(Gill Fox)
Midnight looks a lot like The Spirit and that's not by chance. This Quality Comics hero was specifically concocted for the benefit of Busy Arnold, if perchance his partner Will Eisner decided to move on and take his Spirit with him. Jack Cole, the guy picked to replace Eisner when the latter was drafted during World War II is the main man behind Midnight. It was decided that to distinguish between Midnight and his inspiration The Spirit, that Cole's penchant for outlandish humor, so well expressed in Plastic Man (more on him later this month) be brought to the fore and so give the Midnight series its own character. That said, many of the Smash Comics covers offer up an array of atmospheres. Here are a dozen of my favorites. The artist for each is identified.
(Gill Fox)
(Gill Fox)
(Reed Crandall)
(Ruben Moreira)
(Reed Crandall)
(Alex Kotzky)
(Alex Kotzky)
(Alex Kotzky)
(Alex Kotzky)
(Jack Cole)
(Alex Kotzky)
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I can't remember for sure, but I thought I read somewhere that another reason for the character was in case Eisner got killed in the war after he was drafted.
ReplyDeleteThat too. I think that's right.
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