Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #127
Cover Date: Jun 87
Title: "Among us lurks... a Lizard!"
Credits:
Len Kaminski - Writer
Alan Kupperberg - Penciler
Alan Kupperberg & Co. - Inker
Adam Blaustein - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
So this is a pitch for a new series starring the Lizard.

Spider-Man learns that Doctor Curtis Connors has learned to (mostly) retain his persona while in Lizard form...

...and the Lizard goes up against the Owl, who has kidnapped Martha and Billy in order to try to force Doc Connors to provide his regeneration serum, to restore the Owl's damaged spine.

Martha had split with Curtis after he was away for so long during Secret Wars, and despite his successful rescue attempt here (which included some unwanted help from Spider-Man)...

...she doesn't take him back, although they agree that they still love each other.

The ending goofily projects the idea that the Lizard could be a hero on an ongoing basis, if anyone was interested.

It's actually a role that Marvel had a gap for, considering the status quo that is currently developing in Hulk.

But it's a surprising time for this type of pitch. I could see it during the Monster Mania of the 70s, or during the apex of anti-hero type comics in the 90s. Anyway, there's nothing particular about Len Kaminski's writing or Alan Kupperberg's art that gives us a unique hook.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This and issues #128-129 take place before Amazing Spider-Man #290.

References:

• The Lizard was taken to the Battleplanet with the other villains during Secret Wars, and it was during that extended absence that Martha decided to split with him.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I think that this was the perfect time for this type of pitch- the Punisher got his own series in 1987, Wolverine got his own series in 1988, and at the time, Angel and Dr.Strange had both been turned into antiheroes.

Lizard's been a problematic character for someone considered to be a major villain given his Ditko-era status. There's really only so many variations that can be done with him, since he is only a villain when he loses control, and the ending of the story is known in advance (Spidey pours the cure down his throat, and Connors returns). Also, the Lizard is badly motivated - his hatred for mammals can't lead to anything major.

I've always thought there was room for Lizard to become a more important villain that points to Spidey's intelligence/science smarts being more important than his normal street crime foes.

Chris touches on something here that I've certainly noticed, though his own comments about the Lizard's 'Ditko-era status' probably refer more to how such an iconic Spider-Man villain should have amounted to so much more, as the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, say, did.
I've noticed that, if a villain introduced in 'recent' time (certainly from the late 70s onwards) is rehabilitated, then that new status quo has a fighting chance of success. Black Cat is a perfect example, having done a heel-face turn a few short years after her introduction as a villain and she's still a hero now. Likewise, despite Cyclops' faction of X-Men being fugitives and regarded as terrorists, one would certainly be stretching things to claim that Emma Frost is now a villain again, and, when the two factions of X-Men eventually reunite, as surely must happen when writers grow tired of the Schism, I'd be prepared to bet that Emma will be a proper hero again.
Contrast this with three characters who, in 1987, were all reformed or reforming: the Lizard, the Sandman and Magneto. All Silver Age villains, all reverted to form subsequently (and, in Magneto's case, he's since flipped between hero, anti-hero, full-blown 'bwa-ha-ha' villain, scheming antivillain, benign head of state, fruitloop warmonger head of state and so much else). In addition, after the 80s, the Juggernaut became an X-Man for a while, that didn't last either (though I have no idea what he's doing now).

"and it was during that extended absence that Martha decided to split with him."
Wasn't it just one week that Secret Wars took place?
You mean, instead of being concerned as to his absence, she decided to leave him? Wow. That should get her "Wife Of The Year". There are wives who stay around while there husbands fight in wars for months.

Yeah, that's weird- it was a relatively short period of time.We saw Mockingbird and Maddie sitting around worrying about Clint and Scott. You'd think Martha would be doing the same.

Martha and Billy should never have stayed as long as they did with a man who at any moment could turn into a (literally) cold-blooded killer. Curt's own admission here -- that the Lizard's hatreds are simply his own, unfettered -- only reinforces that.

Not only was Curt only gone for a week in Secret Wars, but he didn't even go by choice. He was kidnapped! And Martha clearly had been worried about him and was happy when he was returned. This also ignores that Curt was cured years ago. He was changed back by the Beyonder for Secret Wars but by the end the Enchantress destroyed the Lizard persona, setting things back to status quo.

Throw in lousy art and an uninspired story and this is just awful.

"This also ignores that Curt was cured years ago." I'd never realised what a big gap there had been between Lizard (as opposed to Curt Connors) appearances... looks like before Secret Wars he hadn't been the Lizard since Spectacular Spider-Man #34 in 1979?