Monster Mash
Art Team: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Hi-Fi, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 22, 2019
Last we left our ol' pal Damage he was depowered, in the custody of the real Justice League, and looking for just one break from the 'good guys' for once in his life, since agreeing to undergo this experimentation. So it seems like this will all get straightened out, and they will totally believe everything Ethan has to say about the Damage program, right? However after glancing at the cover to this issue, "I don't think that's how this works, that's not how any of this works". Lets discuss.
The issue begins interestingly enough with Damage encouraging Ethan to get out of dodge, before he's turned into a soldier made to follow orders again, only this time from the Justice League, instead of the US Government. Ethan is quickly met at the door by none other than Batman, who offers him a chance to learn and control this power for the greater good. However the 'milk turns sour' quickly when Ethan doesn't quite see things Batman's way, with Batman then filling him in on the 'real deal' and whats going on.
Events not going the way of the Bat, eventually leads to Batman himself going down a very dark path, that feels a tad out of character and forced this issue to get Damage where he needs to be next. Batman hits the button to the hatch on his BatCarrier, almost allowing Ethan to be sucked out of the back of his giant jet, which obviously for anyone who understands things to level Batman claims to here knows would force Damage out. Yet when Ethan goes full Damage this seems to surprise the hell out of Batman. This turn of events leads to the standard page filling Damage vs fill in the blank fight, which fills up most of this issues, as it has this entire series.
Now in the end, Batman of course claims to have a greater plan in mind, however what I'm not sure of is that his plans this issue don't possibly involve death in all avenues. Either Ethan gets out of here and wants to kill the Justice League, seemingly now becoming an enemy for life, or he gets eaten by a dinosaur on Dinosaur Island here. It all just doesn't seem like a Batman move there to me, not that I know the guy personally, even if he does tend to "make his own villains".
The issue ends with our title character Damage at a place called Monster Rock, and there are just monstrous creatures everywhere for him to deal with. The big question of course is what will Ethan do when Damage cant come out to play? Guess we will find out next month.
Overall, this was just another fine issue of Damage, even with a few out of character decisions at the hands of Batman, and the Justice League as a whole. While I cant sit here and say I know Batman and the crew personally, it feels strange they would just banish someone, who's only really a threat for one hour a day, to an island of giant creatures for Ethan/Damage to deal with at all times. It seems like a death sentence, but I'm here to see this through, and even mildly intrigued if the Justice League, Batman, and Damage cross paths again.
Bits and Pieces
Damage isn't offensive, it's always a quick read, and the art is fun to look at, however that's about all we get pretty consistently from Damage as a series. Not really any giant risks are ever taken to grab your attention. This issue he knocks around a tad out of character Batman a bit, before continuing onto the next step on his journey, hopefully to fight some dinosaurs. I'm here for some of that despite the weird circumstances of how we got here.
6.5/10
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