Introducing: The Midnighter

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “Who is this fake Batman?” Believe me. I used to think the same thing. That was until I purchased The Authority TPB’s (trade paper backs) and realized that The Midnighter was one of the coolest and deadly comic book characters ever created. I was not a huge fan of Image Comics. I felt that most of the stuff they put out was all flash and no substance. Sometimes there would be a character or two that stood out but the writers could not keep up with the talent of the artists employed. Then one day I discovered Frank Quitely. His art style is very distinctive and was perfect for the comic.

While I wont go into the story of all of the characters involved in The Authority right now I will mention that The Midnighter stood out because of his use of violence to fight. He is not a psychopath the way The Punisher is nor is he holding himself to a moral standard the way Batman does. He sees a problem and the only way he knows how to stop it is by hitting it until it stops moving. And he does. Like the time he used a massive drill to anally rape a super powered Thor knockoff that had sexually assaulted his boyfriend, Apollo. Oh, I didn’t mention that?

The Midnighter is as queer as a $3 bill. They do acknowledge and mention that he and Apollo (the equivalent of Batman and Superman dating) are dating but its not used as a plot device. Its just two superheroes that happen to be in love with one another. The Midnighter is very protective of Apollo and will wreck anyone that messes with him. The two of them play off each other perfectly, one being Night’s Bringer Of War and the other being The Sun King.

I haven’t even mentioned his powers. He is super durable, fast, has a bionic ass immune system (he beat AIDS in a few weeks), has two hearts, and can figure out how a fight will end before it even begins. There is one cool part where he tells a guy with a hostage that he knows how the fight will end and the guy twitches and gets his head smashed off. In a world where heroes come from other planets, shoot lasers, or carries machine guns on their shoulders. This crazy bastard usually just rips people in half with his bare hands. Which is why he rules.