Graphic Novel Comic Book Review ZEB Wells Spiderman Lizard
Spiderman’s struggles to rescue the man inside the reptilian monster known as The Lizard finally fail,with terrible tragic consequences.
GRAPHIC NOVEL COMIC BOOK REVIEW ZEB WELLS SPIDERMAN LIZARD 2010 Marvel.
Spoiler warnings.presented as part of The Gauntlet series.
The Lizard has always been a favourite Spiderman villain, as he isn’t really evil in his human guise, as Dr. Curt Connors tries to stay sane and good, until his Mr Hyde Lizard personality takes over and he goes on a rampage against humanity.
After a prologue recap of his origins, partly observed by the mystical enigmatic Swamp Thing, we see Connors struggling once more to keep his inner monster at bay, and losing the battle.
A traditional Lizard story faces Spiderman with a dilemma – beating the monster, but saving the man. Spiderman has to pull punches and tread carefully to avoid hurting Connors, and eventually finding a way to reach the last spark of humanity within him.
Here, as Connors really loses it big time, the gloves are removed as Connors goes too far into lizard-dom to be recovered, culminating in a terrible tragedy that will leave Spiderman devastated, emotionally for someone he is unable to save, and for the loss of humanity in Connors.
Worse, The Lizard is able to draw out the primordial memory of reptile nature in Spiderman and in other people, turning the people of New York into bestial savages, fighting very literally for territory, prey and their mates. It’s a powerful, sometimes genuinely shocking Spiderman tale, with a much darker edge than usual.
The early Spiderman material here, with his frolics with Black-Cat (a variation on Batgirl / Cat-Woman), give the image of this being a much lighter story than it ultimately proves to be, with Spiderman’s human half, Peter Parker, reduced to emotional wreckage, turning to his Aunt May for comfort. Definitely one of the best of the Spiderman graphic collections to date.
Arthur Chappell
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