lizard's army of reptiles from killing Conners' son Billy. If the Lizard dies (and water is rushing over the fallen log and slowly drowning him) then so will Billy.

With great effort, Conners wins the inner battle with the Lizard and manages to transform back to his human self, which allows him to maneuver out from under the fallen tree and save Billy. But as the issue ends, we know that if the old Lizard has managed to resurface once from within Doc Conners, it may well be back again...

General Comments

After the build-up to this final battle, I was doubtful that the conclusion would even be worth reading. Fortunately, the creative team of Todd DeZago and new artist Luke Ross pull it off with flying colors. While the story isn't particularly innovative, it does succeed in two important areas: first and foremost, it's entertaining (a far cry from last month's installment), and second, it re-establishes the "classic" Lizard's place among Spider-man's enemies.

Overall Rating

Three webs. The story was much better than last time, and the art (especially the cover) was great.