Requiem for Damage

So amidst the chaos that was Blackest Night, several characters ended up taking a dirt nap, as one would expect in an event all about death. Like many other readers, I kinda figured a good chunk of the casualties would end up resurrected by series end, but folks like Tempest, the female Hawk, Firestorm’s girlfriend Gehenna and the new Captain Boomerang were still resting in piece as of this writing, as was former Teen Titans and erstwhile Justice Society member Damage.

Upon reflection and seeing the solicit for next month’s issue of JSA: All-Stars, I remembered that I actually kinda liked Damage, so I figured I’d write about him for a bit.

Grant Emerson, the lad who would be Damage, first showed up in 1994 in his own self-titled series. I found the cover to the first issue particularly eye-catching, so I decided to give it a shot. I actually quite enjoyed that initial story by Tom Joyner and Bill Marimon as Grant spends the first half of the issue as your typical put-upon high school teen—struggling through classes, arguing with his folks, crushing on a cute girl, etc.—and then out of nowhere he explodes. Literally. His body becomes ground zero for a huge energy blast and he emerges as a juiced up bruiser who just destroyed his school. And then he fights Metallo for a bit.

It was the moments immediately after the explosion that really grabbed me though. Grant’s best friend is terrified of him and runs away. The coaches and authority figures he instinctively looks to for support and guidance are freak out too. The girl he likes is actually the only one who will come near him, but he bolts because he’s afraid he’ll hurt her. He speeds home to find his parents gone and some forgettable mercenaries at his house, and the issue ends there.

I didn’t end up getting the second issue of Damage—or any other issue for that matter—not for any reason I remember (probably money), but that sequence has always resonated with me. Super hero comics are usually such a wish fulfillment avenue and that moment where the hero gets their powers is typically such a feel good moment, but this was the nightmare version of that, where your whole world falls apart, everybody you counted on abandons you, and you’re left with no idea what to do next. It was a well-written piece of business with a protagonist close enough in age to me that it really stood out to me as being unique and thought-provoking

(Howard Mackie and Tom Grummett did a kinda similar story a year or so later in X-Men Unlimited that also grabbed me the same way and shared a lot of the same themes, but props to Joyner and Marimon for doing it first)

While I didn’t follow Damage in his book, I kept abreast enough of what was going on in comics and the DC Universe via Wizard and other avenues that I learned his “parents” were actually just people paid by Vandal Savage to watch him and that he was the son of the Golden Age Atom injected with DNA from like a dozen other heroes.

The next place I actually saw Damage was in Zero Hour #0, and it was pretty nuts. After not having appeared in the entire line-wide Zero Hour event, Damage shows up in the final issue as part of the randomly-assembled squad of heroes Waverider hastily pulls together to go fight Parallax and save the universe. Despite only having been around a few months, Damage was shoulder-to-shoulder with Superman and Captain Atom fighting for reality. Even crazier, Damage’s powers end up being the key to undoing all the crap Parallax did to the timestream and he literally becomes the “big bang” that re-starts the DC Universe, something that was both bizarrely cool and a point that would be brought up usually as a jab or self-deprecating remark in stories for years to come. I personally always thought it was pretty cool that Zero Hour architect Dan Jurgens was tuned in enough to the DCU to bring in such a new character in such a major role.

I jumped out of comics around this time, but when I came back in a few years later, I caught up on Damage’s time with the New Titans; while that book may have been on its last legs, certainly one of the bright spots was Grant Emerson attempting to fit in among other young heroes with way more experience than him, getting hit on by Terra and reprimanded for not being good enough by Arsenal until he walked out on the team in a huff.

That second bit proved important down the line as Arsenal would end up plucking Damage from a few years in obscurity following the cancellation of his book and recruit him for a new Titans team (and series) partially out of guilt for not being a better mentor. A tiny cosmetic change to Damage’s costume—giving him white pants to contrast his primarily purple top—made him really stand out visually in my eyes, and it seemed like the character was going places…but he never seemed to get there. Writer Devin Grayson never really seemed to find much to do with Grant during her tenure on Titans, and then wrote him out towards the end of her run with the revelation that his fake “father” had abused him as a child. To help Grant collect himself, Arsenal takes him to the Navajo reservation where he was raised in order to give him a safe place to rebuild; it was an interesting premise, but it never really went anywhere.

A couple years later, Geoff Johns began using Damage occasionally for cameos in the JSA books as a member of the unofficial “All-Star Squadron” team that formed during Our Worlds at War and later as part of the new Freedom Fighters. Grant only got a few lines here and there, but formed a neat bond with his real father’s godson, Atom-Smasher, and again seemed to be building a bit of momentum.

