Smash Comics # 42 (April 1943)
Midnight feature (Presenting Midnight the World's Greatest Detective! And the Second Best...Sniffer Snoop!)
Last week, we introduced Quality Comics' literary equivalent of the Black Death into the Midnight storyline. (Of course I'm referring to Sniffer Snoop--whose only real contribution is to provide occasion for developing the Christian virtue of forbearance.) As our last post ended, Sniffer had broken into the Big City Natural History Museum (as part of a hare-brained scheme to embarrass Midnight) and stumbled across a dead body!
Rather than exit the museum and call the cops, Sniffer decides the smart move will be for him to solve the murder and "let Midnight read about it in the morning papers."
Unfortunately, while the world's most-clueless detective is busy investigating the body he fails to notice the figure emerging from the shadows to throttle the investigative interloper.
Despite Hotfoot's best ankle-biting efforts, the mystery figures succeeds in choking Sniffer into unconsciousness before fleeing the scene.
When Snoop eventually comes to, he announces--to no one in particular--that "I'll get him!" This utterance is immediately followed by three blasts of Snoop's long gun through the walls and door of the office before the sharpest mind of the century realizes his attacker has long since fled.
Suddenly shaken by the reality that he can't swim and has jumped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a bowling ball strapped to his back, Sniffer calls Midnight.
After Midnight arrives--Sniffer's ego having resumed its previously immense proportions--Big City's sentinel is informed that he was only called-in for his "brawn--not brains!" This elicits a regrettably rare--but nonetheless satisfying--barb by the Fedora-ed Fighter:
The note ends up having the suspiciously targeted message, "Midnight: whoever dares solve this murder will die before morning!" No sooner does Midnight finishing reading the note than he announces, "If I'm not too wrong, I've solved this case."
Unless you're Sniffer Snoop, the very speed of this announcement ought to make you suspicious. If that's not enough, we have Gabby announcing out of the blue that he smells iodine.
Just about this time, our .500 murderer returns and Sniffer naturally wets his pants.
Midnight rushes the shrouded figure threatening that this time, "you'll be the victim...and it won't be murder!"
For the inexplicably slow amongst us (and Sniffer, of course) it is then revealed that the "murderer" was, in fact, Doc Wackey. Angered by Sniffer's petulant behavior--we feel ya there, Doc--our beloved inventor decided to teach Snoop a lesson. (I regret to inform you, Doctor, that that particular objective is the proverbial fool's errand.)
The last four panels are devoted to:
Rather than exit the museum and call the cops, Sniffer decides the smart move will be for him to solve the murder and "let Midnight read about it in the morning papers."
Unfortunately, while the world's most-clueless detective is busy investigating the body he fails to notice the figure emerging from the shadows to throttle the investigative interloper.
Despite Hotfoot's best ankle-biting efforts, the mystery figures succeeds in choking Sniffer into unconsciousness before fleeing the scene.
When Snoop eventually comes to, he announces--to no one in particular--that "I'll get him!" This utterance is immediately followed by three blasts of Snoop's long gun through the walls and door of the office before the sharpest mind of the century realizes his attacker has long since fled.
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| Then...what, exactly, were you firing at Mr. Snoop? |
Suddenly shaken by the reality that he can't swim and has jumped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a bowling ball strapped to his back, Sniffer calls Midnight.
After Midnight arrives--Sniffer's ego having resumed its previously immense proportions--Big City's sentinel is informed that he was only called-in for his "brawn--not brains!" This elicits a regrettably rare--but nonetheless satisfying--barb by the Fedora-ed Fighter:
The note ends up having the suspiciously targeted message, "Midnight: whoever dares solve this murder will die before morning!" No sooner does Midnight finishing reading the note than he announces, "If I'm not too wrong, I've solved this case."
Unless you're Sniffer Snoop, the very speed of this announcement ought to make you suspicious. If that's not enough, we have Gabby announcing out of the blue that he smells iodine.
Just about this time, our .500 murderer returns and Sniffer naturally wets his pants.
Midnight rushes the shrouded figure threatening that this time, "you'll be the victim...and it won't be murder!"
For the inexplicably slow amongst us (and Sniffer, of course) it is then revealed that the "murderer" was, in fact, Doc Wackey. Angered by Sniffer's petulant behavior--we feel ya there, Doc--our beloved inventor decided to teach Snoop a lesson. (I regret to inform you, Doctor, that that particular objective is the proverbial fool's errand.)
The last four panels are devoted to:
(1) constructing an insanely convoluted explanation for how Midnight figured out the "murderer's" identity in about .03 seconds
...and (2) laying out what was probably intended to be innocent fun in 1943, but comes across odd and a bit uncomfortable to witness in 2018.
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| Wow Midnight! Your ability to spot Doc's finger prints on a note without even a fingerprinting kit AND your (apparent) memorization of what Doc's fingerprints look like is pretty impressive.😐 |
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| Is anyone else a little disturbed about the nonchalance with which Midnight responds to the theft of a corpse?! I mean, that's kind of a big deal, right?😒 |
...and (2) laying out what was probably intended to be innocent fun in 1943, but comes across odd and a bit uncomfortable to witness in 2018.
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| 😕 |
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