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Damage Control #3: Review

Jul 1989
Dwayne McDuffie, Ernie Colon

Story Name:

The Big Hype

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Damage Control #3 Review by (April 23, 2019)

Review: Poor Henry! Another exciting issue of the team coping with a crisis and this time there is a clear loser: the guy whose brilliant ideas caused all the damage that couldn't be controlled. Not as hilarious as the previous issues but still a rollicking good time.

Comments: Marketing head Henry Ackerdson first appeared in MARVEL AGE ANNUAL #4, ahead of the book. The story comes at a time when James “Rhodey” Rhodes was Iron Man.






 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Damage Control #3 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

A TV commercial for Damage Control starring Hulk and the Silver Surfer is dismissed as boring by marketing head Henry Ackerdson so Mrs Hoag gives him approval for his alternate program....

A few months later a huge manned drilling machine is creating a tunnel under New York, hoping Henry's plan goes right....

The new ads for Damage Control portray the staff as superheroes. Robin Chapel arrives and discovers that staff will be wearing uniforms and that stuffed versions of the company mascot Fluppy are everywhere. Robin is especially disturbed as the new white-and-blue costumes (with capes) look silly but that Anne's outfit is sexy and revealing (which she likes as she can remove the cape and wear it to the gym). Robin confronts Mrs Hoag who threatens her with dismissal....

At the auditorium, Henry appears with Stark public relations head Marcy Pearson to announce to the assembled staff the all-new Damage Control! As a media event, Iron Man will destroy D-C's New Jersey warehouse and the staff will be transported to the site via their new transport tunnel—except that when they contact the Stark construction team digging the tunnel, they learn there is a big problem, so Henry shuts off the comm and the meeting is quickly adjourned....

The Stark construction team is stranded in the tunnel which is filling with water; Lenny Ballinger points out that the giant drill is just inches away from breaking through into the Hudson River—actually plugging the hole. John Porter dispatches him to try to seal off the tunnel at the river while he and Gene Strausser check it out from the D-C end....

Meanwhile at the event, Iron Man (James Rhodes) arrives on time with Marcy and Henry and things get under way: Iron Man blows up the warehouse and Henry calls Damage Control—and Mrs Hoag tells him they're too busy and hangs up, leaving an embarrassed Henry to face Iron Man. After waiting for several hours, the crowd has dispersed and Shellhead finally decides to go home....

The hole at the river is getting bigger so Lenny call the HQ and Robin calls John who, with Gene, is trapped with the construction team in a tunnel filling with water. John suggests covering the riverside hole with a giant metal plate. Marcy calls Iron Man who returns to put the plate in position, a task that is more awkward than it looks. Beneath D-C headquarters the tunnel is collapsing; the Stark construction team crowds the elevator up, leaving John and Gene on the flooding side. After some tense moments they make it to the top, somewhat waterlogged....

At the site of the demolished warehouse, Henry is surveying the damage when John arrives, bearing a letter from Mrs Hoag, telling Henry that the staff uniform idea has been canceled and that if he wants to keep his job, he will have to clean up the mess. John hands him a broom and departs....



Ernie Colon
Bob Wiacek
George Roussos
Ernie Colon (Cover Penciler)
Ernie Colon (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.


Plus: Iron Man (James Rhodes), Marcy Pearson.

> Damage Control: Book info and issue index

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