Welcome to the Damage Control comics reading guide!
Famously pitched as a sitcom within the Marvel Comics universe, Damage Control was the first Marvel series from legendary writer Dwayne McDuffie. The hilarious comics follow the misadventures of a clean-up crew in the Marvel universe.
Although they’ve had relatively few appearances in the comics, the concept was rich enough to nearly become a TV series on ABC before eventually making on-screen appearances in the Spider-Man: Home trilogy, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk later this summer. Here are the essential comics you need to get started:
Damage Control comics quick start:
- Damage Control: The Complete Collection
- Marvel Age Annual (1985) #4
- Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #19
- Damage Control (1989A) #1-4
- Damage Control (1989B) #1-4
- Damage Control (1991) #1-4
- World War Hulk Aftersmash: Damage Control (2008) #1-3
- Ms. Marvel: Mecca
- Ms. Marvel (2015) #19-22
- Ms. Marvel: Outlawed
- Magnificent Ms. Marvel (2019) #15-17
- Damage Control (2022) #1-5
The Department of Damage Control currently appears to have a major role in the ongoing first season of Ms. Marvel, possibly based on K.I.N.D. from G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel: Mecca and C.R.A.D.L.E. from Outlawed. How does it all connect? Read on to find out more!
If you want recommended reading for Ms. Marvel, check out our Ms. Marvel comics reading guide here. Happy reading!
When the super heroes need help, they call…
Damage Control (1989-1991)
Written as three 4-issue mini-series between the late 80s and early 90s, Dwayne McDuffie’s Damage Control is the core source material for all Damage Control content. McDuffie also wrote two prologues prior to the first mini, published in Marvel Age Annual #4 and Marvel Comics Presents #19. But as promising as this start was, Damage Control quickly faded into obscurity after McDuffie’s tenure.
- Damage Control: The Complete Collection
- Marvel Age Annual (1985) #4 [C Story]
- Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #19 [D Story]
- Features Daredevil!
- Damage Control (1989A) #1-4
- #1 features She-Hulk!
- Damage Control (1989B) #1-4
- #1 features the Wrecking Crew!
- #2 features Leap-Frog! (Vincent Patilio)
- #3 features She-Hulk!
- Damage Control (1991) #1-4
- #4 features She-Hulk!
Extra reading:
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- Avengers Spotlight (1989) #26
- Features Titania!
- Marvel: 1989 the Year in Review (1989) #1
- Iron Man Annual (1970) #11 [F Story]
- Ghost Rider (1990) #86
- Fantastic Four (1998) #37, 40
- Avengers Spotlight (1989) #26
World War Hulk: Aftersmash (2000s)
Dan Slott helped revive Damage Control comics in the 2000s with two short appearances during his first She-Hulk run, which led to surprise Damage Control appearances everywhere from Wolverine to Ant-Man to World War Hulk. Damage Control even started cameoing in Marvel’s animated TV shows shortly afterwards.
During this time, Damage Control frequently appeared in stories featuring She-Hulk and Daredevil. In the Ultimate Universe, the Wrecking Crew were even a subdivision of Damage Control! With Daredevil and the Wrecking Crew both expected to appear in Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk, could we expect similar connections in the MCU?
- She-Hulk (2004) #6, 12
- #6 features She-Hulk and the Wrecking Crew
- #12 features She-Hulk and Titania
- Wolverine (2003) #46-47
- Irredeemable Ant-Man (2006) #7-10
- #8 features She-Hulk!
- World War Hulk: Aftersmash (2008) #1
- World War Hulk Aftersmash: Damage Control (2008) #1-3
- Features Daredevil!
Video games:
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- Spider-Man: Edge of Time (2011) (mention)
Extra watching:
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- Super Hero Squad Show (2009) S1 E14
- Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010) S2 E18
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) S1 E18
- Features the Wrecking Crew!
- Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (2013) S1 E11
- Agents of SHIELD (2013) S3 E14 (mention)
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Extra reading:
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- Fantastic Four: Foes (2005) #3
- Fantastic Four Special (2006) #1
- The Thing (2005) #6
- Features She-Hulk!
- Fantastic Four (1998) #542
- Amazing Spider-Man Family (2008) #2 [C Story]
- New Avengers (2010) #7
- Features She-Hulk!
- Ultimate Universe:
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #86, 106
- Ultimate Hulk Annual (2008) #1
- Ultimate Fallout (2011) #1
Doctor Strange, X-Men, and Ms. Marvel (2010s-2020s)
Damage Control continued to blossom in the late 2010s with a number of video game appearances as well as their live-action debut with Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy in the MCU. In the comics, Damage Control even spread to stories featuring Doctor Strange, the X-Men, and Jane Foster’s Valkyrie. Marvel is pushing Damage Control so hard that an all-new five-issue Damage Control series is starting this August, the longest run in the history of the group! The comic run will also star Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Nightcrawler, Ghost Rider, and Quicksilver.
Back in the MCU, we have already seen Damage Control appear in the first episode of Ms. Marvel, and we expect them to play a major part in the rest of the series. Based on set photos, it has been speculated that Damage Control was originally named “N.I.C.E.” in the show. While we don’t know anything specific about N.I.C.E. yet, they appear to share some parallels with two organizations from the comics: a “law-and-order” group called K.I.N.D. (Keepers of Integration, Normalization and Deference) and an anti-teen-hero group called C.R.A.D.L.E. (Child Hero Reconnaissance and Disruption Law Enforcement).
During the famous Ms. Marvel: Mecca comics arc, K.I.N.D. interrupts Kamala’s Eid Al-Adha celebration looking for superpowered individuals, which is exactly what Damage Control does in Ms. Marvel episode 2. K.I.N.D. was never fleshed out past this arc in the comics, leaving lots of room for creative reinterpretation in the MCU.
Additionally, during the Outlawed crossover event, C.R.A.D.L.E. began profiling heroes similarly to how Damage Control does in the show. Could Ms. Marvel’s version of Damage Control be based on K.I.N.D. or C.R.A.D.L.E. from the comics? What could this mean going forward? Check out the comics to find out!
- Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) #9-10
- Monsters Unleashed (2017) #1-5, 9
- #1-5 feature the Leader!
- X-Men: Gold (2017) #18-20, Annual #1
- Juggernaut (2020) #1-4
- Damage Control (2022) #1-5
- Ms. Marvel: Mecca
- Ms. Marvel (2015) #19-22
- Features K.I.N.D., a possible inspiration for Damage Control in the Ms. Marvel Disney+ show
- Outlawed
- Outlawed (2020) #1
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) #17-19
- Magnificent Ms. Marvel (2019) #15-17
- Power Pack (2020) #1-2
- Champions (2020) #1-9
- Features C.R.A.D.L.E, another possible inspiration for Damage Control in the Ms. Marvel Disney+ show
Video games:
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- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (2013)
- LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (2016)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) (cameo)
- Avengers: Damage Control (2019) (Limited-time VR experience)
Extra watching:
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- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Ms. Marvel S1 E1-6 (2022)
Extra reading:
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- Wolverine (2013) #3, 12
- Fantastic Four (2014) #3
- Civil War II: Choosing Sides (2016) #1 [C Story]
- Spidey (2015) #11
- Alternate universe
- Valkyrie: Jane Foster (2019) #1
- Marvel Comics (2019) #1000 [AY Story]
- House of X (2019) #1
And that’s everything about Damage Control comics! Are you excited to see them play a bigger role in the MCU? What are your theories about Damage Control in Ms. Marvel? Let me know on Twitter @vinwriteswords and remember to follow the site @MyCosmicCircus for more about comics clues about upcoming Marvel projects!
Be sure to check out our other reading guides, including Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk!
To learn more about Damage Control, visit the official page.
All images courtesy of Marvel Comics.
