Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Top 5 Damage Covers



I followed Grant Emerson's solo series for nearly a year, so I have some misguided nostalgia for this asinine character. The son of Al Pratt, whose genes were toyed with by Vandal Savage, and also made ties with the Young All-Stars/All-Star Squadron.

5) Damage #12 (April, 1995)
Not as cool as the Ray photo cover, and that guy is clearly not in his mid-teens, but still neat.

4) Justice League Task Force #25 (July, 1995)
A nuke powered hero coming out of a nuclear sign with his nemesis Vandal Savage worked into a slot for good measure... and this was just a friggin' guest shot.

3) The Titans #18 (August, 2000)
Stepdaddy dealt you the bad touch, Grant. Just cry it out.

By the way, I'm reading a Ryan Choi Atom trade paperback for familiarization and future posting, but the recent DC death that really bothers me is Lian Harper. That poor sweet kid should have been untouchable, and Arsenal will always be a lesser character for her passing.

2) Damage #5 (August, 1994)
A good view at Damage's original costume, plus his primary supporting cast and foe from the first year.

1) Justice Society of America #6 (July, 2007)
What is the deal with Damage getting so many interesting costume designs? They all wore him, y'know?

2 comments:

The Irredeemable Shag said...

I really enjoyed the Damage character, though he was never handled well. Even under Geoff Johns' handling, he got a raw deal.

If handled properly, there were opportunities to show a young hero trying to make a difference while coping with incredible powers and traumatic past.

You made some good choices on his covers. For the record my favorite Damage cover is #20.

The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
http://firestormfan.com

Diabolu Frank said...

I never got why Johns f'd Grant up without ever going anywhere substantial with it. So much effort and thought was put into Grant's back story, the very worst thing you could do is kill him off. Like Steel II, it isn't so much that I cared about the character, but that the story engine/supporting cast/etc was so well put together. I look at a guy like Green Arrow, who's never had that great a motivation or secondary players, and wonder why he gets to burn through series while guys independent of '40s nostalgia get axed.

#20 was a good cover too, but not having made it that far, I don't know what those rod thingees are. Isotopes?

Aside from the "Fragments" arc, the entire Damage series had great covers. I probably should have extended this to a top 10, because I regret a number of exclusions, especially #7.