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    Damage Control

    Team » Damage Control appears in 161 issues.

    An engineering and construction company that specializes in repairing property damage caused by superhero conflicts.

    Short summary describing this team.

    Damage Control last edited by SlamAdams on 10/31/22 03:59PM View full history

    Origin

    The world learned about the existence of Damage Control through the eyes of John Porter, a young insurance broker for super hero damage, when he was approached by Damage Control's Anne-Marie Hoag to come work for their firm as opposed to against it. The team's first recorded adventure is cleaning up the complete destruction of bar caused by a fight between Daredevil and Turk.

    On John's first day at work, the team tackles rebuilding downtown Manhattan after a battle between Thor, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Black Knight and one of the Tinkerer's robots. It's during this clean-up Damage Control construction worker, Rex Randolph, finds a cosmic artifact that turns him into Edifice Rex.

    Creators

    Damage Control was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon and first appeared in Marvel Comics Presents issue 19 (1989).

    Major Story Arcs

    Damage Control!

    A test of Doctor Doom's latest weapon invention goes wrong and turns an entire building into glass and Damage Control is called to help out. It's revealed that Doom hasn't paid his bill in over six month and after some debate, Albert Cleary is sent to collect on Doom's account. Meanwhile, Thing charges into Damage Control's offices demanding to speak to someone because his insurance had told him he was no longer covered because his policy only covered the original Fantastic Four. John Porter works this out by having Thing growl over the phone to the insurance company and once Thing pays his deductible, all is well. Thing finds out that Albert went by himself to collect from Doom and he summons the rest of the Fantastic Four to rescue him. Albert turns out to not need help as he gets Doctor Doom to write a check himself and uncovers an embezzling scheme in the process. Once the account is paid, Damage Control can deal with the glass house in the way only Damage Control can.

    Head of marketing, Henry Ackerdson, comes up with a new Image Enhancement program for the firm. It includes splashy, action-filled commercials featuring Fix-It Man, Fix-It Girl and Fluppy, the dog. His plan also includes uniforms for all employees and the drilling of a tunnel from Damage Control headquarters to their Warehouse in New Jersey. Ackerdson gives the tunnel digging crew from Stark Enterprises the wrong coordinates and sends them drilling under the Hudson river which causes the tunnel to start to flood. Iron Man saves the day by placing a big metal plate at the bottom of the river to stop the flooding. The warehouse is destroyed however. Anne-Marie Hoag cancels the Image Enhancement program and makes Henry clean up the mess where the warehouse used to be.

    As part of the Inferno event, Damage Control is asked by the county to investigate a series robberies of building supplies at construction sites and lumber yards and the team winds up at Xavier Institute for Higher Learning which is now a pile of rubble. Turns out some members of Damage Control had been there before to do some repair work and unwittingly unleashed a pack of robot clowns on the mansion. Colossus, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler help round them up. Back in the present, the team learns that the Danger Room is trying to rebuild the destroyed building and is responsible for the thefts. Damage Control shuts down the building's power and returns the stolen materials.

    Round Two

    "After the earth-shattering conclusion...Once justice is served...When at the last possible moment, the world is again saved from the very brink of destruction...It's time to pick up the pieces...DAMAGE CONTROL!"

    When we next see Damage Control it's smack in the middle of the Acts of Vengeance storyline and the team is at the base of one of the support towers of the Brooklyn Bridge. The support has been destroyed and the only one keeping the whole bridge from tumbling to ruins is Thor who's hoping DC can come up with a solution quick. Meanwhile back at Damage Control HQ, it is Bart Rozum's last day and receptionist Anne gives him a heck of a going away present. Elsewhere in the building, Anne-Marie Hoag gets a phone call from President George Bush asking her to join the Commission On Superhuman Activities. She decides to take the job leaving Robin Chapel in charge of the business. Meanwhile, across the continent in Colorado, a prison break is in progress at The Vault and the escaping Wrecking Crew finds their crowbar. John Porter, Gene Strausser and Bart Rozum are sent to help out at The Vault after seeing to the repairs to the bridge.

