Smash Comics # 40 (February 1943)
Midnight feature (Midnight vs. Bullets Balow)
This is story left me feeling like the publisher was up against a deadline and just had to crank something out. Of course, that may not be what happened,but...well, just see for yourself.
The story begins with Wackey, Midnight, and Gabby in their secret lair puzzling over the seeming disappearance of wanted criminal "Bullets" Balow. Exasperated with his team's failure to find any trace of Balow in eight weeks, Midnight decides to go for a quick five-minute walk. The reader's attention is hooked, then, when our navy-behued hero returns at the appointed time with a severely-beaten Balow slung over his shoulder!
Midnight tosses the barely-conscious criminal onto an easy chair. Balow continuously begs his stunned onlookers to, "keep her away from me!" Meanwhile, Midnight dials the local police department, announces he's captured Balow, and casually invites officers to "come over and pick him up."
Yes, you read that right comics fans. In the ongoing bi-polar annals of whether Midnight's crime-fighting lair and identity are secret or not (see here, here, and here for background), our daring protagonist has invited the cops to drop by without even giving them so much as a street address!
Meanwhile, Wackey and Gab are simply beside themselves begging for the story of how in the world he found Balow.
Midnight explains that after leaving the lair, he went for a drive. As he was cruising around the mind-clearing turns of "Killer's Corner," our hero apparently dozed off and shot through a guard rail.
Rather than crashing to a fiery death, Big City's sentinel bursts through a cloud bank and into "The Land of Flight," a place which seems to be populated by men who look like Oomp Loompas, and women who only wear 40's era lingerie.
Unfortunately for our hero, he doesn't get much opportunity to with the attractive denizen--whom, incidentally, we learn is named "Velvet"--because he's set upon by the Oompa Loompa Fan Boys.
Midnight learns that the reason for his reception is that another outsider had previously come (Guess who) and wound up marrying Robustia, the Queen of Flight. No sooner is this revealed, however, than our hero is felled by a blow from behind with what appears to be a handgun.
The story begins with Wackey, Midnight, and Gabby in their secret lair puzzling over the seeming disappearance of wanted criminal "Bullets" Balow. Exasperated with his team's failure to find any trace of Balow in eight weeks, Midnight decides to go for a quick five-minute walk. The reader's attention is hooked, then, when our navy-behued hero returns at the appointed time with a severely-beaten Balow slung over his shoulder!
Midnight tosses the barely-conscious criminal onto an easy chair. Balow continuously begs his stunned onlookers to, "keep her away from me!" Meanwhile, Midnight dials the local police department, announces he's captured Balow, and casually invites officers to "come over and pick him up."
Yes, you read that right comics fans. In the ongoing bi-polar annals of whether Midnight's crime-fighting lair and identity are secret or not (see here, here, and here for background), our daring protagonist has invited the cops to drop by without even giving them so much as a street address!
Meanwhile, Wackey and Gab are simply beside themselves begging for the story of how in the world he found Balow.
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| Honestly, I don't like the way Midnight's depicted here. He comes across as a rather paternalistic jerk. Meanwhile, his "partners" look more like kids waiting on daddy's story-time. |
Midnight explains that after leaving the lair, he went for a drive. As he was cruising around the mind-clearing turns of "Killer's Corner," our hero apparently dozed off and shot through a guard rail.
Rather than crashing to a fiery death, Big City's sentinel bursts through a cloud bank and into "The Land of Flight," a place which seems to be populated by men who look like Oomp Loompas, and women who only wear 40's era lingerie.
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| Get a load of the grin on Midnight's face! (C'mon, man. At least make the attempt to show a little self-control.) |
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| Am I the only one who finds it a little strange that the "security" in the "Land of Flight" are apparently armed with nothing more than over-sized kitchen knives? |
Midnight learns that the reason for his reception is that another outsider had previously come (Guess who) and wound up marrying Robustia, the Queen of Flight. No sooner is this revealed, however, than our hero is felled by a blow from behind with what appears to be a handgun.
 |
| Obvious question: If the goal was to kill Midnight, why not just shoot him right off the bat? Is this guy like the Barney Fife of the Land of Flight? Could he not locate his one bullet? |
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