Happy Saturday, folks!
Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend. Today's topic is the sixth issue of the Champions. On the cover, the new supervillain called Rampage had just defeated the Angel and Iceman and was soaring toward Hercules with the Black Widow in one arm. The story was called "Mad Dogs and Businessmen." The issue had a cover date of June 1976.
The tale began right where the last issue left off, as the Iceman, the Black Widow and her friend Ivan, and Hercules stood silently as Rampage threatened to punch a hole into the Angel's skull. Hercules was about to leap to his teammate's assistance, until a blast from the Iceman (Bobby Drake) dissuaded him. The quartet conferred long enough for their foe to drop his prey to the ground.
A plan was quickly devised, one that began with Iceman encasing Rampage in a block of ice. It was a temporary delay, but it gave the Widow and Hercules enough time to come to the Angel's aid. Rampage soon broke out of the ice block, and later hurled a nearby car at the Olympian Hercules. In the fire that followed the car's destruction, Hercules' opponent escaped from sight.
Stuart Clark was new to the villain business and was already starting to question its sustainability. He'd retreated to a local building and took off his exo-suit, which he placed in a wooden box that he carried across the street as the Champions ensured that Ivan, who'd been injured in the melee, was properly loaded into a waiting ambulance.
The Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) wanted revenge for her friend, but the Angel (Warren Worthington III) reminded her that they wanted to ensure that Rampage wouldn't hurt anyone else. The quartet (Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze was still absent, due to events in his own title) decided that the Widow was best suited to lead their new team, based on her actions during their first battle (shown in the first three issues of this series).
Meanwhile, Clarke's antics had been recorded by a TV news crew. One of the people watching the broadcast was Stuart's former attorney, Amos Crawley (who Crawley fired last issue). By then, Clark had returned to his company, Clarke Futuristics. He was examining his exosuit when he heard the police just outside, advising him to leave the facility peacefully.
Clarke soon donned the suit and added a jetpack so that he could fly to freedom. While he was attempting to escape, the Champions were checking on Ivan, who was recovering, but doctors said that his prognosis was good. Iceman (Bobby Drake) went outside the room and heard a report that police were battling Rampage.
A short while later, Rampage not only had the law to counter, but his new foes, the Champions. The Angel struck Clarke first with a club and was just a bit faster than his opponent. Now it was the Black Widow's turn to strike. Hercules clobbered their foe, and Iceman put up an ice wall to protect his friends.
Hercules eventually threw Rampage into a building, where he crashed through a brick wall. Knowing he was about to fail, Clarke tossed the malfunctioning jetpack at his enemies. Drake put up another ice shield just before the jetpack exploded. Clarke took the brunt of the blast and was trapped in the rubble. After the heroes departed, Crawley learned that his former client was still alive. He could use the existing power of attorney agreement to sell the company and make a nice profit, even after all existing debts were paid.
We would see Rampage return, but not very often in the pages of this series. He was an interesting concept as a character, but I don't think that he was fully fleshed out enough to become a longtime thorn in the Champions' side. I felt like he was defeated rather easily based on this short storyline.
That's it for now. Time for me to enjoy the rest of a nice day. I'll be back tomorrow morning for a discussion of the seventh issue of the Champions. Ghost Rider returns, as the Champions start setting their affairs in order and take on new opponents. We'll also learn a bit more about the Black Widow's background. Until then, have a great weekend and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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