The best superheroes are those who you not only share a rapport with, but also represent an ideal and inspire others to aim for said ideal.
Superman’s greatest power comes not from a reaction to the yellow sun but his indomitable drive to do the right thing. He is one of the most powerful beings in existence and yet he is ruled by his sense of ethics. The Ray instilled in audiences how to literally and figuratively shine a beam of light in a world of darkness. In retrospect it was almost inevitable that I would cross paths with my favorite superhero……who isn’t named Ororo Munroe.
That fateful encounter was one for the books as well.
For many comic book fans, Midnnighter is best known as a key member of the black ops superhuman team Stormwatch and its replacement, The Authority. He debuted in Wildstorm Comics’ (which was initially an imprint of Image Comics and subsequently absorbed by DC Comics) StormWatch #4 in February 1998 by Bryan Hitch and Warren Ellis. Midnighter and his lover Apollo were bioengineered by their creator, the villainous Harry Bendix as part of the original Stormwatch team. The sole survivors after their first team mission went awry, both Midnighter and Apollo escaped while operating as vigilante crime fighters throughout the United States. The pair would rejoin the new lineup of Stormwatch when Bendix is presumed dead. Stormwatch would finally end during the Final Orbit storyline. Sometime later Midnighter and Apollo are both recruited to a new contemporary version of the former superhero team, known as “The Authority”.
In terms of superpowers, Midnighter’s enhancements include superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and a healing factor. He also possesses a second auxiliary heart. Midnighter’s signature ability is his neural computer which allows him to analyze a combat scenario, his opposition and every possible scenario which almost always guarantee certain victory. As impressive as Midnighter’s abilities are, it’s the man himself that is truly incredible. Numerous times, Midnighter’s powers have been neutralized. Nonetheless, with an inexhaustible drive, a prodigious cunning, and an indomitable will, Midnighter has overcome seemingly impossible odds and bested nearly unstoppable foes. Powers or no powers, Midnighter regularly proves that even outnumbered, he’s never outgunned.
A solo Midnighter series was launched with Garth Ennis and Chris Sprouse at the creative helm in November 2006. What was initially intended to be a six-issue miniseries, Midnighter eventually ran for 20 issues until its cancellation in June (ironically LGBTQ+ Pride Month) 2008. The fact that a six issue miniseries extended to an ongoing series and ran for nearly two years while flagship titles within the same imprint suffered delays and cancellation (The Authority and WildC.A.T.S) after one and two issues is a testament to the series.
While Midnighter never lacked for iconic moments during Wildstorm’s time, one could argue that he truly shines in the DC Universe. In June 2015, Midnighter received an ongoing solo series from DC Comics. The series finds a newly single Midnighter searching to find his way after he and Apollo have separated. Penned by Steve Orlando, one of the most gifted storytellers in the industry, readers discover Midnighter’s origins and his true identity as Lucas Trent in the DC Universe. Readers also watch Midnighter establish relationships (platonic, sexual and variations thereof) with other formidable masculine, diverse, MSMs which may be one of the rare instances that queer men are portrayed accurately, respectfully and in a matter of fact manner. According to Orlando, real life and fictional icons such as Christopher Marlowe, Tab Hunter, Orlando Cruz, Emille Griffith, John Woo, and Melvin Van Peebles serve as inspirations and influences to Midnighter’s characterization.
But it wouldn’t be a Midnighter comic if he wasn’t facing off against bizarre and macabre supervillains, and astronomical threats. The 12-issue run details Trent striving to recover rare and powerful items absconded from the God Garden – a secret vault and refuge for experimentations, weaponry, and technology far too dangerous to be exposed to mankind – as well as the mysterious culprit behind the heist. With this being our resident unrelenting antihero, he’s going to show up and show out. In issue #2, Midnighter puts a new spin on the classic revenge tale when he intervenes on behalf of foe turned eventual ally, Marina Lucas. Later in the series, Midnighter’s crusade eventually runs him afoul of Amanda Waller and her Black Ops team, Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. Single handedly, the leather-clad vigilante holds his own against the team of formidable adversaries.
Eventually Midnighter learns that his rebound boyfriend and the mastermind behind the God Garden theft is none other than the villainous Prometheus; a Justice League villain who is infamous for defeating Batman (and the rest of the team) single handedly on the Watchtower. The same Prometheus, who when squaring off against Midnighter, learned why Trent is not Batman. Midnighter’s far better and also far worse.
In 2016’s Midnighter & Apollo, Apollo is kidnapped by the demon lord Neron (DC’s answer to Mephistopheles and Mephisto). The six-issue miniseries illustrates that Midnighter will go to war for those he loves. The miniseries is also evidence that when they go low, Midnighter will (literally) go to hell.
Apollo and Midnighter join a new lineup of the Authority in Superman & The Authority. The team aids an aging Superman to stop the machinations of the villainous Ultra-Humanite. The Authority reunites with the Man of Steel in the Warworld Saga story arc, where they would liberate Warworld and dethrone its tyrannical ruler Mongul.
Whether aiding the Last Son of Krypton or shading the Caped Crusader, no matter what room or universe Midnighter is, he’s in a class by himself. Midnighter can almost be considered a paradox as he contradicts most (mis)perceptions people have of non straight men. Unapologetic in his love for violence, sex, and his identity as a whole, Midnighter is an alpha among alphas and given that he is the weapon that protects the innocent, battles evil itself, his form of masculinity is a positive one.
Midnighter is a symbol and a reminder that being an LGBTQ doesn’t make one weak or inferior. In anything, history has proven quite the opposite as figures like Monica Roberts, Fallon Fox, Whitney Houston, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Kim Petras, Nicole Maines, Langston Hughes, George Takei, Malcolm X, and Alan Turing illustrate. Midnighter reminds us to defy any label or limitation, to be our own superheroes, and be the champions to the most vulnerable among us.
Here’s to you Lucas Trent.
BATTLE ON MIDNIGHTER!!!!!
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