Rampage (Marvel Comics)

Stuart Clarke
Stuart Clarke. Art by Howard Chaykin.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Champions #5 (April 1976)
Created by	Tony Isabella Don Heck John Tartag
In-story information
Alter ego	Stuart Clarke
Species	Human
Team affiliations	The Recession Raiders Clarke Futuristics
Supporting character of	Punisher
Notable aliases	Rampage Capitan Action Figure
Abilities	No super powers as a human: Genius-level intelligence. Used to have a powered armor that granted him super-strength and durability.

Stuart Clarke is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe, an ex-supervillain who first fought as Rampage against the short-lived Champions team. He is an ally of the Punisher, replacing Microchip.

Fictional character biography

Stuart Clarke was born in East Lansing, Michigan. He was working as an engineer at a company when he created an exo-skeleton suit. His company was bankrupted by recession, and he attempted a bank robbery but battled and was defeated by the Champions. He was freed from custody by Griffin and Darkstar. He battled the Champions again, and was injured in an explosion. Clarke was confined to a wheelchair, and sought revenge on the Champions soon after their disbanding. He manages to hypnotize Iceman and entrap him in one of the Rampage suits, forcing him to battle Angel and a visiting Spider-Man.

Clarke ends up homeless and his suits are stored away in a lab, their secrets pored over by profit-minded scientists. Clarke has secreted away a small device that allows him over the course of many weeks, to unlock the control protocols for the suit. Eventually they literally bust out by themselves. Clarke and several of his homeless friends put on the suits and become known as the Recession Raiders. They soon get into a fight with Wonder Man and Beast. The fight gets dangerous when the suit hits Beast with a brick chimney. Enraged, Wonder Man subdues the entire squad. Beast recovers after a short hospital stay.

Wonder Man's enemy Lotus springs Clarke from jail and participates in the creation of the armored team Armed Response. Alongside Splice and Armed Response, Rampage was sent by Lotus to battle Wonder Man and the super-powered group, the Crazy-Eight. They become a private security force for Los Angeles. This falls apart when the media receives proof, from the Crazy-Eight, that Armed Response is working with criminal elements in order to generate the need for themselves.

Punisher War Journal

Stuart is working with the Punisher during the Civil War. He is obsessed with Iron Man and is giving the Punisher the means to track down high tech supervillains; after this Frank takes down Stilt-Man and Tinkerer. At least for the moment, Stuart seems to be serving in the capacity of the Punisher's former weapons expert and information gatherer, Microchip.

Someone that looks like Rampage was among the members of Hood's Crime Syndicate. In Secret Invasion, he is among the many supervillains who rejoined the Hood's crime syndicate and attacked an invading Skrull force. In the midst of the invasion, Clarke learned that the Punisher killed his girlfriend, and the Punisher learns Clarke killed a cop, leading them battling each other. The battle was concluded by both being trapped in a room where the Skrulls fired a rocket into, leaving Clarke heavily scarred, in a manner similar to Jigsaw, and vowing revenge on Frank Castle.

Powers and abilities

Stuart Clarke is a genius, with an advanced degree in engineering. As Rampage he possessed a power suit that gave him superhuman strength and durability.

External links

• Series index
• Brief description of his fight against Spider-Man
• List of appearances
• Profile on Armed Response
• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/clarke_stuart_rampage.htm