Tomes of Costumed Adventurers: Doom's Day Book One--Rampage

Tomes of Costumed Adventurers

Welcome to the land of "reality", where scientific experiments, accidents, genetic heritage, and alien influences affect the lives of ordinary mortals. Join me as I observe the superhumans of planet earth and their struggles against equally powerful foes.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: Doom's Day Book One--Rampage
Author: Danny Fingeroth & Eric Fein
Publisher: Boulevard Books
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1997

Few people know better what the Incredible Hulk is capable of than Dr. Bruce Banner, the Hulk himself. Spider-Man knows, though, as does much of the American public--the world, even--how powerful and potentially dangerous the gamma-spawned monster can be. When a renegade scientist with stolen technology plots to create a horde of Hulks, then it's definitely time to step in and put a stop to it. And it's even more important, because one of the men selected to become a copy of the Hulk is one of Spidey's friends, Flash Thompson! Now it's a race for time as the Hulk (determined to rescue his captive wife) and Spider-Man (with his friend's life on the line) search for the answers they need to reverse the transformation process...before Flash and the other psuedo-Hulks explode!

Don't let the title fool you: Doom's Day Book One--Rampage has only a little to do with the infamous monarch of Latveria, Doctor Doom. You'll see his influence and his handiwork throughout the novel, but ultimately he is really a minor player...so far. Right now you'll get to see more Hydra and A.I.M. and S.A.F.E. than you probably really want to, but this is the Marvel Universe, and where technology and the American government are concerned, you can't have a story without these acronym organizations getting involved.

Of more interest to me is the "guest appearance" of Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, a sometime adventurer and sometime thief who's played a major role in both Peter Parker's and Spider-Man's lives. I rarely saw her in the comics--except for the rare one-shots in Marvel Comics Presents and the rarer pop-ups in the Spider-Man titles--and saw perhaps a different story about her on the cartoon version, so having her appear here was slightly distracting, but she makes a very pleasant distraction, especially since she's willing to toe the line that Spider-Man will not.

Doom's Day Book One--Rampage is only the beginning of a trilogy involving the metal-clad monarch of Latveria. While the differences between Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk might cause some confusion and dissatisfaction, I assure you: they only make the book better! Read it and find out for yourself!

Rating: Thumbs up! There's only one thing worse than the Incredible Hulk on the rampage: fourteen of them!

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