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 The Jigsaw Brothers
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.

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 subsequently needed to use 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. The eight, all personal friends of Wonder Man, manage to summon Wonder Man's help and the villains are defeated. During the fight Rampage hesitates to kill several Eight members; wondering instead if he might be able to use them to create better technology.