Midnighter

Midnighter in Grifter v3 #7.

Midnighter is a male comic character that in Wildstorm Comics/DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Midnighter in Midnighter v1 #1.

By this point, him and Apollo were still a couple together but on the streets with no place of their own. They were recruited by the Weatherman Henry Bendix to become part of the top secret StormWatch team of superhumans. Only Bendix was aware of their existence and had built them to be super-powered operatives who were provided costumes and code-names already with all trace of their former identities ceasing to exist. (Stormwatch v2 #4)

The New 52

Following the Flashpoint, a new reality was created leading to Midnighter being introduced as part of the mainstream with a differing history of events.

Overview

Personality and attributes

He came to regard the Gardener as family despite seeing her as a delusional maniac who had an unwavering ability to rationalise collateral loss of life. (Midnighter v2 #1)

Powers and abilities

He once established the Asset Network that consisted of a group of contacts that he met during his missions. Each were provided a smartmark that was injected into the neck where it served as a communicator that was pressed in order to activate. Communication was only one-way with the tagged people sending the information to Midnighter which meant he could not contact the person. This allowed those in this information network that saw something that needed Midnighters attention being able to call upon his aid. Each person tagged in this manner was known as an asset and given a designation such as Asset 377. (Midnighter v2 #1)

Notes

• Midnighter was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch where he made his first appearance in Stormwatch v2 #4 (February, 1998).
• In an interview for Comic Values Annual (1999), edited by Alex G. Malloy, Warren Ellis described Midnighter as "The Shadow by way of John Woo".
• During an interview on CBR, writer Steve Orlando commented, " I think getting back to that idea, that he really is a hero of the people — inspired by the Shadow. Too often people mention that he’s an anti-Batman, and I think there’s a lot of differences between him and Batman. I’d like to get back to the roots of the character that way — him finding ways to help people, change that he can see, instead of this macro-scale type of thing that he got into with the Authority and the Stormwatch, which even he says is not really his style. Especially in the New 52 “Stormwatch,” where he openly says that he’s for the little guy. He has to be on his own to create that myth. I think that goes back to his roots as being related to Batman, as being related to the Shadow. When he’s connected to these other movements — he needs to be a movement himself. Midnighter has to be that signal."
• At an interview on Raysonnes Writing, writer Steve Orlando noted further similarities to the Shadow, "In [“Midnighter #1”, we introduced] the SmartMark and the building of the Asset Network. These are people that he’s helped in the past that are people he has given a chance to […] help him do his job better. Eve though he can go through the Door in his apartment, to be anywhere he needs eyes on the ground to curate the type of things he should be helping with. It’s much like when The Shadow rescued you, you’d have these little signal rings to call him."

Appearances

• Midnighter v1:
• Midnighter v2:
• Midnighter and Apollo v1:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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