Marvel Comics Presents #19

If I had to put my money on a book that is currently pretty inexpensive but will shoot up in value soon, it's this one.

Marvel Comics Presents #19 marks the first appearance of Damage Control, a company that operates in the heart of the Big Apple. When titans such as Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus clash, there's sure to be some collateral damage. A broken water line here. A destroyed cafe there. It's up to Damage Control to keep the City That Never Sleeps from lapsing into coma through continuous reconstruction.

As there are rumors that Damage Control is going to get it's own Disney+ series, I have a feeling collectors and speculators are going to go gaga over this book. Written by the later Dwayne McDuffie with art by Ernie Colon, this one short 8-pager doesn't quite have the polish of the 3 Damage Control mini series that popped up shortly after this debut. But you can definitely capture some glimpses of brilliance!

This one's gonna be hot!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Damage Control #3 (of 3)

 

The final (so far) chapter of Damage Control sees the end of the recovery efforts and another classic John Porter solution to Manhattan constant super hero induced problems in regards to the newly sentient Chrysler Building.

I was happy with every aspect of this book except one: it ended way too soon. I am sure Damage Control will pop up in other series from time to time. I just hope DC gets it’s day in the sun and finally gets a regular series to call its own.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

 

 

World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Damage Control #2 (of 3)

In the last issue, the recovery and relief efforts of Damage Control was hindered by the Thunderbolts, demanding that all unregistered superhero volunteers be arrested for violating the superhero Registration Act. Thankfully, one of the Thunderbolts has a personal history with Damage Control and a temporary truce is rendered for the benefit of saving what New Yorkers who couldn’t flee during the World War Hulk rampage. (If you’ve been keeping up with my previous reviews of the older Damage Control minis, you can figure out who I’m referring to as the peacemaker.)

Now the race is on as Damage Control and the volunteers only have 2 days to save those trapped in the Big City. Complicating matters is the Chrysler Building. No, it’s not going to tumble if repairs can’t be made immediately. It’s just become sentient and it wants to go on a tour of Asia, that’s all!

This issue goes from a really good story that goes into depth of the tragedy in Connecticut that started the whole mess with Civil War. Then it gets really bizarre. The great thing about the writing of this series is that co-creator and scribe Dwayne McDuffie can make this story interesting no matter what. Why Damage Control has never been given a full-time regular series status is beyond me! This is the House of Ideas at its best and I want more!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Damage Control #1 (of 3)

After the events of Civil War, there was World War Hulk in which a very pissed off Hulk takes his frustrations out on the Avengers and Illuminati who collectively worked to maroon him in space. As a result of his return to earth, Hulk went wild and the Big Apple was laid waste.

Now with the city cordoned off and declared a disaster area, Damage Control is hoping to win the bid to repair the city from Tony Stark, newly appointed Director of SHIELD. In order to do that, the gang’s going to have to get back together. John Porter is on a sabbatical of sorts, Robin’s been fired, and the construction crew is on the outskirts of town chomping at the bit to get the green light.

Over 15 years has passed from Damage Control volume 3 to this new mini-series and lots has been missed. Other than a couple of appearances on Marvel Universe cartoons, I’ve not come across Damage Control in other books. But apparently, they’ve been popping up in issues of Iron Man, Wolverine, and The Avengers. I missed another hostile takeover of the company, Robin being fired, and surely other events too.

So, this issue meant a little catching up was in order. It also meant that I was going “Huh?” a lot! But that’s okay! Dwayne McDuffie is just as clever and funny as ever. The characters are engrossing and I cannot wait to see what happens next! Especially since the Thunderbolts have just showed up and are threatening to arrest all of the unregistered super hero volunteers that have agreed to join the cleanup!

Awesome stuff!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 3) #4 of 4

From the Big Screen to the Cosmic Theatre, the gang from Damage Control is summoned to the far reaches of space/time reality in order to bring down a threat that only someone with an eye for detail can fix. It seems that Edifice Wreaks has done such a great job cleaning up the asteroid belt that he’s now got his sights on cleaning up any and everything that isn’t perfect. That will mean the end of reality.

Featuring just about every major league cosmic biggie in the Marvel Universe, this issue signals the end of the original Damage Control miniseries. Galactus, Silver Surfer, Order & Chaos, The Collector, Death, and Infinity all form a tribunal with Damage Control in hopes of saving the universe. Sadly, this assortment of guest stars, including cameos from various Avengers and New Warriors, wasn’t enough to save the experiment that was Damage Control and earn it the permanent monthly series status it well deserved.

