Customer Reviews

Doctor Mid-Nite

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Doctor Pieter Cross was a scientific genius and surgeon, who used his great wealth and talent to help those who fell through the cracks of society, providing aid for the homeless, clean needles for abusers and condoms for prostitutes. He was known to his friends and foes alike as "The Midnight Doctor". This was until a terrible accident took away his sight and forced him to take on a new identity to protect his city from those that would prey upon it.

Its a premise that is very reminiscent of the Mystery Men (Superheroes) of the 30's and 40's such as The Shadow or The Batman and of course the original hero who this character assumed the name of, Doctor Mid-Nite. That's where the similarities end. This is an thrilling and engrossing tale written by Matt Wagner (Mage, Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theatre) and fully painted by John K Snyder III (Grendel).

The Characterisation of the eponymous Hero and supporting cast is excellent - Everyone is described perfectly and an Empathic connection is created immediately - You feel for the characters, you worry when they are in danger and you celebrate when they are successful in their endeavours. Wagner's story can only be described as Fantastic and Snyder's artwork, while not as easy on the eyes as Alex Ross' painted work or Stephen Sadowski's pencils, creates a dark and shadowy atmosphere and adds to the feel of Wagner's tale.

I strongly recommend this. I can honestly say that Pieter Cross is one of the greatest things since Sliced Bread.

One of my favourite painters is a fellow named Seurat, and one of my favourite paintings I've ever seen is Seurat's Invitation To The Sideshow (English title), so it's not surprising that I quite like the painted art featured in this stylish origin-story for the new Doctor Mid-Nite. Pointillism as an art technique is not to everyone's tastes, and technically speaking, I guess John K. Snyder III's art here is not Pointillism as per its rigid definitions, though I think it verges on it. Certainly the gritty feel in some of the panels is achieved by a dotting effect; are things grimey, or in shadow?--And when the dirty look of the speckling is combined with some bright washes of colour, you get this dirty-beautiful effect. Panels where everything is grey, even though everything cannot possibly be grey, or green, or blue. Again I'm reminded of Seurat's use of colour to determine a mood, and the use of colour in Doctor Mid-Nite keeps the book from becoming too grim an affair. Interestingly, the art's beauty is what also keeps the reader from being emotionally attached to the story at times--colours and dots highlighting their own blatant artificiality, maybe even causing a soporific effect now and then (a criticism that can be levelled at Seurat). A cool style that does tend to hold one at a distance. But then art, like superhero comics, is not life.

As for the story, we have Doctor Pieter Cross poking around, trying to find out who is manufacturing a weird and dangerous steroid called A39. This gets him nosing around A39 user Camilla Marlowe, who forms a strange sort of bond with him once she discovers he's doing more for the city behind the scenes (he's kind of a disgraced doctor) than just writing cheques to charities. But, his and Camilla's persistent investigations into the nature of A39 draw the attention of the so-called Terrible Trio, heads of the company called Praeda, who make illegal steroids, conduct bizarre mystical rituals while worshipping elemental spirits, and plot to destroy the affluent portion of Portsmouth City so that the slums, which they own, can become valuable. Their plan turns out to be quite complex, involving multiple forms of filthy city-wide contamination, like turning Portsmouth River into one big oil slick, and pumping toxic waste throughout the city's sewer system. But first they want to get rid of the pesky Doctor Pieter Cross. Their big attempt to destroy him backfires; it creates Doctor Mid-Nite.

The lead-up to Dr. Cross actually donning tights and a cape to fight evil is unique, because he's just a nudge away from becoming a superhero anyway. He has a cadre of secret helpers placed around the city--people like Lemon, Auntie Scum, Nite Lite, and Ice Sickle...all street-people or other fringe elements--who already helped him distribute condoms to prostitutes, meals to the needy, and run a needle exchange program. Soon they become a hidden army for Doctor Mid-Nite, even going into battle with him at times! Also, Mid-Nite turns his knack for gadgetry to weapons-making, and kits himself out with a nifty arsenal, starting with Black Light bombs. The owl nesting on the grounds of Cross's estate decides it wants to be a sidekick. And Cross himself is portrayed as "quite agile". All of this, plus his discovery that his blindness-- thanks to the machinations of the Terrible Trio--actually allows him to see in the dark, sets him on a superheroic crusade to save the city from being soaked in noxious chemicals, drowned in spilled oil, and overrun with steroid-dependant Praeda-controlled zombies.

