Damage Control Vol 1 4 - Inferno

A flashback to the time Wolverine got a pie in the face.

Damage Control #4

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Penciler: Ernie Colon
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: John Wellington
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Multiple construction sites have been raided with a large quantity of building materials stolen. The police turn to Damage Control to investigate and John Porter immediately spots a pattern so takes a team to investigate the site of the X-Mansion. John and Bart Rozum see rubble after its recent destruction but Robin Chapel, Lenny Ballinger, Gene Strausser and Albert Cleary see a mansion as normal and Robin remembers visiting before John and Bart joined the company. She remembers how Damage Control did repair work for Professor Xavier during which Gene fiddled with the electronics of the Danger Room. The members of Damage Control and the X-Men found themselves trapped in the room as a simulation of Groucho Marx led a stream of clowns in attacking them as they tried to reach the emergency controls to shut it down. Professor X declared that he had to protect knowledge of the Shi'ar technology in the Danger Room so he used his powers to remove Damage Control's memory and make them see nothing out of the ordinary at the house until their wills overcome it. Back in the present this has caused the team to not see the ruins until now. It transpires the Danger Room's systems are stealing the building materials to rebuild the mansion so they shut off the power. As the company hasn't been contracted it doesn't try to rebuild the mansion. The materials are returned and John tells the police he will maintain confidentiality, privately telling Robin the X-Men died as heroes and he wants to honour their memory.

"Inferno continues... interminably" proclaims a triangle on the cover but complicating matters is that this limited series was clearly delayed in publication with earlier issues featuring either the Avengers line-up of Dr Druid, She-Hulk, Thor and the Black Knight or the Thing in his extreme mutated "pineapple" form after both those were no longer the status quo in their own titles. Similarly here we get an Inferno issue four months after the event is over. To be honest this is more of a satire on the way some crossover events seemingly go on for ever rather than a forgotten part of the story that successive collected editions keep overlooking and I guess in 1989 this was more funny than "Secret Wars II continues in this issue" which at the time could still send people running for the hills.

Damage Control is a very tongue in cheek series, taking a serious concept such as how all the damage from superhero fights gets fixed so quickly and adding in a lot of satire. This first series starts by playing on the various conventions of superhero comics but then evolves into more general humour with the third issue poking fun at corporate publicity and stunts whilst this issue is mainly an excuse for slapstick comedy. Dwayne McDuffie would later admit one of his ambitions had been to throw a custard pie in Wolverine's face and he gets to do that here both on the cover (which wrongly depicts Wolverine in his costume from his solo series) and in the book, with Professor X declining to erase that memory. The flashback is played straight, an invariable consequence of the X-Men's current status quo that makes it difficult to do this sort of guest appearance in the present day, rather than parodying the way series often resort to this mechanism to insert extra adventures, usually emergency fill-in issues.

Overall this issue isn't trying to make any wider points about comic conventions or the industry or wider corporate practices. Even the way some characters use their powers to keep things secret for the public is played straight to force a flashback rather than explored as a means by which the illusion of the ordinary world is maintained. There's a moment where John immediately spots a pattern in the robberies that points to the site that nobody else can see which may parody contemporary amateur detective fiction that often had such moments of instant deduction but otherwise this is really just an excuse to get a pie into Wolverine's face and have him on panel with Groucho Marx. Inferno collected editions are missing nothing by not including it but it's a fun little tale nonetheless.

Damage Control 4 - Acts of Vengeance

And so we come to "The Final Act!" as Damage Control's second limited series comes to a conclusion, with this issue featuring a prominent guest star in Nick Fury, Agent of Shield. Fury's own series was up and running at this time but notably didn't take part in the crossover, with a change of writer around this time possibly the explanation. But instead Fury and his fellow agents get used here in a showdown for the corporate wranglings that have crippled the special repair business.

