Smash Comics # 36 (October 1942)
Midnight feature (The Death of Midnight)
art & story by Jack Cole
Last Monday, we left Midnight having just spurned the romantic advances of the Devil's Wife.
(Now then, aren't you sorry you missed that? Okay, we'll forgive you; but if you want to ensure such a terrible oversight never occurs again, you can sign up to follow the blog on the right hand menu.)
Enraged that he's spurned her advances, Mrs. Satan threatens to grant her husband's wish to unleash a German conquest of America. In the meantime, she dispatches her army of Hadean imps to "torture [Midnight] into madness."
Back on earth, Gabby and Wackey have tried to carry on in Midnight's absence, but the super septuagenarian and the simian sentinel are wracked by depression until they're interrupted by a mysterious character.
The mystery man's appearance is all the more curious since, I assume, this melancholic jag is taking place within the supposedly "secret lair" of Midnight and his fellows.
The interloper asks whether Gab or Doc would be willing to trade their own lives for Midnight's. Doc quickly agrees, but before he can ask what relevance that could possibly have, the cackling stranger announces "It's a deal!"
Later that night, the trio gather at Midnight's grave for a (presumably unsanctioned) exhumation.
The effects of depression on normal cognitive process notwithstanding, it's more than a little unbelievable that Dave's best friends would not only agree to--but actually participate in--the desecration of his grave with no real explanation of what's happening or how any of this will supposedly bring Midnight back.
Meanwhile in Hades, Midnight gives a rousing speech to the souls of the damned calling on them to rise up and overthrow the Devil in order to save America from this diabolical Nazi invasion.
The hastily-formed rebellion quickly seizes the upper hand in the ensuing struggle. The Devil is beaten into submission by Dave and is on the verge of halting the invasion when Mrs. The-Prince-of-the-Power-of-the-Air launches her own attack on our hero.
Before she can make good on her intention, however, a heavenly hook reaches down through the dome of Hades (like a celestial "grab-a-toy" vending game) and plucks Dave out.
At this point, the story abandons the goings-on in the unseen world of the damned. I, however, can't help but be curious about the fate of Dave's co-conspirators. I would suppose they wound up getting a pretty rough go of it. As Omar Little says, "You come at the king, you best not miss."
When Dave asks why he's suddenly been removed from Hades, the only explanation given by the St. Peter-esque figure is, "Your time on earth isn't up yet. In fact, you're due there now, so hurry!"
Back in the land of the corporeal, Gab, Wackey, and the mystery man have exhumed Dave's body and appear ready to perform their own Doctor-Frankenstein-Do-It-Yourself-Home-Revivification.
Again, I'm seriously disappointed that Gab and Wackey apparently have no problem green-lighting this without any real explanation or evidence that this guy--whose name they don't even know!--can pull off what he promises.
Fortunately for our heroes and the world, the next panel depicts Midnight "waking up" as from a nap and commenting on the strange "dream" he'd had. Midnight inquires how the war is going, and Wackey reports that just when all seemed lost, the Nazi expeditionary force was "turned back into the sea, as if by magic!"
The issue ends on a cliffhanger, as the mystery man again reminds Wackey and Gab of their bargain and pledges he will be back next month to collect!
I figure this must've been quite the "hook" to get little human imps to part with their shekels in November of 1942. It's over three-quarters of a century later and I'm a grown man, and even I'm eager to see what happens in the next issue!
Side Note: Don't forget to vote in the FTF poll this week on who would win a fight between Black Crow and Camaleao Cinzento.
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