Ravage 2099 #4: Time's Running Out

Ravage 2099 #4
“The Mark of the Mutroid”
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Paul Ryan
Inker: Keith Williams
Letterer: Phil Felix
Colorist: Gina Going
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: Jan. 12, 1993

It has been a little while since we last checked in on Paul-Phillip Ravage, aka Ravage, the one-time corporate flunky turned revolutionary action hero in the far-flung future of 2099. But when I finally opened issue 4, I found him right where we left him – stranded on the prison island of Hellrock, fleeing Mutroids trying to kill him before the island's excessive radiation does the job first.

Ravage, who shucked his protective suit to give it to former girlfriend/current accomplice Tiana last issue, refuses the Mutroids' attempts to put him out of his misery with lethal force of his own. They've got powers but he's got a gun, grit and a series of tough-guy one-liners penned by the Man himself.

“If I had any brains, I'd just cash it in,” Ravage says as he makes like Tarzan to escape his foes while battling pain that would cripple a lesser man.* “Can't die more than once!”

He's also intent on warning his old bosses at Alchemax that they aren't as in control of the Mutroids and their Doom-styled leader Dethstryk as they'd like to think.

A Mutroid whose power is... “in my chest” … take a direct shot from Ravage's weapon and keeps coming. After the hero** dispatches a porcupine-like Mutroid with his knife, he uses a spring-loaded boot spur to escape the grasp of his stout-chested adversary before firing a shot into his not-so-powerful head.

Ravage soon collapses, only to be carried into the shadows by a mutated man who introduces himself as Ursell, a scientist who specializes in genetics and, I presume, was transformed by the same radiation killing Ravage. Ursell declares he can't stop the radiation from affecting him, but he can save his life by altering his genes.

We check in on Tiana, who has returned to the city and is looking in on Dack, Ravage's would-be sidekick, in the misleadingly named Angel of Mercy Med Center. He warns her that the corporate overlords at Alchemax will be able to track her, which they do, taking her into custody on the very next page. I thought she was going to misdirect them and make good on her promise to fight back like Ravage. But nope, she's busted.

She's soon released at the order of Anderthorp Henton, the murder-happy Alchemax executive who reasons that a) his show of mercy will undercut her accusations against the company and b) he can always pick her up later at his leisure. A glimpse into his virtual reality fantasies confirms he's just as creepy as that made him sound, maybe more.

Back on Hellrock, Ravage wakes up heavily bandaged and wearing gloves that perfectly match the rest of his costume. But when he pulls them off, he finds his hands are glowing as a result of the radiation and his newly altered genetic structure. So just what are his powers? We'll have to wait until next issue to find out.

Given that one of the other four launch titles for the 2099 line was Punisher, I fail to see the need for another hero with no compunctions against killing. But Ravage is in a kill-or-be-killed situation, so it's not like he's murdering thugs for kicks. And he does show some heroic inclination by wanting to warn Alchemax, rather than leaving them to reap what they've sown.

The running battle in this issue was suspenseful, as was the ticking clock on Ravage's life, even though I've already found enough issues in back issue bins to know he survived. I am glad Stan didn't just hand wave the radiation away and have Ursell give him some pills to pep him right back up.

I can't say this is classic comic material here, and maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but I'm still enjoying this series. As mentioned before, Stan's dialogue hits the sweet spot between comic cadence and action hero bravado. And Ryan's art remains classic and timeless.

I'll have to not wait as long to tackle issue 5.

1* - Me, for example.

2* - Relatively speaking anyway.