Damage Control (volume 2) #4

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Penciler: Ernie Colon
Inkers: Stan Drake & Marie Severin
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colour: George Roussos
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Big Guy you don't wanna mess with: Tom DeFalco

The issue is surprisingly predictive in its revelation that Damage Control is being run into the ground by its now owner, who "is willing to gut the whole company to raise cash". Damage Control may at times allow for subtle digs at the distinguished competition, but this target would ultimately prove closer to home given the convoluted corporate manoeuvres in the 1990s that ultimately left Marvel as a whole filing for bankruptcy. Fortunately for anyone without a business education the story presents the financial situation in a sufficiently simple form to understand how the owner wound up owing the Kingpin a lot of money and had to resort to bleeding the company to death.

Elsewhere the workers are still on strike but are talked into helping stabilise a building whilst a rescue operation is carried out, reflecting the very real dilemmas often faced by striking firefighters. Placards with slogans such as "DC is grossly unfair" and "DC stinks" are surprising in that Marvel could print these and get away with them (and not have to modify the artwork for later reprints). It's not clear who exactly is responsible for them, but a glance at the credit lists for the creative shows that only some of them went on to do much work for DC comics. Perhaps the scene at the end when the Damage Control building, with a prominent "DC" marked out on the roof, is sold to a comic company who "made a great deal of extra money this summer from a movie" helped placate feelings. Meanwhile over in another DC, Anne Hoag ensures that Commission on Superhuman Activities doesn't deliver a unanimous report in favour of registration.

Steadily the management rebuild relationships and reputations, helped by Fury, and Shield leads a takeover bid. Here comes perhaps the most dated joke as a subordinate Shield agent produces a briefing on computer that will take three hours to deliver, until Fury demands a one-word recommendation on whether to buy. This predated the arrival of Power Point and the computers of the era were not the best things for presentations. Robin Chapel faces down the Kingpin to make it clear he's no more influence in the firm, something he just doesn't mind as the "Acts of Vengeance" have proved quite profitable. Finally we learn that Damage Control has now completed the clean-up after the Acts.

This is a bit of a rush around issue aiming to tie up all the threads raised by the earlier ones and wisely sets itself at the end of the crossover to allow for a clear conclusion. Still it provides a good comedic take on corporate rescue packages and company chaos and gets extra credit for doing this long before Marvel faced its own problems. This is a fun little epilogue.

Damage Control (volume 2) #3 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Damage Control: The Complete Collection (2015)

Damage Control 3 - Acts of Vengeance

There are a few series notably absent from "Acts of Vengeance". We've already seen Excalibur and we'll come to Silver Surfer later, but there's some other notable absentees. Most of the titles that don't take part are set in different universes (e.g. Nth Man, What If...), licenced titles (Transformers, Alf), creator owned (Groo Chronicles, Sleeze Brothers) or reprints (Classic X-Men) so have their reasons. But also missing are Nick Fury, Agent of Shield and Sensational She-Hulk.

Damage Control (volume 2) #3

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artist: Ernie Colon
Letters: Rick Parker
Colour: George Roussos
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Big Guy you don't wanna mess with: Tom DeFalco

The last on the list is especially surprising as it had only recently been launched with John Byrne writing and drawing the title in a very unique fashion, with the star aware that she's a character in a comic book and having a tetchy relationship with her writer. But Byrne left the series just as "Acts of Vengeance" was getting started, leading to a sudden rush of fill-in creators (such that she began issue #9 not having a clue who the names in the credit box were) for the next few issues until Steve Gerber emerged as the permanent new writer. Amidst all this, an "Acts of Vengeance" crossover was lost.

Whether this was all a coincidence or not is unclear, as She-Hulk briefly turned up an issue early, but this issue goes some way to providing a substitute by guest starring her. The story focuses on the consequences of the new owners causing chaos, with much of the workforce on strike, managers scrambling to find replacement contractors and two disgruntled sacked employees seeking their own act of vengeance. Amidst all this She-Hulk is borrowed from the Avengers to help with the heavy work, including getting the Daily Bugle building back into position. However she's attacked by two armoured guys with no fixed names (they eventually settled on "New" and "Improved") and then has to endure a team-up with Speedball.

