Midnighter
is an American
comic book
series published by
WildStorm
, first issued in November 2006. It is a
spin-off
from
The Authority
(which is itself a spin-off from
Stormwatch
), a
superhero
team comic book created by
Warren Ellis
and
Bryan Hitch
, and follows the solo adventures of
Midnighter
, "the greatest tactician in the history of mankind". The first six issues were written by
Garth Ennis
, followed by three issues made by different writers; the last eleven final issues were written by
Keith Giffen
.
Midnighter
ended with its twentieth issue, followed by the
limited series
Number of the Beast
. The series is also known as
Midnighter (Volume 1)
to differentiate itself from the character's 12-issue
latter series
first published by
DC Comics
in 2015.
Three
Midnighter
trade paperbacks
were originally released. In July 2017 the complete series was released for the first time in trade.
Background
[
edit
]
Midnighter
was released in November 2006 as a part of the Wildstorm Universe "soft reboot" Worldstorm, which included the relaunch and debut of many titles under the label. It was originally intended as a six-issue
miniseries
written by
Garth Ennis
only, but later was expanded to be an
ongoing series
, with following issues penned by other writers.
[1]
The book was officially announced at the
Wizard World
Los Angeles
2006 Comic Con, together with
The Boys
, another Ennis project originally for
WildStorm
.
[2]
Conception and development
[
edit
]
"I think the Midnighter is very much his own man; his sexuality is just one part of that. Never mind the fact that he doesn't kill people, would
Batman
do the things we’ve seen the Midnighter do? Batman fights for the status quo, the Midnighter fights to make the world better. Simple as that".
[2]
? Garth Ennis on Midnighter being seen as "the
gay
Batman".
Midnighter
idea came when Ennis was having a lunch with other WildStorm people. Beside his
A Man Called Kev
and
Battler Britton
vanity projects, Wildstorm editor
Scott Dunbier
asked Ennis to also do something a bit more commercial in return, so the writer suggested to "go straight for the jugular and give the best character they’ve got his own book", which in his opinion would be
Midnighter
. Ennis described the character as "utterly lethal and he tells it like it is. He's got a nice dark sense of humor, too". About Midnighter's sexuality, the writer stated that "his sexuality is
not
a complex issue: he likes screwing men. He likes screwing one man in particular ? but that doesn't mean he wants to be around the guy 24/7, hence the solo book". At
Midnighter
presentation, Ennis said that he could do more than six issues, something that didn't happen, and would try to maintain it as a solo book, without "any major appearances by
The Authority
in general" ("superteam, yawn"), "
Apollo
in particular" ("boring blond twat") or
crossovers
("They can get someone else in for that").
[2]
Keith Giffen
became the ongoing writer for
Midnighter'
s last ten issues after a request from Dunbier, since Giffen previously expressed desire to write
The Authority
. According to Giffen, the idea was to keep Midnighter's consistency in characterization while adding his own different feel to it. He said Midnighter was an interesting character to him because he "never quite understood his power": "The idea of somebody who faces you down, and two seconds after meeting you, knows how to defeat you? That's kind of intriguing. Just playing around with that will be interesting". The writer expressed similar feelings to Ennis about keeping Midnighter on his own and "pull him back from The Authority", saying that he didn't want "that kind of feel that
Midnighter
is an extension of
The Authority
book". Giffen also added that he wished "to keep [writing
Midnighter
] until they throw me off the book".
[3]
Story arcs
[
edit
]
The Killing Machine
(#1?5)
[
edit
]
#
|
Title
|
Publication date
|
1
|
"The Killing Machine (Part One)"
[4]
|
November 1, 2006
|
2
|
"The Killing Machine (Part Two)"
[5]
|
December 6, 2006
|
3
|
"The Killing Machine (Part Three)"
[6]
|
January 4, 2007
|
4
|
"The Killing Machine (Part Four)"
[7]
|
February 7, 2007
|
5
|
"The Killing Machine (Part Five)"
[8]
|
March 7, 2007
|
Single-issue stories (#6?9)
[
edit
]
#
|
Title
|
Publication date
|
6
|
"Flowers for the Sun"
[9]
|
April 4, 2007
|
7
|
"Fait Accompli"
[10]
|
May 2, 2007
|
8
|
"Ordinary People"
[11]
|
June 6, 2007
|
9
|
"The Hercules Virus"
[12]
|
July 5, 2007
|
Anthem
(#10?15)
[
edit
]
#
|
Title
|
Publication date
|
10
|
"Past Imperfect"
[13]
|
August 1, 2007
|
11
|
"Anthem"
[14]
|
September 6, 2007
|
12
|
"Foul Play"
[15]
|
October 3, 2007
|
13
|
?
