Damage #11 – Robert Venditti, Writer; Aaron Lopresti, Penciller; Matt Ryan, Inker; Hi-Fi, Colorist
Ray – 5/10
Ray: Damage #11 may be one of the most basic comics I have ever read. It’s not aggressively bad, but it’s so predictable that it feels like a computer could have spit it out of a generator. After destroying the base that created him, Damage was on the run again and was confronted by a random assortment of Justice League members – Flash (who gets an awkward reference to Wally’s death in his introduction), Vixen (who isn’t on the main Justice League), Guy Gardner (who is currently stationed in space), and Green Arrow (who is the last guy I would send to stop a rampaging monster Hulk). They try to get Damage to surrender, Damage throws a giant rock at them, and the battle is on. The comic moves fast, to the point where it can be read in only a few minutes. The Justice Leaguers try to stop Damage, Damage easily handles them. We know that Damage isn’t likely to lose, and nothing particularly bad will happen to the Leaguers.
Sure enough, Damage basically uses the Justice League for batting practice. He manages to intercept Flash and send him flying. He breaks Guy’s constructs. Vixen, channeling a rhino, gives him the best fight but still falls short. And Green Arrow accidentally shoots a boxing glove arrow at him in a brief moment of humor. But the story is just killing time until the character on the cover shows up for the real fight in the cliffhanger. We’ve already seen Hulk vs. Superman in past event crossovers, so there’s not much of a hook for next issue either. The comic tries to get some interest out of the ongoing conflict between Ethan and Damage, but neither have been given enough characterization to really sell this. The only selling point for the comic is the way Aaron Lopresti draws big superhero fights, but we can get that on comics with main characters we actually have a reason to care about.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