Surprisingly this issue contains what should be a major moment in Marvel history. The original Avengers mansion had been relocated to Hydrobase and has now been recovered from the water, with Damage Control commissioned to recover it and return it to its original location in Manhattan. Unfortunately the project falls victim to the weakest of management trying to replace the engineers, with the mansion lost in the river. It's a surprise to find such an iconic building meets its final end as a part of a joke in a comedy series, but it's fun nonetheless.

The corporate commentary is more limited in this story, merely focusing on the cluelessness of the new owners in their approach to both the strike and operations, and the result is a much more madcap comedic piece than before, reflecting She-Hulk's own series. This series continues to be a good, fun distraction.

Damage Control (volume 2) #3 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Damage Control: The Complete Collection (2015)

Damage Control 2 - Acts of Vengeance

The second issue of the second Damage Control limited series once again brings a mix of slapstick humour, political and corporate satire and gratuitous guest appearances. It starts off parodying the Punisher as he makes his way into the Damage Control building intending to investigate the files to find out who is guilty of the Kingpin's corruption... only to find the firm deluged by clients amidst the widespread destruction caused by the "Acts of Vengeance". Even the Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, has turned up.

Damage Control (volume 2) #2

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artist: Ernie Colon
Letters: Ricky Parker
Colour: John Wellington
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

(There's a surprisingly quick topical gag. This issue came out on October 24 1989, just six weeks after Koch had lost a primary election to David Dinkins. Koch's minders are shown here wearing Koch campaign badges with Dinkins stickers pasted over them. Koch declaring he's mayor, a handy piece of explanatory dialogue for readers far from the city in space or time, is supposed to impress how important he is but Robin Chapel, the firm's director of operations, privately thinks "Yeah? Talk to me after January 1st." It's surprising how quickly this was worked into the issue.)

The Punisher tries to assassinate Chapel in order to assert his authority but is merely confronted with yet another Doctor Doom robot, although this one has a different controller, whilst She-Hulk turns up an issue early for her guest appearance, complete with her contemporary habit of breaking the fourth wall and confusing people when she did it outside her own series. Elsewhere a team is recovering Avengers mansion from the sea, with a very annoyed Captain America still complaining about events at the Vault, whilst the new boss's assistant is more interested into getting into Chapel's underwear than learning about how the firm works. Amidst all this the new boss is implementing a radical reorganisation that isn't too popular with the staff.

Much of the humour is based on seeming madness of office and corporate politics but it's done in a way that shows all the nonsense, pettiness and absurdities of the situation without being impenetrable, resulting in some quite funny moments, especially as the Punisher tries to implement serious business and gets a very different response from the norm. The wider crossover is more a backdrop to this issue than a direct driver of events, but it works to confirm the unusual nature of the situation and add to the tensions. This mini-series continues to be a fun little side part of the overall event.

Damage Control (volume 2) #2 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Damage Control: The Complete Collection (2015)

Power Pack 53 - Acts of Vengeance

Another series whose contribution to the crossover is limited is Power Pack. At this point the book came out about every six weeks, had just come through a big storyline in which the children's powers were switched around again and was in a period of creative flux with a succession of fill-in writers including Terry Austin on this issue alongside Ernie Colon drawing his only contribution to the title.

Power Pack #53

Words: Terry Austin
Pictures: Ernie Colon
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Managing Edits: Sara Tuchinsky
Edits: Daniel Chichester
Big Edits: Tom DeFalco

Once again, we find Doctor Doom overseeing an attack on a particular set of heroes, though this time it comes in the form of a report back as he puts Typhoid Mary on a psychiatrist's couch. Since Doom has engaged a mentally unstable psychotic to discover the secrets of the Kymellian technology before killing the Power children, only to have her pursue an alternative course, perhaps the wrong villain is on the couch. It's also notable that Doom, through the Kingpin's files, has had no problem in locating the children, a sign of how they've let their secret identity slip.

