Damage #1 from DC Comics -
A soldier, Ethan, has been subjected to a dangerous experiment to turn him into the ultimate weapon for the U.S. Army; however, since the weapon is a man, it is, of course, a bit unpredictable. Ethan joined the Army to become a soldier, to serve his country - but Damage, the hulking, inhuman, nearly indestructible wrecking machine that he becomes has an agenda of his own: he wants to be free, whether Ethan agrees or not. Damage has overpowered Ethan's control, broken free, and has hurtled himself into Atlanta, Georgia, a densely populated American city, and begun wreaking untold havoc on anything that stands in his way. The only thing that's restraining him is Ethan's embattled psyche - but once the shadowy military unit that thinks it owns Damage comes trying to put Damage down, Ethan's moral code may not be enough to stop the bodies from hitting the floor...And things will only get worse when Amanda Waller shows up with her psycho-filled Suicide Squad!
Robert Venditti pens this Hulk-like tale of DC Universe destruction! And it is a doozy! The action cranks up to "11" pretty quickly as Damage busts out of Ethan, and military control, and hurtles himself full speed into Atlanta, Ga. Even the award-winning Atlanta trauma hospital, Grady, gets a mention in the book! I dig those real-world elements. Even though the soldier-turned-monster-by-military-experiment schtick is a stale one, I enjoyed the idea of each one of these entities trapped inside the body of the other, actively trying to impose their will one upon the other, until metamorphosis occurs, giving either one or the other more control temporarily. The constant power struggle will exhaust them both in some way, and it will definitely serve to bring lots of drama into the pages of Damage. That is a good thing. Drama is necessary when dealing with beings this powerful in comics, and it takes great writers to be able to create drama and execute it on the page with the help of great artists. And this book does have a great artist, Tony S. Daniel, who does it real big here with powerful spreads, epic explosions, insane fight scenes, and busy panels. Daniels took his WOW! pills before letting his pencils loose on this book. Besides all this, Damage seems to have a crazy, jealous nemesis in one Major Liggett who has a real mad-on for Ethan because he feels he should have been Damage. And there's the mysterious Colonel Jonas who, unlike Waller, seems a bit torn between human decency, the dirt she has to do to protect her country and her loyalty to her soldiers (including Ethan). However, with all its great parts - the art, the man vs. monster dilemma, drama, and an interesting supporting cast, the story does have some issues. We know next to nothing about Ethan, Damage, or any of the supporting cast. There is no back-story, no reason for Damage's rage, nothing about the shadowy military unit Ethan's attached to, nothing on Damage's origin, nor Ethan's - just escape and all-out action. As much as Damage interests me, this first story does at times feel like a bunch of sound and fury signifying a whole lotta nothing. I find no real emotional connection to any of the characters. Hopefully, that changes. Hopefully, Damage becomes an integral part of DC's New Age of Heroes, and more than just a Hulk clone in a team that ends up resembling Marvel's Avengers - because THAT would be WAY beyond unfortunate...And just a bit pathetic.
RATING: 7 out of 10, with an added .5 for potential awesomeness.
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