Damage (comics)

Damage
Justice Society of America #6 (2007). Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Damage #1 (April 1994)
Created by	Tom Joyner PhD Bill Marimon
In-story information
Alter ego	Grant Albert Emerson
Team affiliations	Teen Titans Freedom Fighters Justice Society of America Black Lantern Corps
Abilities	Enhanced strength, durability, speed, reflexes, power discharge, and explosions.

Damage is a DC Comics superhero who first appeared in a comic book of the same name during the Zero Hour crisis. He is the son of the original Atom, Al Pratt. He has been a member of the Titans, the Freedom Fighters, and the Justice Society of America.

High school student Grant Emerson had just moved with his parents to a new home in suburban Atlanta. His parents moved often due to their work for the Symbolix Corporation, and Grant usually felt like an outsider among other kids. At his new school, Grant suddenly discovers he is a superhuman with incredible strength and the ability to produce explosive blasts. During the Zero Hour crisis, Grant's powers became the spark that restarted the universe after it was destroyed by Parallax; thanks to Damage's powers, the new universe evolved along natural lines, guided by nature rather than the will of Parallax.

A superhero/supervillain battle, involving Baron Blitzkrieg, Iron Munro, and others, results in extensive damage to downtown Atlanta. Damage is arrested for his part in the extensive damage. Sarge Steel is able to cut a deal for him: he would be banned from Georgia and remanded into custody of the then federally sponsored Titans team, led by Arsenal (formerly Speedy, Green Arrow's sidekick). Around this time Damage deals emotionally with the murder, at the hands of a supervillain, of a schoolmate he cares for. After a while, Damage leaves the Titans to find his origins.

When the original five Titans reformed the group, Arsenal nominates Damage for membership. Arsenal managed to erase Grant's criminal records, so he was no longer a fugitive, and Grant joins the team. Grant participates in multiple adventures, including a confrontation with demons from hell in Day of Judgment #1. Later, Damage confronts something he had buried for a long time: he had been victim of abuse at the hands of his foster father. After opening up to Roy Harper (Arsenal's real name), Grant takes a leave of absence and seeks peace and healing on the Navajo reservation where Roy was raised as a child until he became the ward of Green Arrow.