Damage (DC Comics)

Damage
The Grant Emerson incarnation of Damage as depicted in Justice Society of America #6 (2007); art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearance
  • Emerson: Damage (vol. 1) #1 (April 1994)
  • Avery: Damage (vol. 2) #1 (March 2018)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoGrant Albert Emerson
Ethan "Elvis" Avery Junior
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsTeen Titans
Freedom Fighters
Justice Society of America
Black Lantern Corps
Justice League Task Force
Justice League
Abilities
  • Emerson:
    • Enhanced strength
    • Energy projection
  • Avery:
    • Transformation
    • Enhanced physical abilities

Damage is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.

The Grant Emerson incarnation of Damage first appeared in a comic book of the same name during the Zero Hour crisis. He is the son of the original Atom, Al Pratt. He has been a member of the Titans, the Freedom Fighters, and the Justice Society of America.[1]

The Ethan Avery Jr. incarnation of Damage debuted in Damage (vol. 2) #1.[2]

Publication history

The Grant Emerson incarnation of Damage first appeared in Damage #1, and was created by Tom Joyner and Bill Marimon.[3]

The Ethan Avery Jr. incarnation of Damage first appeared in Damage (vol. 2) #1, and was created by Robert Venditti and Tony Daniel. Critics have compared him to Marvel Comics character Hulk.[2]

Fictional character biography

Grant Emerson

Grant Emerson is a teenage metahuman and ally of the Justice Society of America who is imbued with the DNA of various superheroes as part of Project Telemachus.[1][4] Grant later learns that he is the son of Al Pratt, the original Atom, and his wife Mary. In Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, Grant helps restore the universe after Parallax destroys it.[5]

Grant Emerson as Damage; art by Tom McWeeney and Bill Marimo.

Damage later joins the Justice Society and the Teen Titans.[6] He confronts his past suffering at the hands of his foster father and leaves the Titans.

In Infinite Crisis, Damage is attacked and scarred by Zoom.[7][8] He adopts a new costume similar to his father and enters a relationship with Judomaster.[9][10]

In Blackest Night, Damage is killed by Jean Loring and resurrected as a Black Lantern.[11] Following The New 52 continuity reboot, he is resurrected and reunites with the Justice Society.[12]

Ethan Avery

The second incarnation of Damage is Ethan Avery, an Army recruit who is given the ability to transform into a monster for one hour daily. Following this, Avery goes into hiding and is pursued by Task Force XL, a division of the Suicide Squad.[13]

Powers and abilities

The Grant Emerson version of Damage can generate a power charge that enhances his strength, durability, speed, and reflexes to superhuman levels. If he does not use the energy in the aforementioned manner he is forced to expend it in a discharge, most notably the time he started another Big Bang during Zero Hour (although he only gained the energy necessary to do this thanks to other heroes such as Green Lantern, the Ray and Waverider absorbing and converting Parallax's energy into something that he could then process). The aged Damage in Young Justice: Sins of Youth had the ability to fly. While the current Damage cannot harness this ability yet, he can "leap" by firing his energy at the ground, sometimes traveling great distances, as shown most recently in Justice Society of America #8. At one point in his ongoing series, it is implied that he potentially possesses all of the powers of the heroes whose DNA he shares.

The Ethan Avery version of Damage can transform into a monstrous form for one hour at a time. In this form, he has super-strength enough to leap great distances and rival the strengths of Solomon Grundy and Wonder Woman. Damage has enhanced durability where he is resistant to blades, bullets, rockets, and falling from several hundred feet from the air. He is largely unable to control himself while transformed, possessing a dual personality that fights to trigger his transformation.

In other media

The Ethan Avery incarnation of Damage appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Jason Marnocha.[14] This version is an agent of Task Force X whose abilities are derived from Kryptonian armor.

References

  1. ^ a b Greenberger, Robert (2008), "Damage", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 94, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  2. ^ a b Grossberg, Josh (15 March 2018). "DC Unveils first look at Damage #3". Syfy. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  3. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  4. ^ Damage, no. 1-2 ((April–May 1994). DC Comics.
  5. ^ Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, no. 0 ((September 1994)). DC Comics.
  6. ^ Titans, no. 1 (March 1999). DC Comics.
  7. ^ Justice Society of America vol. 3 #4. DC Comics.
  8. ^ Infinite Crisis #1. DC Comics.
  9. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  10. ^
    • Justice Society of America vol. 3 #8. DC Comics.
    • Justice Society of America vol. 3 #16 - #22. DC Comics.
    • Justice Society of America: The Kingdom one-shot (2008). DC Comics.
  11. ^
    • Blackest Night #4 - #5. DC Comics.
    • Blackest Night: JSA #1 - #2. DC Comics.
    • JSA All-Stars #7. DC Comics.
  12. ^
  13. ^ Damage vol. 2 #1 - #3. DC Comics.
  14. ^ "Damage Voice - My Adventures With Superman (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 6, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.