Monday, May 13, 2024

The cover has a hint, but it would've been a deep cut in 1995.

I grabbed a random issue of this the other day, since I could kind of place when it was from by the cover (and the big OverPower ad on the back) but had no other knowledge of it going in. And it references another title I had mmmmmmaybe vaguely heard of? From 1995, Nocturne #2, "Through the Looking Glass" Written by Dan Abnett, pencils by Rafael (Jose) Fonteriz, inks by John Stokes.
In the first issue, young documentarian Gray Poldark discovers that his pulp radio hero Night Raven had actually been real, and had hidden clues to his secret lair in his broadcasts...and his initials. N.R. for "Noise Reduction"! He follows the clues to an underground lair, and discovers a strange costume, far more advanced than the science of Night Raven's time could have produced. He then finds himself in battle with the undead Joker-like zombie Suture; but that was only a probable future, projected by the suit, called Nocturne. Trying the suit again, Gray is taken on a virtual visit to the past, right before the decrepit Night Raven died, in 1951. Gray isn't sold on taking up N.R.'s crusade, but is told it was going to happen, and that the suit could show him past or future to help. Also, your next test should be starting right about...now!
In the present, with the lair flooding, Gray puts on the suit and barely escapes, aided by a mysterious woman, who introduces herself as Mischief. That...that is a costume, all right. Night Raven had asked her to check on whoever got the suit, and she would still be around to do so, since she was a vampire. In spite of himself, Gray is pretty much onboard by this point, and rushes to rescue the kidnapped (and older than dirt) assistant to Night Raven; but then has to face Suture, for real...
If you're a big Alan Moore fan, you might recognize the original vigilante Night Raven, since Moore did a few stories with him; and he had been co-created by future V for Vendetta artist David Lloyd. (Weirdly, I just read that again the other day!) Nocturne isn't set in the Marvel Universe proper; and Night Raven has maybe shown up a few times since, like a cameo in the Twelve; because for some fans this would've felt like starting the story with like Batman or the Shadow dying and some new kid from nowhere getting the name. (I was going to say the Phantom, but that was actually built into that one!) I wanted to say Nocturne had a bit of a Batman Beyond feel, with a young newbie taking up a heroic mantle largely with the help of a tricked-out suit; but this would've predated Beyond by like four years! I also thought this would've been from one of Marvel's periodic attempts to flood the market, but man, checking Mike's, there were a ton of books out that month!

1 comment:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

I've always been intrigued by the character or Night Raven and wish Alan Moore had done more with him, as well as Marvel, or whoever the hell owns him these days. Who the hell does own the rights to him & why isn't being used more?