Ravage 2099 #6
“The Power and the Peril!”
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Paul Ryan
Inkers: Keith Williams and Bud La Rosa
Letterer: Phil Felix
Colorist: Gina Going
Cover: Dave Cockrum
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: March 9, 1993
This was supposed to be my first post of 2026, but when I looked back to jog my memory on the previous issues of “Ravage 2099” I wrote about, I found I had joked that I would try to post about the next issue sooner. Or at least in 2025. Well, with the clock ticking down, let's go back to the past's future and see how Ravage, nee Paul-Phillip Ravage, is faring after that massive cave-in at the end of issue 5.
OK, there's not much mystery to it, as the cover by Cockrum instead of series regular Ryan lets us know. Ravage's survival wasn't really in question, but it's good to see he's going to make it off of Hellrock after three consecutive issues on the radioactive wasteland. Why, you'd almost think Stan Lee was writing for a “Welcome to Hellrock” trade instead of flying by the seat of his pants in this early '90s series.
A four-armed guy named Zarlokk sets off to take credit for Ravage's demise, without checking for the body. All that he might have seen was a hand, but that hand starts glowing, as Ravage's were doing throughout last issue after mutated scientist Ursell altered his DNA to save him from the fatal dose of radiation he absorbed by shucking his protective suit to save his special lady friend Tiana.
Ravage's new laser-hand powers get him out of the rubble but are tiring him out. His sight is also failing in one eye, but his monologuing is as strong as ever as he searches the debris for the adjustable opti-lens he was sure the recently deceased Ursell had lying around. He also spots a “Godzilla-size” tarpaulin, which assures us that the King of the Monsters is still a relevant pop culture concern as the 21st century comes to a close in the Marvel universe.
Under that tarpaulin is the vehicle from the cover but with a surprise – a faded number 4 confirms it's the Fantastic Four's Fantasticar even without Ravage's observation that it looks like “a crazy oversized bathtub.” I remember being excited when Spider-Man 2099 was going to face the future version of the Vulture,* so this Easter egg would have been right up my alley, and frankly still is.
Then we get four pages of Zarlokk going to collect his reward for killing Ravage** from Deathstryk, the Doom-core ruler of Hellrock and puller of strings back on the the mainland as well. It doesn't go well when the psychic and inexplicably midriff-bearing Seeress informs them Ravage is still breathing. The interlude felt a bit long, but it continues to build this corner of the 2099 world by letting us know Dethstryk has some sort of secret imperiling his rule and breaking up Ravage's monologue.
That's not to suggest that Ravage's Stan Lee-written voice isn't entertaining. He tosses his trench coat while lamenting that he “ain't sartorially resplendent anymore,” but saves the Kevlar lining he got in issue 2 and converts it into a literal bulletproof vest.
As Ravage flies the Fantasticar back to the city, we check in on Alcehmax CEO Anderthorp Henton, who remains a homicidal maniac and creep. He remotely immolates a trooper who warns him that the undersea pollution level has gone to “Code Red.” You might recall that Eco, the division of Alchemax for which Ravage used to work, is allegedly tasked with protecting the environment. We know this is not true, but Anderthorp Henton does not know the meaning of the word subtlety. I'm not optimistic about the fate of his female companion, to whom he offers a glass of “a rare vintage sensual enhancement potion.” Stan?
Ravage flies into the city and is quickly recognized by a Public Eye patroller, despite the cybernetic eyepatch and new vest. A chase ensues as Ravage tries to reach the waterfront, where Tiana and Dack, the boy whose father's murder set Ravage on this course, have become the targets of some brawny prawns calling themselves the New Atlanteans. They tell the pair they mean them no harm, but we know from last issue that their leader Dragonklaw wants to experiment on humans so he and his kind can breathe air.
Ravage dodges destruction at the hands of his pursuers by separating the Fantasticar's components, then proceeds to attack the New Atlanteans. But he's only one man, and soon Dack is beamed up in one of those Public Eye retrieval beams while Tiana is netted by the New Atlanteans.
This issue was as much fun as the ones that have come before it. No, it's not breaking new ground or making me rethink the possibilities of comics as a medium: It's just a brisk action tale that made me snort or genuinely lol.*** Am I giving Ravage excessive benefit of the doubt because Stan Lee wrote it and my friends at the Unspoken Issues podcast stubbornly refuse to acknowledge its existence? Perhaps.
On the other hand, thumbs up to the title, “The Power and the Peril,” which sounds like something they would have used back when Stan was originally collaborating with Jack Kirby and company back in the day. Thanks to Google I see a variation on it did appear on the cover of “Fantastic Four” #60, albeit with the order flipped.
Either way, I'll be checking out the next installment. Eventually. If this post results in a flood of views and comments requesting I continue, well, I would be happy to oblige sooner. Still not putting a date on it though.
* - Less so when that version of the Vulture was eating people.
** - A rather inaccurate version of events even if Ravage had actually died.
*** - Actually, if you need a note down
here to know what lol stands for,
you probably aren't reading this
post or anything that isn't on physical media.
Comments
Post a Comment
No profanity, no bullying, no harassment. Feel free to disagree, but do it respectfully and politely.