[16]
|
November 7, 2007
|
14
|
"Life Choices"
[17]
|
December 5, 2007
|
15
|
"Truth and Consequence"
[18]
|
January 4, 2008
|
Assassin8
(#16?20)
[
edit
]
#
|
Title
|
Publication date
|
16
|
"VIII"
[19]
|
February 6, 2008
|
17
|
"Melee"
[20]
|
March 5, 2008
|
18
|
"By the Numbers"
[21]
|
April 2, 2008
|
19
|
"My Town"
[22]
|
May 7, 2008
|
20
|
"There and Back Again"
[23]
|
June 4, 2008
|
Critical reception
[
edit
]
Midnighter
received a
weighted score
of 7.9 out of 10 from review aggregate website Comic Book Roundup, indicating positive reviews, based on 8 reviews from
comics critics
.
[24]
Reviewing the first issue, Comic Book Revolution's Rokk Krinn considered it a "well written and exciting read". He added: "Ennis delivers an intriguing character in Midnighter and a story that is full of some serious violence".
[25]
Don MacPherson from Eye on Comics felt that "Ennis come through with a compelling script that demonstrates a real appreciation of the title character". He described the series as "a war comic", stating that this "makes this title book something that Ennis does better than most".
[26]
Leroy Douresseaux from ComicBookBin also praised Ennis writing during his
Midnighter
#5 review, saying that "in his comics, life is precious, making it all the more appalling that so many lives come to such horrific endings". Douresseaux was positive about Midnighter's characterization too, stating that Ennis "works Midnighter with dark edgy humor as
Warren Ellis
did in the early days of the character".
[27]
Writing for
Comics Bulletin
, Bruce Logan complimented
Midnighter
#7 story: "The brilliance of
Brian K. Vaughan
's novel approach becomes evident when one reads it". About the series, Logan said that normally he "would object to so many changes in writers, but comic book titles don't normally have one excellent writer being replaced by another excellent writer(s)".
[28]
Karman Kregloe of
NewNowNext
criticized Midnighter characterization, noting that "Ennis appeared uninterested in writing a gay character who happens to be living happily with another man and raising a teenage girl. [...] To reduce his being gay to a few jokes or jibes, as gay-friendly as they might be intended, shows a reluctance (or an inability) to write a believable gay character". He also added that, in the series, "
homophobia
seems to be shorthand for 'bad guy', but it reeks of laziness from the writers; [...] it's a selective acknowledgment of the hero's sexuality that reduces what could be a complex, vibrant gay character to a conflicted, inconsistent curiosity".
[29]
Commercial performance
[
edit
]
On
Diamond Comic Distributors
best-selling comics ranking for November 2006,
Midnighter
#1 debuted at number fifty-three with 39,794 copies distributed, being the top WildStorm comic issue of the month.
[30]
Each
Midnighter
issue sold less than the previous, with the last one missing the 10,000 units mark in June 2008.
[31]
The series' first trade volume,
Killing Machine
, had 2,440 units accounted in Diamond distributed
comic shops
during its release month, November 2007, placing at number forty-four on trade paperbacks chart.
[32]
The following trade,
Anthem
, had 1,553 units accounted in August 2008 (Nº 67 on trade paperbacks chart), and the third and last one,
Assassin8
, had 1,159 in December of the same year (Nº 98 on trade paperbacks chart).
[33]
[34]
Midnighter
: Physical sales per issue (in thousands)
The Killing Machine
|
#
|
Sales
|
Average
|
Diamond
ranking
|
1
|
39,794
[30]
|
28,811
|
53
|
2
|
30,461
[35]
|
71
|
3
|
27,563
[36]
|
70
|
4
|
24,788
[37]
|
81
|
5
|
21,451
[38]
|
95
|
|
Single-issue stories
|
#
|
Sales
|
Average
|
Diamond
ranking
|
6
|
20,540
[39]
|
18,790
|
101
|
7
|
19,904
[40]
|
114
|
8
|
18,065
[41]
|
108
|
9
|
16,650
[42]
|
128
|
|
Anthem
|
#
|
Sales
|
Average
|
Diamond
ranking
|
10
|
15,653
[43]
|
13,498
|
143
|
11
|
14,344
[44]
|
137
|
12
|
13,727
[45]
|
162
|
13
|
12,991
[32]
|
166
|
14
|
12,351
[46]
|
155
|
15
|
11,919
[47]
|
152
|
|
Assassin8
|
#
|
Sales
|
Average
|
Diamond
ranking
|
16
|
11,302
[48]
|
10,529
|
156
|
17
|
10,851
[49]
|
160
|
18
|
10,455
[50]
|
162
|
19
|
10,122
[51]
|
168
|
20
|
9,917
[31]
|
171
|
|
|
Accolades
[
edit
]
In
2008
,
Midnighter
received a
GLAAD Media Awards
nomination for Outstanding Comic Book, but lost to
Strangers in Paradise
.
