Comics Archeology

All American Comics #25 (1941)
by Charles Reizenstein & Stan Aschmeier
cover by Howard Purcell

Green Lantern still gets the cover, but we’re not here for him today.
We’ll be looking at a reprint, because the only scans I could find of the original are truly abysmal in quality.

This is the debut of Dr. Mid-Nite. His creators are not particularly well-known.
Penciler Stan Aschmeier was also the co-creator of Johnny Thunder, but I can barely find ANYTHING about writer Charles Reizenstein. We’ll see him again creating another Golden Age hero with Mister Terrific.

I could never figure out why they went with Dr. Mid-Nite when “Dr. Midnight” sounds WAY cooler.
Also, unlike Doctor Fate, this one is an ACTUAL doctor.

He makes a house call to save an elderly man…

…but SUDDEN GRENADE!!!

Despite being hit by a grenade (!!!) that seriously injured him, the doctor is still recognizable.

Which is amazing considering the explosion blinded him!!!

Unable to be a doctor, he reinvents himself as a successful writer.

Now that he’s blind he can’t identify the guy who threw the grenade, but will that be enough for the mobsters to leave him alone?

Yes. Okay, nevermind!

But that’s not enough for the doctor, who waits by the window hoping to replicate Batman’s origin.

I WAS KIDDING!!!

Little known fact: being hit by an owl gives blind people their sight back, but only when they’re in the dark.

Okay that’s a joke, but does the real explanation… that having a grenade explode in front of your eyes gives you the ability to see in the dark… REALLY more absurd?

The owl ends up being a sidekick. You can tell how much he’s excited about his new role.

We’ve had too many war stories lately. Let’s go back to the Golden Age staple of racketeering.

Dr. Mid-Nite is often cited as the world’s first blind superhero, predating Daredevil by decades… but does he really count, considering that he can see in the dark AND he can also see in the light as long as he has special glasses?

Also, because he’s a medical doctor, he can invent bombs that create pitch blackness.

While the origin itself is quite weak for modern standards, he starts off with one of the most solid costumes of the era. It really says a lot that it’s still basically untouched.

I swear he gets some of the most incompetent mobsters in a Golden Age story.

Their target is about to die, and the only person in the world who could perform the operation necessary to save him is now blind.

Thank you, mysterious stranger who is able to do world-class surgery in the dark!

But he’s a Golden Age hero so he’s contractually obligated to punch people.

All in a night’s work!

Historical significance: 7/10
Dr. Mid-Nite doesn’t really rise to the same level of fame of some of his fellow heroes, especially since the legacy aspect isn’t as important, but he’s still a pivotal member of the Justice Society.

Silver Age-ness: 6/10
While I truly wish that he got his power because he was hit by an owl, the actual explanation is still absurd enough.

Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
Kind of an average Golden Age story. Not a groundbreaking origin, and the fact that he’s blind is put aside way too quickly, but you can still work around this.
The costume is still great, though.

How close is this to the modern character? 8/10
Dr. Mid-Nite mostly shows up in JSA stories, and since I haven’t read that many I could be completely wrong about this… but he does sound like Dr. Mid-Nite alright.

He’s popular enough in the Golden Age proper, with his solo adventures lasting until 1948 and he’s part of the Justice Society until 1951.
He shows up in 1963 on the pages of Flash, along with some of his old teammates.

After a whole bunch of JSA stories, he had a successor in 1985 on the pages of Infinity Inc by courtesy of, should I even say it, Roy Thomas.
This was a protégé of the original: Beth Chapel, also blind during the day and is a real doctor.
But since the original was still alive in this period, she used the name Doctor Midnight. Which I still maintain is MUCH cooler than “Doctor Mid-Nite”.

She was killed by Eclipso in 1993… which is followed by an even worse year for Mid-Nite fans, because the original is killed off in 1994 during Zero Hour.
I’m pretty sure he’s still dead as of 2024.

A new Doctor Mid-Nite shows up in Matt Wagner’s 1999 miniseries. This one is Pieter Cross.
He’s basically exactly the same of the original… he’s a doctor, he’s blind during the day without special goggles, and he also has a pet owl…

…but he also continued Beth’s role of being the doctor all superheroes call when they need medical help.

Thanks to cosmic reboot shenanigans, however, Beth Chapel is back being the successor… even though I think Pieter Cross is still around?
Told you I’m not a regular JSA reader and DC continuity is confusing.
Now she goes by Doctor Mid-Nite and has a less interesting costume.

I haven’t read either her Infinity Inc stories or this rebooted version, but out of the two the Infinity Inc version sounds and looks waaaaay more interesting.

What else was in All American Comics #25 ?

The only other story in the reprint is the Green Lantern one. Nothing special, but it’s still interesting to find version of the famous oath.