Review: Midnighter Vol. 1- Out

Quick Summary

Pros: Midnighter proves to be a funny and endearing character. The fight sequences are both well written and beautifully drawn. The entire story is a great combination of mystery and adventure.

Cons: The main villain’s motivations are a little strange. Some of the art isn’t that great.

Overall: If you didn’t think Midnighter could stand on his own in modern DC Comics, this comic will convince you otherwise. This is a smart, action packed, and all around fun book with one of the coolest lead characters in comics. The excellent fight scenes will draw you in, while the well executed storyline will keep you coming back for more. Anyone looking for a comic with a unique and interesting lead should look to Midnighter.

Story

Imagine a Batman comic where Batman has a supercomputer in his brain, kills people, can access doors that teleport him anywhere, and absolutely loves violence. This is Midnighter Vol. 1: Out. Midnighter is a loose cannon who’s awesome fight scenes and witty banter provide all the super heroics one would need in a comic book. Add on his penchant for dark humor and mysterious origins, and you get one of the more interesting characters in this era of DC Comics.

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The book starts out by introducing Midnighter and explaining his current situation. Orlando eschews a traditional introduction and instead decides to explain most of Midnighter’s skills and abilities by throwing him right into battle. This ensures that the story is intense and action packed right from the start.

While on the topic of these fight scenes, it is worth noting how well scripted and creative they are. Midnighter doesn’t just throw punches around until his enemies go down, he is tactical and precise in everything that he does. He tears his own ears off when his opponent uses sound, ties himself to his partner in order to pull off stunts, and throws knives exactly where they need to go in order to incapacitate his enemy. This is a man who claims he can see “a million different ways” that a fight can happen before it even begins. In many comics, a claim like this would be something you just have to believe; in this comic you get to see it happen.

With introductions concluded, a break-in at the God Garden signifies that the main storyline has begun. Midnighter works his way up the criminal ladder, fighting a succession of increasingly powerful villains, in order to find out who is behind the break-in. This forms the bulk of the book and ends up being extremely enjoyable. Readers get to see a team-up between Midnighter and Grayson, an array of unique and interesting villains, and plenty of those well executed fight sequences. The book shows all of this while constantly teasing a bigger villain around the next bend, thus managing to build and maintain excitement as the story goes on.

Alongside this, a seemingly unrelated romance is introduced as a subplot. Readers learn about Midnighter and Apollo’s breakup and see how damaged the man behind the mask really is. This is contrasted with a new romance between Midnighter and his new boyfriend, Matt. These two seem perfect for each other as Matt is every bit as loving and supportive as Midnighter needs him to be. That is until the book’s conclusion where, in a well done and completely unexpected twist, Matt is revealed to be the villain behind everything.

Though this reveal is excellent, it raises a lot of questions and logical pitfalls which don’t appear to be addressed. Matt, now Prometheus, claims to be driven by the death of his parents at the hands of police, causing him to hate everyone representing “justice.” It seems odd then that he would attack Midnighter of all people, a smaller player in the world of DC Comics who doesn’t even consider himself a hero. Hopefully some of this is elaborated upon in the next volume but, as of now, it just feels a little off.

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Art

The quality of the art in this book varies based on the artist. Every issue done by Aco looks absolutely fantastic. The panels let you see how Midnighter sees as they zoom in and highlight tactical weak points and hidden details. Above we discussed how great the fight sequences in this book are; it is worth noting that they are only at their prime in issues drawn by Aco. These issues look amazing and add a whole other level to every fight. Plus, they also have the detail and quality to make them look good in general.

However, not every issue here is done by Aco. On average, this isn’t a horrible thing, as Stephen Mooney’s issues all look alright, but the change in quality is very noticeable. This is worse in the issue drawn by Alec Morgan, which is bad enough that it would be noticeable even without the contrast. These issues don’t make this a bad looking book overall, though they do prevent it from being something truly remarkable.

Continuity

Midnighter Vol. 1: Out is the first volume of this Midnighter series, a brand new series in the DC Universe. Though Midnighter himself has his roots in the Stormwatch and Grayson series, this new comic is features an entirely new story. His relationships from Stormwatch and most recent activities from Grayson are referenced but not much of his history is very relevant. This means readers are free to jump into this series with little or no knowledge of the characters whatsoever.

The story here is continued in Midnighter Vol. 2: Hard.

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

• The fact that Superman’s secret identity has been revealed is brought up. This happened in Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth.
• Midnighter’s past relationship with Apollo is brought up a few times. This is something that started in Stormwatch Vol. 1: The Dark Side (Review).
• The first appearance of the God Garden and Midnighter’s past with Dick Grayson can be best seen in Grayson Vol. 2: We all Die at Dawn (Review).