Damage #1 is the first book in DC’s “New Age of Heroes”, and man does it make an impression.
DC’s latest character shares a lot in common with a certain other hulked out superhero, but that surprisingly works in the new book’s favor. Daniels and Vendetti subvert the familiar just enough to the titular Damage to make him distinct from his green-colored cousin.
There’s no Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dynamic here. What we have instead is a living weapon struggling to carve out his own niche. The issue’s action-driven script doesn’t pause for substantial character work, but the glimpse it does give establishes him as different enough from the Marvel hero. The script does suffer from clunky dialogue that reads too much like exposition, however, that blunts the issue’s pace.
Even so, Vendetti manages to hook readers just enough to find out more about this still mysterious character.
Art is definitely Damage #1’s strong point. Daniel’s pencils are epic in scope. He captures the sheer brute strength of Damage, and his sense of perspective adds realism to each panel. The blockbuster action which Daniel’s excellent at smooths over the muddled quality of the script.Daniels is the co-creater of this book, so its entirely up to him to make this new character visually memorable. He succeeds in this character design with a figure that’s as sleek as it is monstrous.
Rating: 7.5
-Andrew Fontana