In the very first issue of Infinite Crisis, written by Johns, the Freedom Fighters got massacred by the evil Society, with Damage managing to survive but having his face horribly scarred by Zoom. Johns used this set-up to bring Grant into the JSA for real when the Justice Society of America series re-launched, albeit under a full face mask like his dad wore and with a new cynical and self-destructive attitude.

Damage ended up working his way towards a healthier outlook on life in the early issues of JSoA, thanks in large part to the newly-married Hourman and Liberty Belle taking a special interest in him (as Jesse Quick, Belle had actually been one of Damage’s teammates in the Titans). I remember chatting with Geoff on the phone once during the early days of JSoA and assuming that he was working towards some sort of love triangle between the three characters, but he emphatically told me that wasn’t in the cards and that he was far more interested in showing a genuine friendship among the trio; stuff like that, where Geoff zigs when anybody else would have done the clichéd zag, is part of what makes him such a talented fellow and why that first year and change of Justice Society of America was so special.

Over the course of JSoA’s Johns-written era, Damage would undergo many trials and milestones, including a rematch with Zoom, temptation by Gog, and a challenging romance with non-English-speaking Judomaster. After 15 years of wandering through the DC Universe, it seemed Grant Emerson had finally found a nice little niche.

So of course when he had his heart ripped out by Jean Loring during Blackest Night—written by Geoff Johns, no less—I sighed a little sigh.

Fun fact: I’ve never gotten anywhere near close to finishing it to the point where I’d want to really share it with anybody, but I actually have a half-completed Damage script set around the start of Justice Society of America sitting on my desktop. It was born out of the bug I get every so often to try my hand at actually writing comics—it typically doesn’t last long—and another conversation with Geoff, this time about how to construct a comic script. I’ve only attempted that feat a couple times over the course of my life and never made it to the end, but Damage is the one I’ve come closest with. I’d rather not say anymore, because who knows, maybe someday…

(Another fun fact: the above gorgeous black and white piece by Dale Eaglesham is one I had a role in commissioning as it was for a Justice Society sketchbook Geoff and I pitched to Wizard when the series kicked off)

Damage was never really among my very favorites or even a guy I’d likely pick in my top 30, but there was still something about him that stood out. He was a character who provided some impressively memorable moments during his uneven 15-year existence and likely had a lot more potential than ever got used, so here’s to ya, pal; if you get resurrected in All-Stars next month, I will still feel this post was somewhat worthwhile.

Forgot one

BLACK LANTERN: Thanos
This mofo would pimp slap Black Hand with the Infinity Gauntlet then make sweet love to Death all blackest night long (seriously--dude loves death). Besides, he's coming back in April anyhow.

Ring Redux: Marvelous Lanterns

A few months back, like every other blogger who devotes more time to Melrose Place and Subway than legitimately thoughtful essays on the craft of comics , I did my mandatory “Who I want to see as a BLANK Lantern” post. Lo and behold, the last issue of Blackest Night saw me and every other person who has ever figured out how to use a comic book message board go “oh snap!” as Geoff Johns went ahead and actually handed out those fancy Lantern rings to an assortment of DC heroes and villains.

So how can I out-geek both myself and Geoff Johns here? I can do something I’m sure nobody on any forum or blog has ever done ever before: say which Marvel characters I think would be best suited to wear the various rings! I am a genius!

But yeah, seriously, this is how I would let it roll if somebody walked into my office tomorrow and said, “Ben, it's time to do our version of Blackest Night and you’re the only person on the payroll qualified to pull it off with finesse and dignity” (this will never happen because, y’know, Werewolf By Eve; also, my lack of qualifications and legitimacy). I did actually try and give it some, so lets see how it goes…

RED: The Hulk
Ok, pretty obvious, but at least I got it out of the way first. For the record, I’m going with the green Bruce Banner version of The Hulk and not the Red Hulk (though it’s pretty ironic we currently have a Red Hulk as I’m making this pick). It’s not hard to rationalize this one: the inner anger Banner kept repressed from childhood on was what caused him to first transform into The Hulk (that and the massive amounts of gamma radiation), and it’s always been Banner’s anger at himself, his father, the world, etc. that fuels the engine of rage that is his emerald alter ego. Since The Hulk alone is pretty badass, a ring-powered Hulk that spews fiery blood vomit would be sick (and quite 90’s); it’s almost a shame the visual of a crimson Hulk is already out there, but a savvy designer could still have fun with this one.

