Damage (Marvel Comics)

Damage
Damage in Wolverine and The Punisher: Damaging Evidence Vol. 1, #3 (November 1993) Art by Gary Erskine
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, #8 (September 1989)
Created by	Jim Lee Carl Potts
In-story information
Alter ego	Jaime Ortiz
Species	Human Cyborg
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Bunsen Burners
Notable aliases	Punisher
Abilities	Cyborg enhancements

Damage is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the antiheroes the Punisher and Wolverine. He was created by Carl Potts and Jim Lee, and first appeared in The Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, #8 (September 1989).

Publication history

Damage's first appearance was as a gang leader in The Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, #8. After nearly dying in that issue, the character was rebuilt into a cyborg in a story arc that lasted from The Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, #17-20 to Wolverine and The Punisher: Damaging Evidence Vol. 1, #1-3.

Damage received a profile in Marvel Encyclopedia #5, which revealed his real name is Jaime Ortiz.

Fictional character biography

The head of a Manhattan street gang known as the Bunsen Burners, Damage became aware that the Punisher was after him, so he decided to make a preemptive strike against the vigilante by hijacking or destroying his Battle Van. While his underlings were killed by the Battle Van's automated defenses, Damage made it into the vehicle, where he was ensnared and crippled by its mechanical tentacles and coils. The trapped Damage was later found by the Punisher, who dropped him off at a hospital, having concluded that letting Damage live out the rest of his life in the mangled state he was in was punishment enough for him.

The Arranger, having been given the assignment of finding and recruiting new assassins for the Kingpin, discovered Damage through a newspaper article, and arranged for him to be moved to a private clinic, where surgeons set about reconstructing him into a cyborg. When Damage began to die on the operating table, the Arranger inspired him to continue fighting for survival by reminding him of his hatred for the Punisher.

When Damage's transformation was completed, he was further augmented by technology supplied by Donald Pierce, and made to resemble the Punisher, in order to frame him for a series of murders. The killings drew the attention of Wolverine, who tracked Damage down to a chemical plant, where the two fought. Damage had the upper hand until the Punisher, who was preoccupied with the Sniper, appeared, and destroyed Damage by setting him ablaze, and knocking him into a vat, which exploded. The Kingpin had Damage's remains recovered, and sent them to Pierce, along with fifty million dollars to pay for his reconstruction.

Powers and abilities

As a cyborg, Damage possessed superhuman strength and durability, as well as numerous retractable weapons such as a grenade launcher, a flamethrower, and a minigun. He also had infrared vision, and could electrocute others by touching them.

In other media

Video games

• Damage appears the 2005 Punisher video game as the leader of an unnamed gang, and the owner of a crack house. After fighting his way through Damage's men, the Punisher interrogates him, then kills him by throwing him off of a multi-story ledge.

External links

• Damage at Comicvine
• Jaime Ortiz at Marvel Wikia
• Damage at the Comic Book DB
• Damage at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe