Fictional Character Biography
Dave Clark is a radio announcer in Big City. He is an actor in a show named "The Man Called Midnight", about a masked crime fighter. After witnessing the collapse of a twelve-story building, he finds out that it had collapsed as a result of deliberate criminal negligence on the part of its builder, Morris Carleton. Clark decides to fight Carleton and force him to admit responsibility. To do this, he puts on a domino mask and assumes the identity of Midnight himself. After succeeding, he chooses to continue to fight crime as "Midnight, the eerie friend of the needy."
In Smash Comics #23, Midnight faces off against mad scientist Doc Wackey and his intelligent talking monkey Gabby. By the end of the five-page story, Wackey has reformed and joined forces with Midnight. Doc Wackey and Gabby would continue to serve as Midnight's sidekicks (and occasional comic relief) for the remainder of Midnight's run on the title. He was killed in Smash Comics #36, where he went to Hell at his own request so that he could continue to fight criminals.
Like the other Quality characters, Midnight was bought by DC Comics after Quality Comics folded in 1956, but has not been extensively used. Like most other Golden Age heroes, he made an appearance in Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron, which Thomas used to feature every Golden Age character owned by DC. He also worked with the 'Freedom Fighters' for some time.
In his sole post-Crisis appearance, a revised version of Midnight's origin written by Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane was published in Secret Origins #28. His base of operations was retconned into New York City. Midnight has not appeared since, and nothing is known of his fate after the 1940s.
A new Midnight was introduced in the 1990s in Ms. Tree Quarterly, but whether this Midnight has any connection to the original is unknown.
Read more about this topic: Midnight (DC Comics)
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