Cover: Bill Marimon & Tom McWeeney

Damage #2

May 1994 · DC · 1.75 USD; 2.35 CAD; 1.25 GBP

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“Afterschool Special”

About this Issue

Damage #2 is the first in-continuity appearance of Iron Munro within the ongoing Damage series, the issue where writer Tom Joyner formally weaves the WWII-era Golden Age hero into the post-Crisis mystery of Grant Emerson's parentage — a thematic thread that runs the entire 20-issue run. The issue also delivers the single most emotionally devastating beat of the series' opening arc: the murder of Grant's adoptive parents by Symbolix operative Dathan Wahrman, an act of betrayal that strips the young hero of his last domestic anchor and permanently sharpens the tone from teen-superhero adventure into something rawer. Structurally, it is the issue that first pairs the concept of a new-generation metahuman with a surviving Golden Age figure, a generational bridge that would become one of the series' defining ideas and would later inform Grant's revealed lineage as the biological son of the original Atom, Al Pratt.

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writer Tom Joyner · artist Bill Marimon · inker Tom McWeeney · colorist Buzz Setzer · letterer John Costanza · cover Bill Marimon, Tom McWeeney

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History

The Damage series was created by writer Tom Joyner and penciler Bill Marimon, with Tom McWeeney inking the early issues before Don Hillsman took over for the remainder of the run. Bill Kaplan served as the series' original editor, but departed DC for Image Comics mid-production; Jim Spivey stepped in during work on issue #3 and stayed through the end of the series. The book launched in April 1994 as part of DC's wave of new titles building toward Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, and issues #1–6 established Grant Emerson's origin before the crossover event pulled him into its central storyline. Colorist Buzz Setzer completed the core creative team that defined the series' visual identity.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: May 1994; on-sale date: April 5, 1994 (Damage Vol. 1 #2, DC Comics).
Story title: 'Afterschool Special.' Written by Tom Joyner, penciled by Bill Marimon, inked by Tom McWeeney, colored by Buzz Setzer.
First appearances in this issue: Dathan Wahrman, Nadjia Wahrman, Troll, and Abriam Wahrman (in flashback).
Iron Munro (Arn Munro) appears as a supporting character here, making this his first appearance in the Damage ongoing series — the start of his multi-issue role aiding Grant Emerson's search for his true origins.
Roy Lincoln (the Human Bomb) also appears alongside Iron Munro, both summoned by Sarge Steel of the Bureau of Metahuman Affairs as Golden Age figures with potential knowledge of Grant's background.
The central tragedy of the issue: Grant's adoptive parents, John and Kate Emerson, are killed by Symbolix operative Dathan Wahrman — an event that drives the entire subsequent origins quest throughout the series.
Iron Munro was originally created by Roy Thomas for Young All-Stars #1 (1987) as a post-Crisis Superman analog for WWII-era stories; his recurring role in Damage is his most sustained post-Young All-Stars appearance in DC continuity.
The series ran for 20 issues (April 1994–January 1996), with Grant Emerson's true parentage — son of the Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, and the subject of Vandal Savage's Project: Telemachus DNA experiment — not fully resolved until the 'Fragments' arc in issues #8–12.