Rampage

RAMPAGE

Real Name: Karen Lou Faulkner

Class: Altered human

Occupation: Research scientist, administrator

Group Affiliation: S.T.A.R. Labs

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None.

Base of Operations: Metropolis, formerly Phoenix, AZ

First Appearance: Superman II #7 (July, 1987)

Powers: Rampage's body absorbed and stored solar energy. After absorbing a certain amount of energy she grew in size, gained superhuman strength, endurance and the ability to leap an eighth of a mile. The more energy she absorbed, the stronger she grew, but after a certain point of absorption her body would overload and shut down. As Dr. Faulkner she wore a regulator collar that controls the amount of energy her body absorbed, keeping her a normal human. When she transformed into Rampage she became short-tempered and less inhibited.

History: (Superman vol. 2 #7)-Kitty Faulkner was working on a pollution-free energy source for a competition sponsored by the Daily Planet. Faulkner was exhibiting her installation when Dr. Thomas Moyers, a colleague arguing about potential dangers, shut off the machine's safety systems. The resulting explosion gave Faulkner the ability to absorb and store energy, and transformed into a huge orange-skinned being. The shock made her uncontrollably violent and as she ran amok throughout Metropolis she was dubbed Rampage. Superman II stepped in, and was able to drain off her excess energy and return her to normal.

(Adventures of Superman #430 (add to other issue summary) - Superman battled Rampage.

Months later Dr. Faulkner fell ill, finding that her body now needed exposure to a certain amount of solar and cosmic energy or she would die. Dr. Moyers gave her a collar that would maintain the proper amount of exposure to keep her alive. But Moyers also had a sinister motive, he transformed Faulkner into Rampage and had her sabotage the presidential campaign of Herbert Forrest. Forrest and Moyers were former friends, but Moyers had come to resent the candidate's corrupt morality. After several attacks Superman helped free Rampage from Moyers' control and sent him to jail. After tweaking the regulator controller Rampage had her powers under control, and accepted a job at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Faulkner proved to be a talented administrator and earned a transfer to new S.T.A.R. Labs in Phoenix, Arizona. Once there she befriended the young superhero Starman V. She helped him on several occasions as Rampage, and the two formed a relationship. Her part-time career of heroics and her romance came to an end when she was sent back to Metropolis to take part in the major reorganization of S.T.A.R. Labs necessitated by the destruction of the corporations' main laboratory.

(Adventures of Superman #535) - Kitty Faulkner attended the Mars Mission Testimonial. The Centurions interrupted the Testimonial and attacked the crowd, but were defeated by Alpha Centurion.

(Final Night #1-4) - Superman organized a summit of superheroes to listen to an alien named Dusk. She'd seen the Sun-Eater snuff out the sun of countless planets, and she was there to warn the heroes that the Sun-Eater was headed towards Earth. Dr. Faulkner confirmed her story, pointing to data collected from Mauna Kea Observatory that a large dark mass was on a trajectory with Earth's sun. The Sun-Eater engulfed the sun and Kitty and a group of heroes conferred at S.T.A.R. Labs to discuss ways to deal with it. Lex Luthor sent Green Lantern Kyle Rayner into space to plant a probe in the sun that would give more data about the Sun-Eater and what it was doing to the sun, but Lantern mysteriously vanished. Faulkner and the heroes learned that the Eater would cause the sun to go hyper-nova in under 24 hours. Luthor designed miniature forcefield units that would hopefully shield the Earth from the sun going nova, but they needed to be delivered via spaceship, and rookie hero Ferro piloted the ship. The sun started going nova before Ferro could plant the forcefields. Parallax sacrificed himself to dispel the Sun-Eater and reignite the sun.

(Superman II #201) - B-Tech caused a time storm in Metropolis, threatening to wipe it from the continuum. At S.T.A.R. Labs Steel designed a Charged-Vacuum Emboitment, and he hoped to punch a hole in time and space that would give the storm somewhere to go to. Steel sent the Superman Family to the heart of the storm with the C.V.E., but Majestic, a hero pulled to Metropolis from the Wildstorm Universe, thought Steel's plan was a bad one and tried to pursue the Family. Kitty turned into Rampage and tried to stop him, but was defeated. Majestic destroyed the C.V.E. and after the timestorm reached a pitch the B-Tech disappeared and Metropolis was restored to normal. Majestic explained that the storm was a natural phenomenon and times' way of fixing itself, sending the B-Tech back into the future.

Comments: Created by John Byrne

Rampage received a profile in Who’s Who Update ’87 #4.