[52]
Credits and personnel
[
edit
]
Credits and personnel adapted from the series issues.
- Phil Balsman ? letters
(#1?2; #4?9)
- Pat Brosseau ? letters
(#11)
- Rick Burchett
? inks
(#13?17)
, artist
(#18?20)
- ChrisCross
? penciller
(#11)
, inks
(#11)
- Sal Cipriano ? letters
(#18)
- Saleem Crawford ? inks
(#3)
- Scott Dunbier
? editor
(#1?10; #12)
- Gabe Eltaeb ? colors
(#18?20)
- Garth Ennis
? writer
(#1?6)
- Glenn Fabry
? artist
(#6)
- Christos Gage
? writer
(#8)
- Lee Garbett
? penciller
(#16?17)
, cover
(#16?20)
, artist
(#18?20)
- Keith Giffen
? writer
(#10?20)
- Justin Gray
? writer
(#9)
- Troy Hubbs ? inks
(#11)
- Jon Landry ? penciller
(#13?15)
- Tarvis Lanham ? letters
(#10; #14)
- John Paul Leon
? artist
(#8)
- Randy Mayor ? colors
(#1?2; #4?12; #14; #16)
, cover
(#10; #12; #14?20)
- Jimmy Palmiotti
? writer
(#9)
- Pete Pantazis ? colors
(#15)
- Scott Peterson
? editor
(#10?20)
- Joe Phillips
? penciller
(#3)
- Kristy Quinn ? assistant editor
(#1?20)
- Jonny Rench ? colors
(#6?7)
- Darick Robertson
? penciller
(#7)
- Jasen Rodriguez ? inks
(#3)
- Darlene Royer ? colors
(#12?14; #16)
- Rafael Sandoval ? penciller
(#12)
- Trevor Scott ? cover
(#16?20)
- Peter Snejbjerg
? penciller
(#4)
- Ray Snyder ? inks
(#5)
- Chris Sprouse
? penciller
(#1?3; #5; #10)
, cover
(#1?15)
- Brian Stelfreeze
? cover
(#5?6; #13)
, artist
(#9)
- Karl Story
? inks
(#1?5; #7; #10; #12)
, cover
(#1?10; #12; #14?15)
- Brian K. Vaughan
? writer
(#7)
- Steve Wands ? letters
(#12?13; #15?17; #19?20)
- Wildstorm FX
? letters
(#3)
, colors
(#3; #17)
- Scott Williams
? inks
(#3)
Collected editions
[
edit
]
The series has been collected into the following trade paperbacks:
Title
|
Material collected
|
Publication date
|
ISBN
|
Midnighter: Killing Machine
(Volume 1)
[53]
|
Midnighter
#1?6
|
November 28, 2007
|
978-1401214777
|
Midnighter: Anthem
(Volume 2)
[54]
|
Midnighter
#7; #10?15
|
August 20, 2008
|
978-1401216702
|
Midnighter: Assassin8
(Volume 3)
[55]
|
Midnighter
#16?20
|
December 24, 2008
|
978-1401220013
|
Midnighter: Hard
[56]
|
Midnighter
#7?8
|
October 19, 2016
|
978-1401264932
|
Midnighter: The Complete Wildstorm Series
[57]
|
Midnighter
#1?20
|
July 12, 2017
|
978-1401267919
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Dezago, Todd; Nolen-Weathington, Eric (June 9, 2009).
Modern Masters Volume 21: Chris Sprouse
. Vol. 21. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 73.
- ^
a
b
c
"WWLA: Garth Ennis Talks the Midnighter Ongoing Series"
.
Newsarama
. March 18, 2006. Archived from
the original
on September 29, 2007
. Retrieved
July 9,
2017
.
