Kidnapping! Violence! Multiplex! Brutality! Midnighter has all the over-the-top content you might need. Midnighter #3 features the titular character continuing his hunt for stolen technology. Along the way, we get to see the most human side of him yet (in the three issues we’ve had, plus his Grayson time).
When you are dealing with a character who in a sense has no identity but does have crazy powers, it can be a struggle to find some way to ground them. The over-the-top violence doesn’t really do it, but does make for a few decent one-liners. The relationship aspect of Midnighter is an interesting one, as the past scenes with Apollo really do more for him than his current encounters. The kidnapping story actually manages quite a bit of humanization, and it manages it in some interesting ways.
But enough about characterization. Midnighter is looking for a kidnapped child. He beats answers out of low-lifes in in truly Midnighter fashion, and smashes stuff to save the day. We actually get a bit of a supervillain fight here as he takes on Multiplex near the end. He even gets the little girl home in time for a snack.
Positives
I will admit, I don’t know a lot about Midnighter. Most of my exposure to him has been from this and Grayson. Accurate as it may be, his characterization and personality are a lot of fun. Some might call him a much more violent Batman, but this man reengineered to kill is surprisingly fun to read.
Dialogue does really well and the issue handles jumping around in time quite well amidst flash-forwards and flashbacks. Some really interesting layouts do a great job of keeping both the story and the action moving.
Negatives
The art on a few pages looks a bit off, but none quite as much as the last one. Dick’s face just looks…gross. And i
t stands out against how well the rest of the issue had fared on the art. It looks very distorted and a bit disproportionate as well. All this glaring from the last page really stands out.
The story is a bit too simple. All it really did was add the kidnapping element to last issues find stolen tech plot. Nothing about the story really grabs you. As an additional surprise, the more forward in time portions actually feel much more jumpy and disjointed than the actual moving around in time.
The Verdict
Midnighter #3 is story light but quite fun on character.