True, this isn’t the end of Damage Control. They’ll pop up doing guest stints in various series and mini-series for the next 15 years until they’ll get another mini-series shot during the Hulk: Aftersmash event.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Overall Rating: 8.25

Damage Control (Series 3) #3 of 4

Damage Control averted a crisis and possible jail time after a mysterious entity named Edifice Wrecks was determined to be behind the ‘physic’ disaster calls. John Porter seems to have solved the problem behind Wrecks insatiable desire to clean by assigning long missing Damage Control employee to clean up the Van Ryan asteroid belt.

While Edifice makes good work in cleaning up all the bits and pieces, the Damage Control gang has been invited to a movie premier starring Damage Control! Starring Simon “Wonder Man” Williams as John Porter (genius cameo by the way) in a blockbuster movie set to rival another superhero movie by the Distinguished Competition that was tearing up 1989/90 at the time, this is a very funny parody that skewers how Hollywood treats comic book properties.

 I laughed out loud several times at this issue. It was brilliant. It was genius. It was over way too soon! Thankfully, there’s one issue left in this mini-series, but I think Damage Control: The Movie’s 15 minutes of fame is up and there will not be a sequel.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

Damage Control (Series 3) #2 of 4

  I know that a couple of reviews ago, I said that Ernie Colon’s artwork in DC Series 2 #4 looked rushed and sloppy. Well, after the previous issues debacle with a new artist, I must say that the sketchy and rough art style of Ernie Colon was welcomed by to me with open arms.

In this issue, the crew of Damage Control is sent to Yankee Stadium with a report that a super villain has run amok and destroyed the place. Looking to prove that they are not drumming up business by wreaking havoc on the people of New York, John and Robin bring a detective with them. There, they happen to run into the Hulk! Only, Hulk isn’t there to tear up the place but he is hoping to making a killing if the Yankees can pull on off over the Red Sox! Huh?

This is a really bizarre issue that can only get weirder DC’s new intern, Robbie Baldwin (Speedball) calls up his buds The New Warriors to bring down the criminal syndicate known as Damage Control!

A fun filled issue that turns everything you know about the Hulk on its ear. A very funny issue that I think should be considered a classic. The imagination of Dwayne McDuffie is just full of surprises and he’s a master at crafting the adventures of Damage Control.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 3) #1 of 4

The crew at Damage Control is suspected of creating disasters for profit after the team is repeatedly called away to accidents minutes before they happen. With the NYPD on their tail, the company is going to have to prove that they are innocent or the whole business may be forced to close, people lose their jobs, and even worse, face criminal charges.

  I like this idea. It’s got an air of mystery to it while still staying true to the Damage Control formula I love. What doesn’t stay true to the DC formula is the art. For some reason, Ernie Colon is not the artist for this issue (and I fear for the rest of the series.)

Taking over the reins from Colon is Kyle Baker. Years after this issue is published, Baker will revitalize the obscure and definitely weird super hero Plastic Man. His cartoonish style works for Plas. It does not work for Damage Control. Besides Peter and Robin, the art is so different from Ernie Colon, that I can’t tell who some of these characters are. I did not enjoy it.

While I like some of Baker’s work, this issue isn’t one I favor. In fact, it’s so bad; this becomes the first Damage Control issue I deem NOT WORTH CONSUMING!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 2) #4 of 4

This issue closes the door on series 2. Will Damage Control be wrestled back from its new owners? Will the Big Apple be restored? Why is the Punisher still hounding Robin? More importantly, was does Nick Fury and SHIELD have to do with any of this?

I found myself both on the edge of my seat in suspense and laughing out loud at this issue. I enjoyed how it ended. I thought all of the plot lines were fairly well tied up. The only problem I would say with this issue is that the art was a little sloppy. I don’t know if Ernie Colon was rushing to finish this issue on time or what. Other than that, it’s a great issue.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Overall series rating: 8.0

Damage Control (Series 2) #3 of 4

The new management of Damage Control has rejected the latest contract of its construction workers and thus the blue collars are on strike. Without anyone to man the bulldozers and hammer the nails, the Big Apple lies in ruins. With most of the Marvel elite superheroes missing or indisposed, there’s very little chance of their help. However, the Avengers have managed to allow the Sensational She-Hulk to help out with some excavation rescues. But when a new pair of robotized super villains arrives on the scene seeking revenge against Damage Control for their past failures, it seems like the Green Goddess isn’t going to get any work done.