The story features a Deathtrap for Doctor Mid-Nite, stealth missions into the chemlabs of the enemy, an underwater skirmish, robotic vultures for the owl to fight, and numerous attempts by the Terrible Trio's chief muscle--merciless Mr. Sham--to destroy our hero once and for all. In the end, it's all a bit familiar; villains seem to like to destroy cities during superheroes' origin stories, these days...to cash in on real estate investments, or, uh, just to destroy. And aspects of Doctor Mid-Nite's debut remind me of Daredevil and Batman, a lot of the time. So this is quite fun, with the art giving it its own special look, but there's nothing new here. Doctor Mid-Nite, in costume, does look great throughout, though I'm not keen on the injections-as-weapons aspect of his arsenal.

Matt Wagner always has a way with unique characters. The story is good & memorable while having some great art. I'd say if your a fan of the Justice Society comics. You'll like this limited series.

Matt Wagner's re-boot of Doctor Mid-Nite portrays a very interesting character at first: A "midnight doctor", operating outside the academic community, working the streets, taking care in the most desperate and unique cases (including our eventually deadly boring narrator).
There would be some material for some sort of second-hand, less crazy Batman here, but it's squandered in a dumb plot, featuring a trio of industry moghuls launching a mad scheme to pollute and re-build a whole town to become richer still, causing the accident that gives our doctor the ability to "see darkness" (actually promptly forgotten in favour of the doctor's selfless efforts and al-around technical genius (which doesn't extend to planning and detective work though) and telling him all of their plans, like loony doctors of old retarded pulp stories, at the second available chance. And consistently using a single henchman (their steroid-pumped lawyer!) to try and thwart the doctor's meddling.
If there's any homage her to ancient pulp fiction (NOT the Tarantino movie...) greatness or more voluntary self-parody than I'm willing to see, it's all lost on me.
Provided there isn't, though, I must say this is the worst effort I've ever seen from Matt Wagner (who's otherwise never sort of brilliant), barely saved by his old Grendel cohort John K. Snyder III, who pulls off another great job instead: A rich, expressive palette, perfectly at ease in Doc's dark world, gettng the best out of a bunch of grotesque characters.
Nothing can save this book from oblivion, though, and I am really surprised to learn that this is still the current Doctor Mid-Nite of the DC Universe...
But I am also pretty sure that most of the street pulp setting Wagner had created (which was nullified by the naive and superheroic aspects) has been let go. At least I hope, because, this book is a surprisingly faled attempte by Wagner to re-do for superheroes what he brilliantly did and does with his own creations mage and Grendel.

I liked Matt Wagner's work both as writer and illustrator best in Batman VS Grendel (Hunter Rose) limited series. His artwork in Devil's Quest was outstanding and you can see more of the same by his colleague, JK Snyder.

Story is so so, although tempo is good, but ART...I loved this book!!! It is not best trade/graphic novel but it is definitively good enough to buy it for Your collection.

Wagner has come up with a new incarnation of the old Justice Society character. This man is a doctor, a surgeon, and as such is very useful to a superhero organisation. However, it is fairly standard stuff. An accident makes him blind, but he gains complete and total night vision, which leads to a bout of costumed adventuring after dark.

Sorry, but Matt Wagner is capable of so much more than what was displayed in this book. There's nothing wrong with it; however, there is nothing inventive or original contained in these pages. Cliche after cliche, our lead character progresses from injured doctor to superhero. While the artwork is nice and definitely a good start for Mr. Snyder, there's not much substance on which to draw on.

A very clichéd do-gooder steps on someone's toes and looses most of his eyesight from the scuffle. Now he's a do-gooder in tights who can barely see! Wonder where I've heard that one before? The writing is canned and the art, while occasionally decent, is mostly just amateurish.

Don't waste your money.