Midnight Nation 10

Review by Mike Helba

Midnight Nation is a 12-issue comic book series written by J. Michael Straczynski and published by Top Cow under the Joe's Comics imprint.

Midnight Nation reaches its climax in Issue 10, and it's even more horrifying than expected.

David Grey has heard the rationale of the Other Guy, and now he is set loose to explore his freedom. He runs wild through the streets without guilt.

Meanwhile, Laurel calmly accepts her fate. The Other Guy has difficulty understanding her behavior. She puts her self through so much pain and suffereing time after time because that is what the rules say she must do. From his point of view, he can't fathom why she would willingly remain a slave when it causes her so much grief.

Straczynski shows what he believes is the fallacy of the Other Guy. By freedom, the Other Guy means freedom from responsibility. Anyone familiar with Straczynski's work knows that he considers personal responsibility to be one of the greatest virtues. The Other Guy's logic in Issue 9 may have sounded good, but it was all a ploy to encourage David to make the easy choice.

The other point on which Straczynski disagrees with the Other Guy is hope. In Crusade, Galen said that hope is the only thing they haven't figured out how to kill yet. In Midnight Nation, hope is the one thing that the Other Guy is trying to kill. Still, his battle against hope is simply a means to his end. If there is no hope, then there is no point being responsible any longer. Responsibility is the true target.

David recovers a glimmer of hope midway through this issue and rushes back to Laurel. He is met with a dreadful sight and learns that he holds Laurel's fate in his hands. He must choose what will happen next. He must take responsiblity. Ironic, isn't it?

The synopsis provides a detailed summary of Issue 10. It contains spoilers.