Dwayne McDuffie | Damage Control

Damage Control

DAMAGE CONTROL was my first professional comic book sale, dreamed up when I was working on an idea for a "Time Police" series. I imagined a clean-up crew who would go in after my heroes finished fiddling around with the past, picking up abandoned pocket combs, chewing gum wrappers, laser guns and other stuff that hadn't been invented yet. Then I remembered the "Batmobile drag chute Pick-Up Service" from the BATMAN TV series. Two guys in a van who apparently did nothing but wait for Batman to drop a drag chute, so they could go pick it up (and one supposed, launder, fold and load it back into the Batmobile). It was a short leap from there to thinking about the Marvel Universe and the collateral damage that all those super battles caused. Next issue, New York City was always as good as new. Somebody had to be cleaning up all that crap...

Comics legend Ernie Colon (CASPER, RICHIE RICH, AMETHYST) and I did three four-issue mini-series together (Ernie took a one-issue breather in vol. 3, no. 1. He was spelled by the brilliant Kyle Baker, who was so good, Ernie immediately came back to finish the series). If you want a look at the original proposal, click here.

This Time It's No Joke!

DAMAGE CONTROL is currently in development as a live-action feature film by VILLAGE ROADSHOW, the guys behind MATRIX, DEEP BLUE SEA and other frightfully expensive movies.

MARVEL'S MOST SENSIBLE SERIES

Mass destruction has been a byproduct of the super hero business for years, but nobody seemed to know what to do about it until writer Dwayne McDuffie came up with Damage Control, a miniseries that first appeared in 1989. Another followed, and in both, McDuffie envisioned a construction company with advanced techniques and resourceful employees that makes big bucks cleaning up the messes left behind after a typical Marvel brawl. After death rays have done their worst, after giant robots have crashed to the ground, Damage Control is there to pick up the pieces and collect a fee.

With art by cocreator Ernie Colon, Damage Control is an eminently logical extrapolation, a tribute to the free-enterprise system that is also an extremely funny comic book. Located in New York City's Flatiron Building, Damage Control serves clients ranging from The Avengers to The X-Men, most of whom pay their bills by making claims on their Extraordinary Activity Assurance policies. Those who haven't been paying their premiums apply for federal aid, of course. In The Marvel Universe, where villains never really die and the battle between good and evil never ends, the only clear winner is Damage Control. Could this be the way The Marvel Universe will end, in a sea of insurance forms, building code regulations and applications for matching funds? Probably nothing else could stop it.

-Les Daniels