ORANGE: Norman Osborn
Thought I was gonna say Kingpin, didn’t you? Well I thought I was going to at first, at least, but then I really thought about it: who is so ambitious that getting to be perhaps the most powerful man in the Marvel Universe still wasn’t enough for him so he had to keep reaching, providing the foundation for the current Siege? Norman Osborn is so greedy when it comes to power he literally can’t stop himself and be comofortable achieving stuff other people would only dream of—he has to keep going. The simple desire your average super villain or crimelord has for wealth or even world domination isn’t on par with a guy who doesn’t even know what he wants, just that he wants more. Also: sociopath with a power ring equals fun.

YELLOW: Sabretooth
Had trouble with this one at first, as it’s easy to think of characters who instill fear, but I wanted somebody who really gets off on it—somebody who for them just freaking people out is enough motivation to do stuff. I mean, look at somebody like Mister Fear: his whole gig is finding out what terrifies people and then inducing it, but end of the day he’s after money, women, etc. Ditto pretty much every freaky bad guy I could think of—until I came to Sabretooth. Yeah, Victor Creed has taken jobs for cash before, but you always get the sense he wouldn’t sign up for any gig unless it provided him with an opportunity to terrorize somebody. And yeah, his primary thing is his intense bloodfeud with Wolverine, which goes beyond motivations that are really quantifiable at this point, but his usual method of getting to Logan is to methodically stalk the people close to him and torture them before killing them. This is a guy who lives to hear his victims scream and I can’t think of many better Yellow Lantern candidates.

GREEN: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
If you’ve ever shot a bow and arrow, you know how mind-numbingly patient and determined you have to be to even get the damn thing to fire, let alone be good at it (I lack the patience and/or determination and/or skill to be even remotely skilled in this regard). To possess archery skills the likes of which Clint Barton needs in order to be a valuable asset to the freaking Avengers? Forget about it. Barton has willpower in spades, otherwise he would never have been able to be able to train himself in the use of his chosen weapon in the first place, nor would he be able to hold his own for years and years alongside guys with awesome suits of armor, mystic hammers, super soldier serums, and so on and so on. Since nearly their formation, Hawkeye—or Ronin if you wanna get technical and current—has been one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on his guts, toughness and refusal to quit regardless of the circumstances. He’s also shown no fear up against the baddest dudes in the Marvel Universe all the way up to cosmic heavies like Kang and The Collector, so you better believe he could handle a Green Lantern ring, even if it would inevitable make him look like Green Arrow.

BLUE: Captain America (Steve Rogers)
It’s not hard to find the Marvel Universe’s beacon of hope if you’re even kinda familiar with the landscape: it’s always been Steve Rogers. In America’s darkest times during World War II, Captain America was created in large part to provide hope to a nation and the people who were fighting a seemingly impossible battle for what was right. Since enterting the modern era, Cap has always been the guy who everybody else, be they Avenger or otherwise, turns to when it seems like all is lost. If Captain America can still throw his shield, you know there’s still hope for the good guys to win; Frank Miller captured it beautifully during “Born Again” and even during the 90’s creators didn’t forget as there was a great moment during “Maximum Carnage” of all stories where Spider-Man is about to quit and then Cap shows up. Heck, the last couple years of Marvel stories have in large part shown how much the world goes to crap when Steve Rogers isn’t around and people lose hope. Beyond inspiring hope though, Steve also embodies hope for a better nation, a better world and a better tomorrow—and he believes it.

INDIGO: The Silver Surfer
Compassion seems to be perhaps the hardest component of the emotional spectrum to nail down on these little armchair QB lists, because it can be tough to suss out what defines it and separates it from love, but luckily there’s one dude in the Marvel Universe who has demonstrated pretty clearly he has compassion in spades: The Silver Surfer. In the story where we first met The Surfer, the classic Galactus Trilogy, his whole arc consisted of getting to know humanity just a little bit and then going against his godlike master, risking his power and existence, and then being imprisoned on a planet where he didn’t fit in all because he felt compassion for the people of Earth. The Surfer’s motivation and characterization may have waffled here and there in the intervening years, but anybody willing to put that much on the line for a race of people he just met because he sees even a spark of potential for good is obviously one heckuva compassionate fellow. Also: that visual would look pretty rad.

STAR SAPPHIRE: Storm
Is there a rule that a Star Sapphire has to be a lady? Yeah, the uniform would look odd on a guy, but has this ever been established firmly? Regardless, I’ll assume it can’t be a fella and pick Storm, who’s a pretty solid selection even if men are in play. Just recently, Storm’s love for her husband was enough to carry her into the Wakandan equivalent of hell and bring them both back, breaking all sorts of metaphysical rules in the process. Going back, ever since her introduction, Ororo has always been portrayed as a person deeply committed to the people she cares about—Kitty Pryde, Forge, Yukio, the list goes on—and also to nature itself. She doesn’t hide her emotion and would no doubt proudly wield a weapon that allows her to spread love across the universe.

