Dr. Curt “Lizard” Connors’ wife has died of cancer and his rage over the loss has him transform to Lizard once again. Specifically, he wants a grant to research cancer, doesn’t get, and attacks the foundation that didn’t fund him. Connors is losing control while in his Lizard identity and he kidnaps his own son.
After a battle with Spider-Man, he changes back into Connors and then, knowing he cannot control his transformations, fake-robs a bank just so he can get arrested.
Also, MJ and Pete are on a softball team and Mary Jane plays in a belly shirt.
Overall, this is a perfectly fine Lizard story. I like that when he knows he can’t control himself, he chooses to get locked up. Frankly, that’s something Bruce Banner should have done decades ago. On the other hand, he could have just told the truth: “You need to lock me up because I can’t stop myself as Lizard.” That would have spared the poor bank teller from the trauma of having a gun in her face and also would have held him accountable for what he actually did—not for an intentionally failed robbery. It also would ensure that he’s properly detained. At the end of the issue, Connors himself wonders what will happen if he transforms in prison. Surely, it will have bad consequences for his fellow inmates and the prison employees. It’s downright irresponsible for Spider-Man to allow Connors to go to jail without warning the system that he might turn into a super-strong monster with fangs and an appetite for destruction.
I’m grading as a “C” for the story overall, but the ending is definitely problematic.