Ravage did go through quite a bizarre journey. As far as I can tell, Stan Lee wanted to do sort of a futuristic Barbarian Hero type character. Starting out as a firm believer in the establishment, Ravage becomes disillusioned after becoming a firsthand victim of the corrupt system, simply for being suspected a whistleblower. So, with a hearty "When the world's a jungle... THE SAVAGE TAKES OVER!", he ditches his suit, starts driving an ancient garbage truck, he begins an anti-establishment crusade by raiding Alchemax properties and beating up their agents. Things looked to be building up to a climax when he became stranded in a radioactive mutant ghetto, developing his own superpowers and coming face to face with Dethstryk, who appeared to be the true villain of the piece.
And then Stan handed the book off to someone else, who promptly realigned his status quo by nearly 180 degrees. No more was Ravage a fugitive from justice; he regained control of his family company and, giving up on the whole "savage hero in a world ruined by civilization!" bit and got back to trying to fight the system from the inside as a champion of environmentalist causes. Only now he had newfound superpowers that let him transform into a Beast Man, enabling him to use his secret identity to fight crime on the side. At this point, the first 8-12 issues were basically one extremely extended origin story to help us get into the new Classic-Superhero-Fights-Villain-Of-The-Week format.
For the last third of the series, Ravage changes pitch again by leaving polite society altogether and flying out into the wilderness on the back of his new companion, a giant bat with whom he can communicate telepathically. No, really.
It's like someone wrote down a single-sentence premise ("Everyman becomes Noble Savage in a corrupt world ruined by pollution!") and handed it to three different writers without asking them to coordinate it into a single story arc. What's my take on the series? I freaking love it. It's not good writing by any traditional definition, but the sheer roller-coaster-insanity of it all, coupled with some extremely cheesy dialogue (Stan clearly had not grown beyond his Silver Age roots), makes it enjoyable in its absurdity. As 2099 finds itself referenced more and more often in modern books, I find myself hoping someone will resurrect Ravage of the cartoon character he is, in all his personality-swapping glory.
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Ravage 2099: Sadly unrealized potential
Of all the Marvel 2099 books, Ravage 2099 always caught my interest. It was the only one not based on an existing character, the only book written by Stan Lee, and seemed to set out for a very different tone from the rest of the franchise. Paul-Philip Ravage is the CEO of an environmental control company, who learns that his subordinates are labeling corporate enemies as "polluters" and killing them. Ravage is nearly killed, and decides to strike back at Alchemax (the 2099 line's Big Bad Mega Corp).
Then he gets irradiated, turns into a shapeshifting man-beast, and heads up his family's own corporation to fight back. For the first twenty issues, it really is Better Than It Sounds.
The big problem with Ravage is a lack of consistency. He goes through more power changes in thirty-two issues than Hank Pym does over his entire career. He starts as a principled man who tried to avoid killing enemies, sought to protect the environment, and cared for his friends and assistant, Tiana. Lee's run ended with Ravage having the power to shoot radiation through his hands. This was overpowered, so they mutated him into a man-beast; nonetheless, he still had his own morals. He was still clearly a hero. Unfortunately, Issue 21 and 22 killed the series dead. Ravage suddenly got sick of humanity, became a full-on monster, and set out with a giant mutant bat to find a promised land. I wish I was kidding. He then mutates AGAIN, becoming something out of Liefeld's worst nightmares.
Along the way, his entire supporting cast is dumped, the whole focus on Alchemax is exchanged for ludicrous green aesops, and the finale is simply a big battle with a villain from the very first few issues, one that had been totally forgotten by that point. Ravage is now a growling, snarling beast, a parody of his original incarnation. And to reiterate, this is not Character Development; he shifts focus within two issues, with no provocation. Even the letter columns (which normally kiss Marvel's ass) were openly condemnatory of this move.
Oh, and it ends with the ENTIRE CAST getting killed off by Doom.
In the end, Ravage was a lot of unrealized potential. The early issues were awesome, and even the mid-range ranged from decent to good. It might have been another Doom 2099; instead, it's on the level of Fantastic Four 2099. *shudder*