Silent Night, Blackest Night

Another way to know when your wife is awesome: you bring home a set of Blackest Night promotional rings and she comes up with the idea to turn them into ornaments on your Christmas tree!

(Pics by Rickey Purdin)





Happy holidays!

Rise Up: DC titles to revive for Blackest Night

So coming in January as part of Blackest Night, DC will be skipping publication of that events main limited series as well as a bunch of its tie-ins and instead releasing new issues of previously-cancelled titles tying into the story. It's a pretty neat idea if you ask me, and given that the crop of resurrected series include personal favorites of mine like Suicide Squad, Catwoman and Starman, I'm quite intrigued and excited.

However, me being me, I immediately thought not just of the opportunities seized, but those missed as well; here are five of them.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
This just seems like a no-brainer to me, as the "systematic killing of the JLI" has been a popular conspiracy theory for the past five years or so and has also provided plenty of fodder for Black Lanterns, from the Martian Manhunter to Blue Beetle to Maxwell Lord to Rocket Red to Mister Miracle and so on. I know J'onn is in the main book, Beetle is showing up in Booster Gold while Max is going to be in the Wonder Woman tie-in mini, but as of yet there is nothing with everybody reunited. Also, Ice is on the cover of Blackest Night #5, so I'm guessing she has a bigger role to play in the event. Most importantly, Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire are all currently working at DC--together no less--so reuniting the quinessential JLI creative team for one last JLI yarn (until the next one) is money in the bank and dark comedy gold.

AZTEK: THE ULTIMATE MAN
Once upon a time, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar linked up on a super hero book that was probably a bit ahead of its time, but which has become something of a cult classic since its demise. Since Morrison killed Aztek off in JLA, there's your entry point to bringing the book back for a Blackest Night tie-in. How much mileage do you think Grant could get out of a revived Curt Falconer trying to find his place in a world where his mission is accomplished and the universe has moved on to other threats? Perhaps to make this work Aztek would have to be a different kind of Black Lantern (less zombie, more self-aware), but he was a different type of character to begin with so it's not an impossible leap; I'd like to see Vanity again.

INFINITY INC.
While some alumni of Infinity, Inc. have gone on to prominent roles in the DC Universe--Power Girl, Atom Smasher, Hourman and Obsidian--the bulk are dead, including original team leader Star-Spangled Kid as well as Jade, Fury, Hector Hall (the last Doctor Fate), Wildcat and Doctor Midnight. The Kid's murderer, Mister Bones, is still out there, ostensibly as a good guy, albeit a shady one running the DEO. The typical civil war between the still-living Infinitors and the dead ones could be spiced up by the "good guys" having to defend somebody they're not that fond of in Bones and also having to reach out to their fellow surviving teammates Brainwave and Northwind, not the most stable fellas and guys we haven't seen in a few years to boot. Atom Smasher could get a real standout story here, as his guilt over his old pals' deaths has never really been explored, he's not a huge fan of Bones, and he was mixed up with Brainwave and Northwind in that whole Black Adam fiasco.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kurt Busiek's "Sword of Atlantis" Aquaman is still kicking, right? If so, you have to imagine that the real deal original Aquaman, who is one of the more prominent and creepy Black Lanterns at the moment, isn't thrilled that a kid is running around with his name and played a fairly large role in getting him killed not too long ago. The Firestorm vs Firestorm fight in Blackest Night #3 was a kick, but I think a war of the Aquamen has even more potential. Plus, the extended Aquaman family has played a prominent role in BN to date, but could Tempest, Aquagirl and Dolphin could certainly use a book beyond Blackest Night: Titans to strut their stuff. Have Mera seek out the younger Arthur Curry looking for help then enjoy the blood in the water (heh heh).

THE BOOK OF FATE
I'm not asking for the solo adventures of Black Lantern Jared Stevens here (though he should be involved--and have a BL symbol in place of his ankh eye tattoo), but rather an exploration of what Blackest Night means for the mystic side of the DCU beyond what we'll no doubt get in the Phantom Stranger one-shot already planned. Since at least two guys to call themselves Doctor Fate have moved beyond this state of existence, this would be an in to find out where they are, where guys like the aforementioned Mr. Stevens are, and also draw in characters like the Shadowpact, Zatanna, etc. Also, The Book of Fate is just a cool title for a comic.

SUPERBOY AND THE RAVERS
The final fate of Half-Life! But seriously...ok, there's nothing serious about this idea, I just want to see a Superboy and the Ravers reunion.

What do you guys think? What titles would you bring back? And who should write/draw them (and these)?