- ^
Rogers, Vaneta (May 22, 2007).
"Talking
Midnighter
,
Four Horsemen
with Giffen"
.
Newsarama
. Archived from
the original
on May 24, 2007
. Retrieved
July 9,
2017
.
- ^
Garth Ennis
(
w
),
Chris Sprouse
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 1 (November 1, 2006). WildStorm.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
), Chris Sprouse (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 2 (December 6, 2006). WildStorm.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
), Chris Sprouse,
Joe Phillips
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 3 (January 4, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
),
Peter Snejbjerg
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 4 (February 7, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
), Chris Sprouse (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 5 (March 7, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
),
Glenn Fabry
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 6 (April 4, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Brian K. Vaughan
(
w
),
Darick Robertson
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 7 (May 2, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Christos Gage
(
w
),
John Paul Leon
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 8 (June 6, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Justin Gray
,
Jimmy Palmiotti
(
w
),
Brian Stelfreeze
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 9 (July 5, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen
(
w
), Chris Sprouse (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 10 (August 1, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
),
ChrisCross
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 11 (September 6, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Rafael Sandoval (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 12 (October 3, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Jon Landry (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 13 (November 7, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Jon Landry (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 14 (December 5, 2007). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Jon Landry (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 15 (January 4, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
),
Lee Garbett
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 16 (February 6, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Lee Garbett (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 17 (March 5, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Lee Garbett,
Rick Burchett
(
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 18 (April 2, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Lee Garbett, Rick Burchett (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 19 (May 7, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Lee Garbett, Rick Burchett (
a
).
Midnighter
, no. 20 (June 4, 2008). WildStorm.
- ^
"Midnighter Comic Series Reviews"
. Comic Book Roundup
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Midnighter #1 Reviews"
. Comic Book Roundup
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
MacPherson, Don (November 6, 2006).
"A Midnighter's Summer Dream"
.
Comic Bento
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
Douresseaux, Leroy (April 29, 2007).
"Garth Ennis: The Midnighter #5"
.
ComicBookBin
. Retrieved
July 9,
2017
.
- ^
Logan, Bruce (May 14, 2007).
"Midnighter #7 Review"
.
Comics Bulletin
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
Kregloe, Karman (May 26, 2007).
"Midnighter: DC's Gay Superhero Could Use Some Rescuing"
.
NewNowNext
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Comic Book Sales Figures for November 2006"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Comic Book Sales Figures for June 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Comic Book Sales Figures for November 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for August 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for December 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for December 2006"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for January 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for February 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for March 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for April 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for May 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for June 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for July 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for August 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for September 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for October 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for December 2007"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for January 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for February 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for March 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for April 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Comic Book Sales Figures for May 2008"
. Comichron
. Retrieved
July 8,
2017
.
- ^
"GLAAD Media Award - 2008 / Winners & Nominees"
. Awards & Winners
. Retrieved
July 7,
2017
.
- ^
Garth Ennis (
w
), Chris Sprouse, Joe Phillips, Peter Snejbjerg, Glenn Fabry (
a
).
Midnighter: Killing Machine
(November 28, 2007). Wildstorm.
- ^
Brian K. Vaughan, Keith Giffen (
w
), Darick Robertson, Chris Sprouse, ChrisCross, Rafael Sandoval, Jon Landry (
a
).
Midnighter: Anthem
(August 20, 2008). Wildstorm.
- ^
Keith Giffen (
w
), Lee Garbett, Rick Burchett (
a
).
Midnighter: Assassin8
(December 24, 2008). Wildstorm.
- ^
Steve Orlando, Brian K. Vaughan, Christos Gage,
Peter Milligan
(
w
),
David Messina
, Hugo Petrus, Aco, Darick Robertson, John Paul Leon,
Simon Bisley
(
a
).
Midnighter: Hard
, no. (Vol. 2) (October 19, 2016). DC Comics.
- ^
Garth Ennis, Brian K. Vaughan, Christos Gage, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Keith Giffen (
w
), Chris Sprouse, Joe Phillips, Peter Snejbjerg, Glenn Fabry, Darick Robertson, John Paul Leon, Brian Stelfreeze, ChrisCross, Rafael Sandoval, Jon Landry,
Simon Coleby
, Lee Garbett, Rick Burchett (
a
).
Midnighter: The Complete Wildstorm Series
(July 12, 2017). DC Comics.
External links
[
edit
]
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