Dr. Mid-Nite in "The Sight Stealers!"

[skjam]

In the early 1970s, DC did some major cleanup of their offices, which resulted in the discovery of a couple of scripts that had been lost for decades. As a treat for readers, they then had them finished by then-contemporary artists and printed. This is one of them, a Dr. Mid-Nite story written and pencilled in 1948 by creators unknown, inked in 1972 by Sam Amendola, and printed in Adventure Comics #418 (2 pages of 6.)



Dr. McNider calls his acquaintance Mr. Lacey, to let him know that the "echo-flashlight" is finished. Mr. Lacey invites the blind doctor to a fund-raiser. Once outdoors, Dr. McNider walks directly towards an open manhole.



Talk about your fast changes!

Dr. Mid-Nite is doing fine against the thugs until a man in a top hat rams him with a penny-farthing bicycle. This is Murvis, who was just checking up on the boys and rode the bike to avoid making noise that might alert Lacey of treachery. Turns out the crooks hoped to use the echo-flashlight to commit crimes in the dark. But since McNider has escaped, they just tie Dr. Mid-Nite to the penny-farthing and send it careening towards certain death while they go off to rob the charity fundraiser.

Since he's tied backwards, Dr. Mid-nite uses the echo-flashlight to navigate the bike to safety. Meanwhile, at the Lacey Wheeled Antique Exhibit (today all admission fees go to the Lighthouse for the Blind), the criminals strike. As they're about to make their getaway (in a modern car), Dr. Mid-Nite rides up on a horse-drawn chariot. It turns out to be one of those movie-style chariots with the slashing blades, and he shreds the getaway vehicle's tires. The car crashes, but a random spurt of motor oil covers Mid-Nite's goggles.



Yes, it's right next to the gasoline pills and the personal jetpacks in the Conspiracy's vaults.


And because you might have missed it among all the other cool stuff in the love meme post a bit back, here's a repost of the Alex Toth Black Canary page from the same issue where she auditions for the job of women's self-defense instructor.





Your thoughts and comments?

suggested tags
char: Black Canary/Dinah Drake
char: Dr. Mid-Nite/Charles McNider
creator: Alex Toth
creator: Sal Amendola
publisher: DC Comics
title: Adventure Comics

Comments

[geoffsebesta]

That Toth page is so doggone good.

The Mid-Nite stuff really shows how crazy the pacing used to be in old comics. I've often wondered why they compressed time in a way that seems so odd to modern eyes.

[halloweenjack]

I was going to comment on how wacky-cracky the radar flashlight and the guy climbing the telephone pole in a suit and fedora was, when..."a man in a top hat rams him with a penny-farthing bicycle", you say? Sheesh, did a Roman legionnaire and a knight in shining armor show up, as well?

[skjam]

No, but I'm sure if the writer could have crammed them in, they would.

This is a real rarity, by the way. I don't think it's ever been reprinted anywhere.

[auggie18]

Wait, Dr. Mid-nite's real name is McNider? WOW.

[kamino_neko]

The original, yes. Dr Charles McNider. He's the namesake for the current Dr Mid-Nite (Pietr Cross)'s owl, Charlie.

[skjam]

He relies heavily on the whole, "he's blind, he can't be a superhero" idea to keep his identity safe.