The mystery as to who, how, and why the new management of Damage Control is out to ruin the company deepens. Many of your favorite characters are left without jobs. I must say that I found it interesting that the intern at DC has been given a paid assistant executive job while the entire R&D department is laid-off. Would that happen in the real corporate world? DC also gets a new intern, but they’re often unpaid, so I can understand that move.

Speaking of DC, I think the powers that be at Marvel decided to take some pot shots at their rival comic publisher. Many of the strikers brandish signs that say “DC Sucks” or “DC is Lousy.” Sure, Damage Control can be shortened to DC like I’ve done in this review. But, I think the editors and artist Ernie Colon took advantage of that fact and used it to stick it to their opponents.

I’m not sure if I applaud that or think it’s a low blow. I’m still pondering that and that may affect my rating of this issue in the future when I come to a final decision.

Worth Consuming.

Rating (as of 7/12/14): 8 out of 10 stars

Damage Control (Series 2) #2 of 4

The new CEO of Damage Control, Robin, is in the Punisher’s sights after she goes to the office of the Kingpin. Robin has gone to meet with the villain to announce that his stranglehold on the company will not have a bearing on the repairs to New York City in the aftermath of the Acts of Vengeance storyline. Frank Castle can’t hear what they are saying but in his warped mind, any dealing with a known super villain makes you a villain as well.

I like that the Punisher finally gets a taste of his own medicine in Robin. She’s a take no prisoners (or crap from anyone) type of gal. So, when Castle points a loaded machine gun at her noggin, she brushes it away not out of fear for her life, but that he might ruin her furniture. It’s a very clever take on an anti-hero that I think has been given way too much credit. Bravo Dwayne McDuffie for not kowtowing to Marvel and making the Punisher the comic foil instead of the over bloated-ego hero for once.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damage Control (Series 2) #1 of 4

This volume of Damage Control begins during the ‘Acts of Vengeance’ storyline where all of the Marvel Universe villains have teamed up and laid waste to the Big Apple and those costumed heroes who protect it. The Mayor of New York is clamoring for Damage Control to begin immediate repairs. However, with a shift in upper management comes a new owner of Damage Control- one of which looks to trim the fat from what they deem ‘unnecessary expenses.’ So unless the crew of Damage Control can justify spending millions and millions of dollars on man hours, construction materials, and heavy machinery, Manhattan will have to lie in rubble.

Meanwhile, as Gotham burns, John Porter and a crew of security experts have been called to the Cage, a maximum security prison designed to keep the worst of the worst super villains off the streets. Thanks to a prison riot during  the Acts of Vengeance, the Cage is far from secure. Now with the Damage Control repair crew trapped with the riff-raff the prison is designed to keep out of society, only Captain America can be spared in hopes of quelling the riot and bringing our construction crew heroes out safely.

So there are essentially 2 stories in this issue- the shakeup at Damage Control and the prison riot. I liked the prison riot part of this issue. It captured the fun, the thrills, and the off-the-wall laughs of the first series. The buy-out of Damage Control was something I felt like I could do without. I am of the maxim “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Yes, that rule of thumb makes me hate change, but I really felt like Damage Control was perfect as it is. Hopefully life for the employees will return to normal by the end of this series. I would hate for this new boss to be on staff permanently.

Thus, this makes for an uneven tale. I liked the great sketchy art of Ernie Colon and the prison scenes prove that writer Dwayne McDuffie still has it. Maybe this first issue was like a pilot on TV. It’s going to get better, you just have to work the introductions and kinks in the plot out before it becomes an instant classic. God, I hope so!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

Damage Control (Series 1) #4 of 4

For the final issue of this mini-series, Damage Control is called in to examine why lumber and construction companies are being robbed. Their investigation brings them to the X-Men mansion which has been mysterious destroyed and seems to be rebuilding itself. Oddly, several of the members seem to vaguely recall having been to this site before but can’t put their finger on the how or why.

In a flashback, we see that Damage Control was called in to perform some upgrades on the Danger Room. However in perhaps one of the strangest fighting scenarios in all mutantdom, the Danger Room computer has been fed about 137 hours of Three Stooges movies. Witness as you favorite X-Men such as Storm, Wolverine, and Colossus battle it out with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and yes Larry, Moe, and Curly!

It’s a very bizarre concept that hilariously works. Only in the Danger Room could I imagine Laurel and Hardy to be cold blooded killers. I guess when you are a mutant superhero, you need to be prepared for any situation.