At its heart, Power Pack is about a close family and sometimes the greatest threats come from those who would break up the family. Despite the ages of its protagonists (traditionally between five and twelve), this is a series that has never shied away from the darkness of the world around them. So Typhoid Mary may seem a bizarre choice of villain to pitch against them but her style in infiltrating, beguiling and then destroying proves to be the perfect approach for the crossover, if not perhaps for Doctor Doom. It is a little strange though to see her interacting with Alex almost like a girlfriend given their respective ages, though some twelve-year olds are surprisingly tall. Her attempts on the Powers' father are stronger, although a little undermined by Colon's almost cartoon style.

If there's a disappointment to this issue it's that coming straight after the children have switched powers again there should be more acknowledgement of the inexperience of Alex, Jack and Katie (Julie has regained the lightspeed powers again) beyond Alex thinking how he's never tried a particular trick that Julie mastered with the density powers. Still Mary's out of date information proves critical.

Despite this issue not better acknowledging its place in the overall series framework, this is nonetheless a more than okay chapter in the crossover, although let down a little by the art.

Power Pack #53 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Damage Control 1 - Acts of Vengeance

The next series involved is actually quite a surprise. Today crossover events get supported by numerous limited series, but it used to be the case that there was, at most, a single series containing the core of a crossover and everything else was told in issues of ongoing titles. The idea of doing a special mini-series about a specific group of characters and tying the whole thing into a big event was years before its time. But then Damage Control has never been exactly conventional.

Damage Control (volume 2) #1

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artist: Ernie Colon
Letters: Rick Parker
Colours: John Wellington
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is the second of a number of limited series featuring perhaps the most obvious but overlooked element of the Marvel universe - the special repairs company. Damage Control are the people the authorities turn to in order to repair structures after the damaging effects of superhero battles. It's such an obvious but mundane function that the series goes for a lot of comedy and throws in the complication of changes of corporate control for added effect. Given the damage that "Acts of Vengeance" will likely generate, it's easy to see the attraction of piggybacking on it. However it also means there's an almost satirical take on the concept as part of the actual continuity (although I've seen some chronologies that try to decanonise it). Worse still this issue comes so early in the cycle that we're getting the humour before we've really had any of the main action.

All that said, the issue itself is a decent comedy piece. It pokes fun at the absurdities of both trying to bring quick repairs to damaged structures (in this case the George Washington Bridge) and corporate manoeuvres, whilst also showing a mess as a plea for help from the Vault accidentally gets sent to Damage Control who assume they're being asked to assess the damage and so send in a team not realising the criminals are still around. The biggest failing in the story's internal logic is the Wrecker's crowbar and Thunderball's wrecking ball being stored at the same prison as the criminals without explanation, allowing them to recover their powers in the jail break. The battle of wits to survive and escape, combined with a later arrival by Captain America, adds to the humour with the funniest scene being when the Wrecker decides to demonstrate his power by smashing through a pillar, only for John Porter (the account executive) to casually point out it's a supporting beam and this brings the roof down. The characters are a fairly typical cross section of office life, including various stereotypes such as the competent manager who fears they're out of their depth and will soon be found out, the lustful intern, the technical whiz and so forth.

Overt comedy in superhero comics is a refined taste so this issue may not be to everyone's liking. In itself it's a pretty fun piece, offering a nice take on how the consequences of all the events are dealt with. But as the second main chapter of such an important crossover (and the way it's billed on the cover leaves little doubt), it's an unfortunate interlude and it's easy to see why it's been subsequently relegated out of the main event issues and even out of continuity altogether.

Damage Control (volume 2) #1 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Damage Control: The Complete Collection (2015)