The opening splash page for the Midnight feature in June 1945 must've left its original readers with the thought, "Well, it finally happened. Sniffer pushed them one time too many and Wackey has snapped!"
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| Smash Comics #59 (JUN 1945) |
It's a pretty jarring cognitive lurch, then, when you go from Sniffer being chased by a cleaver-wielding Doc Wackey, to Midnight beatin' the snot out of some guy named "Knife" who's in the employ of the improbably named "Monk Simian."
Being the hero that he is, Midnight can't bring himself to "finish off" Knife. Instead, he leaves the mobster unconscious and heads out musing about how in the world he might get the goods on Simian, thereby clearing up "half the unsolved crimes in...town!" When Midnight finally reaches his home, he finds his front door locked!
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| I guess Midnight's completely given up on the dream of maintaining a "secret" identity anymore. |
When the door is finally opened by a shuddering Sniffer Snoop, the feature splash page finally makes sense. Apparently Sniffer slammed a door while Doc Wackey was in the midst of delicate chemical measurements. This caused half Wackey's glassware to tumble off the shelves and shatter. Turns out Doc was pretty attached to that glassware because its destruction really elicits some bloodthirstiness!
Midnight tells Wackey to calm the heck down. He, too, has had an exhausting day. By way of making small talk, our fedora-ed fighter asks Wackey just exactly what the "greatest discovery" du jour is, and learns:
In contrast to Wackey's own perception of the practical value of his super-sleep drug, Midnight excitedly announces this is the solution to his Monk Simian trouble. He'll slip Simian a roofie, sending him into a death-like sleep. With their feared boss "dead," Monk's underlings will then be persuaded to squeal on him. (I know...seems like a convoluted plan to me too...but, hey, it was the Golden Age of comics.) Midnight heads out to "collect" (i.e., kidnap?) Simian, and bring him in for (a highly illegal) dosing. Wackey agrees, and announces that he'll be making a special delivery of his super-vitamin to Mayor Glibb. (Apparently, the Mayor has grown too lethargic to run for office.)
Of course, you know it's not gonna be that simple. On the next page, Wackey clues us in on what to expect with this rather flippant rebuff to Gabby's eminently sensible suggestion.
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| Because it takes soooo long to make a label |
As a frequent reader would likely expect, no sooner have Wackey and Gabby left the room than Sniffer Snoop enters and feigns incredulity at Wackey's inventions, while nevertheless messing around with the bottles. Realizing he's now no longer sure which was placed where, the original Snoop Dog decides now is a fine time for he and Hotfoot to take a walk in the park.
On the next page, we've got, at best, a bad sequencing of story panels. Immediately after seeing Sniffer mix up the two different bottles in Wackey's lab, we arrive at the hideout of Monk Simian where the boss' doormen (?!) receive Midnight with a surprising degree of formality, prior to our hero busting in some doors and heads and forcing the contents of one of Wackey's bottles down ole' Monk's gullet.
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| 1. Remember, Midnight said he was going out to "collect Monk and bring him in for dosing." 2. Remember, also, that Sniffer just mixed up two bottles back at Wackey's lab. If Midnight got this bottle before Sniffer's mix-up--which the panel order seems to suggest--everything should be good. |
I'm sure you can anticipate where this is going.
(Now, I suppose it's possible that we're supposed to read the story as saying Midnight left Wackey's lab, then Sniffer came and switched the bottles, and then--in off-panel action--Midnight returned and took the wrong bottle. If that is the argument...it's pretty lame in my opinion. Like I said, at best, this is a case of bad panel sequencing.) About this time, it dawns on Midnight what Wackey must be giving Mayor Glibb and he races out to try to stop him. Unfortunately, our hero arrives too late.
While the ominously-named Drs. Slasher and Carver, argue over what has killed the mayor--and therefore over which of his vital organs they're going to remove first--Midnight spirits away the unconscious Mayor Glibb. Midnight decides to stash the mayor in his apartment. It's not so much that this idea is crazy, but his rationale is...well...you see:
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| Yeah...nobody will suspect a thing. 😏 |
Ten minutes later, Sniffer Snoop, still trying to evade his roommates, sneaks into Dave's bedroom thinking he and Hotfoot will hide out until they have a better idea of the reaction to his bottle mix-up. When he spots Mayor Glibb in Dave's bed, Sniffer concludes that this must be the infamous Monk Simian. (Does it strike you as a bit implausible that even someone as annoying as Sniffer wouldn't recognize the Mayor?) Concluding that it'll still be a good idea to allow Wackey some cool-down time, Sniffer decides he will hideout in Dave's bedroom. However, in order to make sure this "gangster" doesn't wake up and start trashing the place, Sniff will give him another dosing! Of course, since Sniffer has switched the bottles; then what he actually gives Glibb is super-vitamin! The Mayor wakes, wonders where he is, and then storms back down to the police station to get his revenge on Wackey and Gabby.
While Midnight's busy trying to save Wackey and Gab from the Mayor, he stumbles across a newsboy announcing the latest: Monk Simian has messed around and gotten himself shot, and this has (for some unexplained reason) prompted a spate of confessions from his underlings.
Midnight's (uncharacteristic) complaint over a lack of credit, prompts Sniffer to issue his own protest against the injustice of him not receiving credit for discovering, "the super vitamin was an antidote for the super sleep drug." Wackey, of course, quickly connects the dots...and promptly agrees that Sniffer does deserve the credit...which closes the circle and brings us back to our opening splash page.
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