Another Midnight Feature...Or Is It? (part 1) -- Smash Comics #58 (APR 1945)

I gotta give it to Gustavson (or whoever wrote this) the feature splash page is intriguing!

The main story begins--as the last several have--in Dave Clark's home, where the insufferable Sniffer Snoop actually asks a good question!

Show of hands -- Who else has been wondering
the same thing?

Dave goes on to "explain" that one Vince McGonigle has been bragging about having a "sure-fire way" to kill Midnight.  Dave's staying in costume because he wants to be ready for anything.  When Sniffer goes off on his typical monologue about how he could protect Dave, collar McGoniglce, etc., a frustrated Gabby storms off to see what Doc Wackey's up to. Our monk friend finds the inventor putting the finishing touches on yet another "greatest and most useful invention."  This turns out to be not much more than two mirrors, with flashing lights, attached to the ends of a fan.

Ta Daa--...wait...what?!

Eager to put Sniffer in his place, the two summon the still-pontificating "detective" into the room, ostensibly to check the balance on the mirrors.  Of course, Sniffer's immediately hypnotized, at which point Gab and Wackey exact their revenge.  They make Sniffer act like a dog...and seem to have designs on making him pose as an old woman. 

Gabby dashes off to get the old dress, while Wackey--inexplicably--decides that maybe one of the mirrors is out of line and he should check it.  Naturally, he too is hypnotized.  Midnight comes into the room a moment later to check on everyone and...well, you can guess what happens.  Gabby returns to find both his pals (and Sniffer) out of it.

To my recollection, this is the first instance
of Gabby have a signature tag line.  In earlier
stories, Midnight used the phrase, "Red Fire!"
a lot, but we haven't seen it in quite some time.
I'll be curious to see how many more times
Jupiter Pluvius! crops up.

Meanwhile, in the secret hideout of Vince McGonigle we finally learn the specifics of his "sure fire" tactic for killing Midnight.

In what is a glaring plot hole (given the earlier explanation that Dave was sitting around in his Midnight outfit so that McGonigle wouldn't realize Dave Clark was Midnight.

pg. 4

Yet here we find an anxiety-ridden Gabby still in the room (seemingly shortly after discovering his pals are hypnotized) and who should suddenly come through the window?

pg. 8

(Sooooo...I guess Midnight's civilian identity isn't all that "secret" after all?)

Anyhoo...once McGonigle's gang are inside, they praise Bixby for having (they assume) given Midnight the evil eye, "right through the window."  For unexplained reasons, the crooks decide it "ain't safe" to kill Midnight and his pals here in the apartment of Dave Clark.  Instead, Bixby orders the hypnotized trio to start walking to an as-yet undisclosed location where the coup de grace will be delivered.

Since Gabby remain unhypnotized--and is breathing out threats (however ineffective)--the crooks toss him in a footlocker.  McGonigle decides not to kill the simian sidekick because, "somebody's gotta tell around that it was me that was too tough for Midnight..."

On the way to the appointed execution, we get the in-story rationale for Midnight's eventual triumph.

Arriving at what appears to be a non-descript warehouse, McGonigle directs his prey down into the basement and backs our heroes up against a wall.

Is this it for beloved Midnight?!
Is Big City to be plunged into an unchecked reign of terror?!!