Spectacular Spider-Man #17
Whatever Happened to the Iceman?
Peter Parker is sent to Los Angeles to cover the disbandment of the Champions for the Daily Bugle. Arriving outside of the Champion's office tower headquarters, Peter is lost in thought when suddenly two of the windows in the building pop out of their frames. Seeing this is the Champions former leader, the Angel, who quickly flies into action, tossing one of the windows into Santa Monica Bay. However, the second pane is heading right for Peter Parker and the Angel can't reach him in time. Thankfully, Peter's spider-sense kicks in and is able to leap out of the way of danger. Thankfully, nobody really saw this feat of agility, and so Spider-Man's secret identity is maintained. When Peter explains to the Angel what brings him to Los Angeles, the Angel informs him that he is too late, that the other members of the Champions have already left. When he asks why the windows popped out of their fame, the Angel explains that his headquarters was the product of shoddy construction. That's when Peter discovers that his camera was smashed while trying to escape the falling glass.
The Angel pays for a new camera and invites Peter into the headquarters so he can tell the story about how the Champions fell apart. It was after their recent battle against the Sentinels. By this point, Ghost Rider had enough and stormed out, upsetting the Black Widow, who feels responsible for keeping the team together. Things get worse when Darkstar decides that she must return to her native Russia, and tells Iceman that she had no romantic interest in him. She flies off before Iceman can convince her to stay. When Angel tried to console his friend, Bobby furiously ices up and storms out himself. It's then that Black Widow and Hercules also announce that they are departing the team as well, much to the anger of the Angel. That concludes the Angel's story, and although Peter Parker got the photos he needed, he is convinced that Angel was hiding something from him about Iceman.
Peter decides to come back later as Spider-Man, he sneaks into the building and finds Angel arguing with the bandaged and wheelchair-bound Stuart Clarke, the costumed villain formally known as Rampage. Clarke, and his minion -- now wearing the Rampage armor -- are furious that Angel allowed a newspaper photographer to come into the building. Having had enough, Angel tries to rough up Clarke, but Rampage hits him with force enough to send the mutant flying across the room. The Angel is saved thanks to a web line fired by Spider-Man. Confronting Stuart and Rampage, the wall-crawler demands to know what is going on. Furious that Spider-Man has come to interfere, Clarke orders Rampage to attack the two heroes. When Spider-Man tries to fight back, he is shocked when Angel stops him. Rampage hits them again, but Angel still insists on holding back. Not willing to listen, Spider-Man knocks out the Angel with a punch and tries to attack Clarke directly, but the wheelchair-bound foe is protected by a force field.
Rampage then grabs Spider-Man and begins crushing him, try as he might, Spider-Man can't break free. Recovering from Spider-Man's blow, the Angel tries to stop things and tosses a power rod at Stuart. The electrical charge shorts out the controls on Clarke's wheelchair which causes the Rampage armor to break apart, revealing the person underneath as none other than Angel's friend, the Iceman!
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Angel, Iceman, Stuart Clarke, In Flashback: Champions (Ghost Rider, Hercules, Black Widow, Darkstar)
Continuity Notes
Angel recounts the Champion's final battle against the Sentinels, that happened in Champions #17.
Angel mentions how he and Iceman joined the original X-Men together. This was first depicted in X-Men #1.
The Angel states that the Ghost Rider ran off to points unknown. His departure leads to a battle with Doctor Druid, seen in Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #26.
Stuart Clarke was the original Rampage who battled the Champions in Champions #5-7, leading to his the injuries that he is still recovering from in this story.
