AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #630-633 (2010): Shed

I love “Shed.” It has its detractors, but to my mind this is the best Lizard story ever. It centers around Curt Connors’ son, Billy. Due to his past, Dr. Connors is only allowed supervised, no-contact visits with his child, who is (justifiably) terrified of him. We rarely see long-term consequences in the lives of supervillains (and I understand that Lizard isn’t so much a villain as a monster)–so this is a great angle to start the story with. Connors starts to develop lust for his hot lab assistant, and Sasha and Ana Kravinov manipulates the situation to bring out the Lizard–with the help of her prisoner, Madame Web. Chris Bachalo’s art often feels too stylized for me, but in this story it works. Lizard looks monstrous. Connors becomes Lizard because he’s horny. More specifically, his hot assistant gets his hormones going. But once transformed, the man-reptile goes right for his son, Billy. Spider-Man tries to intercept him but once at Billy’s house, he sees the child is missing. Yes, of course, it’s those darn meddling Kravinovs. Lizard hunts them down and finds Billy in an alley. At this point, “Lizard” is fighting his “Dr. Connors” side in his head, but the beast-side wins–and ...