Thus ends the first mini-series. But I’m not done yet, there’s still 3 more Damage Control series to read and I’m ready to tear through ‘em like Wolverine in a wet paper sack straight jacket.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Overall Rating of Damage Control Series I: 7.75

 

 

 

Damage Control (Series 1) #3 of 4

In an attempt to make the general public make the connection that Damage Control works to repair the damage left by super heroes, their PR officer makes it a requirement to wear and act like their own version of a super hero team. When some super villains don’t understand that these guys aren’t the newest good guy squad on the block, the crew at Damage Control requires Iron Man to save their bacon.

This is perhaps the most silliest of the issues in this mini-series. I don’t understand why they need to act and look like superheroes. The doings of Damage Control as a business trying to make an honest living in a world full of super heroes is perfect. Why mess with the formula. Thankfully, this concept is quickly abandoned by issue’s end or I don’t think I would hold this comic in such high regard.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

Damage Control (Series 1) #2 of 4

Damage Control has a new project- to restore the Latverian research lab in the Latverian Embassy in Manhattan. Looks like a fairly routine job. But Damage Control also has a new delinquent account- The Latverian Embassy in lonely upscale Manhattan. That same Latverian Embassy that is home to one Victor Von Doom!

Will the company’s accounts executive be able to make Dr. Doom get his accounts up to date? Will the new intern be in need of clean pants after his visit to the embassy? Can the lab be fixed?  Will puppies be injured? All of this and more await you in this original story that I don’t think Stan Lee or Jack Kirby would’ve ever seen possible in a million years.

The writing continues to be very clever and the plots are just brilliantly executed. The art is still a little rough but it works. It’s another great chapter to one of my favorite mini-series of all-time.

Worth Consuming.

                                                                                Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 1) #1 of 4

Meet John Porter. It’s his first day as the new accounts executive for Damage Control. It’s his job to find creative yet cost effective ways to repair the damage done after super heroes and villains fight it out. Case in point: a giant robot with Spider-man trapped inside has crashed into the base of a famous Manhattan sky scraper and it’s looking to topple fast. It’s up to John to preserve a New York landmark as well as a friendly neighborhood Spider-man alive or this very well might be his last day as the new accounts executive for Damage Control.

  This ‘sitcom’ style comic by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon is something I’ve read twice before. I remember reading this as a kid when it first came out in 1989 and then I read it again right before I got married in 1999. I laughed so much during those readings. I liked seeing what the average Joe did when the superheroes were busy elsewhere taking down the next megalomaniac. I think that many these type of story has stuck with me as I often find that the things that happen during a super heroes off hours is more interesting than their battles.

Reading this for a 3^rd time was new to me once again. I remember much or the plot but the jokes and art were as fresh to me now as they were both times prior. The art is very good, a little sketchy but humorous at the same time. A fantastic opening chapter for one of my all-time favorite mini-series.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Big Bang Theory and Damage Control- which came first?

First of all, I want to give a shout out to a new website I found. It's called Sheldon Shirts. This website has an in depth look the many tees one by Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. I love the show. It's a funny but true look at America's geek culture that has tons of cool shirts I wish to one day add to my collection. Not only does Sheldon Shirts show you the shirts, but the provide links in which you can find them for sale. Other geek fashions worn by the gang are also examined on the site along with some of the many cool items featured such as the Periodic Table shower curtain in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment and Star Trek 3-D Chess. Now if they'd only tell me where I could find Donkey Kong Jinga...


When you think of the Big Bang, you can't not help thinking about a gigantic explosion and with explosions comes damage. In order to prevent damage, you set up a series of measures for preventative reasons called Damage Control. Damage Control is a fictional company in the Marvel Universe that repairs damage caused by super heroes and villains duking it out. (Like my segue way?)It's also a trio of 3 mini series from the 00s- make that 4 as their was a smaller miniseries set right after the World War Hulk event that happened in 2007. Each issue featured a super hero or villain guest star and usually involved the Damage Control team trying to find creative measures to repair damage in Manhattan without going over budget or sacrificing the many landmarks of the Big Apple.


Well, starting tomorrow, I will be reviewing the Damage Control books in order as they were published. I just recently finished a marathon reading of them and I liked them all very much. So, stay tuned as I explore a little seen aspect of super hero comics that are vital in order for heroes, villains, and citizens alike to be able to continue on with their merry little lives.