    Anne-Marie Hoag goes to tell her business partners, Tony Stark and The Kingpin about her new position and finds out they've sold their interests in the company to CarltonCo. Meanwhile at The Vault, John Porter, Gene Strausser and Bart Rozum restore power and are promptly capture by The Wrecking Crew. Thunderball recognizes John Porter whom he met one day at the Damage Control offices and he convinces the rest of the Crew that they are not worth taking hostage. Soon Captain America arrives at The Vault to rescue our team and put the criminals back behind bars. Arriving back in New York, John and the rest of the team find out about the sale of Damage Control and find that CarltonCo has done a little work on the Damage Control Headquarters.

    Following the Kingpin's trail of money leads the Punisher to Damage Control's newly redesigned headquarters. He busts in, guns drawn, only to be told to take a number and wait to be served. Using a robot of Doctor Doom, Gene Strausser scares off the Punisher. Jarvis gets Damage Control to retrieve the Avengers Mansion from underwater. Meanwhile, Albert Cleary discovers something strange in CarltonCo's reorganization plan for Damage Control and because of it Gene Strausser is fired. He vows revenge on Damage Control. Bart Rozum is promote to assistant and his first action is to hire a new intern in the form of Robbie Baldwin. The Punisher tracks Robin Chapel to her home but some quick thinking prevents him from causing any harm. Another part of the new business plan for Damage Control is not to honor the worker's negotiated contract which leads Lenny Ballinger to call a strike!

    With Damage Control employees on strike, the destruction in the city is mounting. John and Robin try to figure out a solution. Meanwhile, Rob Washington is summed to a mysterious warehouse where he's offered a powerful battlesuit to extract his vengeance on the city in return for helping someone with their vengeance. Damage Control. John and Robin call in the Avengers to help them repair buildings all over town. While fixing the Daily Bugle building which had been knocked off it's foundation, She-Hulk is attacked by two men in battlesuits. Robbie Baldwin as Speedball comes to save the day and it is revealed that the mastermind behind the battlesuits is none other than Gene Strausser. By the end of the day, Gene Strausser is in jail, The Daily Bugle is on it's side, the Avengers Mansion is back underwate and the strike is still ongoing with no end in sight! Robin Chapel calls Anne-Marie Hoag for guidance, but is told she has other matters to discuss. When she hangs up we see Anne-Marie Hoag is in a meeting with Albert Cleary and Nick Fury.

    Albert Cleary is plotting with Nick Fury to attempt a hostile takeover of Damage Control. Ray Lippert warns Robin and John that CarltonCo is willing to gut Damage Control to raise cash. Robin talks Lenny into getting the Damage Control crew to put off the strike for an afternoon to save some folks trapped in a collapsed building. Nick Fury arrives with a newly released Gene Strausser, who it turns out used to work for SHIELD and is truly sorry for the crimes he committed. Gene has an idea to stabilize the building from the inside. Meanwhile, Fury, Hoag and Cleary march into Mr. Souris' office to attempt the hostile takeover. Turns out Souris had used a loan from Kingpin to purchase Damage Control. Cleary uses this information to make Souris agree to sell Damage Control back to Anne-Marie using money borrowed from Fury. Robin meets with Kingpin to inform him that his dealings with Damage Control are now over. Hoag restores all Damage Control employees pay raises and the strike is over and the people in the collapsing building are saved. To wrap up the day, John Porter restores Damage Control headquarters to it's original form. Anne-Marie heads back off to Washington, D.C. and it's business as usual at Damage Control.

    Civil War

    While tracking down Nitro during the Civil War event, Wolverine finds out that when Nitro exploded in Stamford (the event that triggered the Civil War) he was hopped up on Mutant Growth Hormone given to him by Walter Declun, CEO of Damage Control, Inc. It was then revealed that Damage Control received the clean-up contract for Stamford and subsequent government contracts for superhero registration, evaluation and training. Wolverine goes on a one man war against Damage Control, destroying their warehouse and financial interests. Anne-Marie Hoag fires Declun who then takes some Mutant Growth Hormone and goes up against Wolverine in a battle that finds Declun put out of commission...permanently.

    Search and Rescue Team

    Ant-Man meets Damage Control
    Ant-Man meets Damage Control

    After the events of the Civil War, Damage Control needed a public relations facelift. To that end, a Search-And-Rescue Branch of Damage Control was created. The purpose of the team is to head into superhero battle damaged areas immediately after or shortly before the end of any battle to assist in the search and rescue of any civilians who may be trapped or injured in the rubble. Lenny Ballinger is leader of this new branch. Also on the team is Monstro and Visioneer.

    Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) finds himself on the team after saving a civilian. Because he was currently a fugitive from SHIELD for stealing an Ant-Man suit, he told them his name Derek Sullivan and his codename was "Slaying Mantis." He had a pretty contentious but oddly friendly relationship with his co-workers. He and Visioneer started up a romantic relationship pretty quick, but O'Grady didn't take it well when he found out she had a kid. He also had comradery with Monstro, who also had a shady past. However, Monstro was being blamed for an accident that happened after he got his powers, but he knew O'Grady was more of a con man.

    World War Hulk

    The turn out for Hulk duty
    The turn out for Hulk duty

    After the Hulk rampages through New York City looking for vengeance on the Illuminati, Iron Man hires Damage Control to clean up and rebuild, mostly using funds from a federal insurance program for superhero damages. Damage Control was able to call on hands on deck, with many of New York's superheroes showing up to help out. This only got the attention of the Thunderbolts, who needed to check everyone's registration.

    Notably among the superheroes was the new Black Goliath, who started working with the Search-And-Rescue team. They have to face their greatest challenge yet when the Chrysler Building grows a face and hands and starts yelling. They are afraid it might continue to act out, but Damage Control doesn't take down buildings. So, they continue the diplomatic approach.

    Corporate Expansion

    Now a joint venture between Stark Unlimited and the U.S. government, their responsibilities have grown to include the safe retrieval and storage of any and all items of interest that they find on site.

    Employees

    MANAGEMENT

    SEARCH-AND-RESCUE BRANCH

    FORMER EMPLOYEES

    • Robbie Baldwin - former intern
    • Edifice Rex - Former construction worker
    • Laura - Former Damage Control Traffic Controller. Replaced By Sue.
    • Sue - Former Damage Control Traffic Controller. Replaced by Andrew.
    • Andrew - Former Damage Control Traffic Controller. Replaced by Lisa.
    • Lisa - Former Damage Control Traffic Controller. Replaced by Bart Rozum.
    • Walter Declun - Former Damage Control CEO - Deceased
    • Slaying Mantis (Ant-Man) - Eric O'Grady

    Other Versions

    Ultimate Damage Control

    In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, it is The Wrecking Crew who serves is Damage Control. Their responsibilities are still cleaning up after superhero battles.

    In Other Media

    Ultimate Spider-Man

    No Caption Provided

    Damage Control appears in the episode "Damage." Spider-Man and his friends are forced by Nick Fury to work for Damage Control after they cause a significant amount of damage to the city. While doing so, the figure out that the Wrecking Crew had gotten jobs at Damage Control to use their resources for looting. The character Mac Porter replaces John Porter and resembles Dwayne McDuffie, the creator of the team, who had recently died by the episode's airing.

    Marvel Cinematic Universe

    Spider-Man: Homecoming

    Tyne Daly as Hoag
    Tyne Daly as Hoag

    Damage Control appears in Spider-Man: Homecoming in a flashback intro sequence where the Vulture's legit salvage business is replaced by Anne-Marie Hoag's federal agency, co-founded by Tony Stark.

    Anne-Marie Hoag is portrayed by Tyne Daly

    Spider-Man: No Way Home

    Moayed's Cleary interrogating Peter Parker
    Moayed's Cleary interrogating Peter Parker

    Damage Control resurfaces in Tom Holland's third Spider-Man solo movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. It has been renamed the Department of Damage Control and now has duties similar to former SHIELD agency, tracking "enhanced" individuals. After Peter's identity was exposed at the end of his previous movie, they bring him in for questioning regarding the death of Mysterio.

    Albert Cleary (renamed P. Cleary) is the main agent. He is portrayed by Arian Moayed.

    Ms. Marvel

    The Department of Damage Control shows up again as antagonists in the Ms. Marvel web series. After Kamala Khan is caught on camera using her powers, they start poking around the mosques looking for an enhanced Muslim girl.

    Arian Moayed reprises as Agent Cleary.

    She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

    The Department of Damage Control appears in episodes of the Marvel sitcom as the agency in charge of the supermax prison holding Emil Blonsky/The Abomination.

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