#dave clark

[absolutely60s]

Album: The Dave Clark Five Return!

Artist: The Dave Clark Five

Year: 1964

[boxwright]

Dave Clark Five - Mike Smith

[dcdreamblog]

I recently learned of mystery man Dave Clark, alias Midnight. I realize there are only so many ways to style the fedora + suit + domino mask look, but why does he look just like Will Eisner's famous character The Spirit? Or does the Spirit look like him?

I think its most likely to say that both "men" look like one another, if only because they were both following the trends of the mystery man age as it existed. And the general noir fashion trend that was still the basic fashion of the day when both the real man (Midnight) and the fictional character (The Spirit) were created.

(A combined head shot of the fictional Spirit (left) and the man called Midnight (Right)

The idea of what a superhero looks like is more or less ironclad in our modern minds. We know how colorful they are, what kind of symbols they use, the kind of motifs and design languages that have stood the test of time. The extra gravitas and volume provided by a cape. The way speed is effortlessly suggested by a golden lightning bolt wrapped in red. The way a cosmic green glow seems to send all shadows scuttling. Etc, etc, etc. Just the symbols that have become so self perpetuating in the superhero community as to justify themselves.

Back in 1941 when Dave Clark took on the identity of Midnight to fight back against a corrupt corruption company, and even earlier in 1940 when comic book legend Will Eisner put the spirit down on the newspaper page for the first time, that library of symbols and cultural understanding just didn't exist. Mystery Men had only existed for three years, max and their iconography wasn't only openly in flux it was also hard to come by in a 'pure' form. Sure, the Flash wore a tin hat with wings bolted on and a yellow lightning bolt on his shirt. But he also wore regular blue jeans.

When someone wanted to hide their identity, to take up the mantle of mystery man and do good in their community why WOULD they need anything more complicated than a mask over their face and gloves to protect their fingerprints? Sure, we know NOW about the powerful inspiration that can come from specialized motifs whether it be inspiring the best in bystanders or fear and mistakes in the criminal element but THEY didn't know that. Besides the fact Dave Clark was a news broadcaster, and not exactly a nationally known talent at that. Where was he going to get, much less afford, fancy specially made gear when all he wanted/needed was to break into people's smoky offices and punch them in the nose?

The mystery man was a zeitgeist, a scent in the air that asked the brave and the principled to take the to street and fight the fights no one else would. That is a cultural energy that pushes people to act even without much preparation and without any widespread community to guide newcomers. Sometimes you pulled out the 1940s equivalent of a party city mask and did what needed doing.

[comiccoverarchive]

Smash Comics #39 (January 1st, 1943)

[why-i-love-comics]

Midnight info page

art by Chuck Austen

[nostalgia-eh52]

1964 Rave Magazine

Dave Clark on his Lambretta scooter 🛵

[nerds-yearbook]

Ms. Tree Quarterly, was a mystery anthology that published four times a year. The first issue had a summer ( july) 1990 cover date. In the first issue, the titular character appeared in the first segment (Gift of Death). The second segment (Night Kills), Midnight (Robert Mason) was introduced. He was created by Ed Gorman and Graham Nolan. He was based on Dave Clark who was a Golden Age character from Quality Comics. The final segment (The Name) was a Batman text story that was illustrated. ("Ms Tree: Gift of Death" "Midnight: Night Kills" "Batman: The Name" Ms Tree Quarterly 1, DC Comic Event)

[fancycolours]

The Dave Clark Five with Dave's dog Spike.