A Look Back at The Night Man #6 (1994)

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Welcome back, superhero fans, 1990s arts and culture enthusiasts, and comic book collectors! Today we revisit the Ultraverse of Malibu Comics and examine one of its many stories through The Night Man monthly series.

Remember the group TNTNT? That group appeared in The Strangers #3 and proved to be a strong force of opposition against the team of Atom Bob, Lady Killer, Grenade, Zipzap, Electrocute, Spectral and Yrial. As revealed in that comic book, TNTNT – composed of Tyrannosaur, Naiad, Torso, Neu-Ronnie and Tugun – was trained and equipped by the corporation called NuWare under the watch of their powerful executive J.D. Hunt who clearly has something planned.

That being said, can you imagine what would it be like if TNTNT had ganged up on a solo ultra…like the Night Man?

With those details laid down, here is a look back at The Night Man #6, published by Malibu Comics in 1994 with a story written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Kyle Hotz.

Early story

The story begins with Johnny/Night Man working out hard in a gym observed closely by two attractive ladies. While thinking about what happened recently, the two ladies tried to interact with him. He rejects them and continues to work out hard.

Meanwhile over at a high-tech facility in Sunnyvale, California, the group called TNTNT begins to act in a private training session surrounded by fierce looking robots. One by one, Tyrannosaur, Naiad, Torso, Neu-Ronnie and Tugun make short work of the training robots. Tyrannosaur even declares that the glory of their team is back.

However, the man operating the session from behind a control booth talks to them, reminds them that they are still employees of J.D. Hunt, and he tells them that they recovery from their loss to the Strangers will be realized only after killing the Night Man…

Quality

Wow! This is one well-paced ride with a structured narrative! Without spoiling the plot details, I can confirm that the creators succeeded in delivering the big mismatch of the Night Man facing off with the 5-member TNTNT with a good amount of spectacle balanced with really interesting character moments.

By comparison with their previous appearance in The Strangers #3, the members of the TNTNT each got more defined in terms of personality in this comic book even during their pages-long encounter with the Night Man. Take for example Tugun whose culture really shaped his perception on such things like insults. Tyrannosaur meanwhile is always confident he’ll win for sure as he knows his super strength and very tough skin make him almost invincible. The way Night Man dealt with each TNTNT member was moderately paced, backed with quick details (to explain things) and was executed in rather believable ways.  On characterization, Steve Englehart convincingly portrayed TNTNT like they are real people who happen to be paid and trained by some powerful employer who really wants things done for him.

At the point of this comic book’s publishing, the Night Man established himself as San Francisco’s radio commentator-in-hiding believing he can inspire people to stand up for themselves when encountering evil elements. At the same time, this comic book further emphasized connectivity within the Ultraverse. In addition to Night Man’s crossover with Freex, his encounter with TNTNT technically links him with The Strangers.

More on the writing, there are these subtle yet clear traces of socialism and anti-corporatism particularly with the way Night Man confronted a man who bought a stretch of a beach perceived by the protagonist as public. The portrayal of J.D. Hunt as a power-mad and sinister business executive is not surprising, but the way he was portrayed in dealing with his employees TNTNT symbolizes the capitalist being abusive towards his laborers. Whatever this comic book tried to say, nothing changes the fact that socialism sucks and it is wicked, twisted and corrupting.

Conclusion

The Night Man #6 (1994) is entertaining and compelling to read. Its substance is quite rich and it is surprisingly good that the creators managed to develop the TNTNT members even as they proceeded with their mission to kill the protagonist. As for Night Man, he’s clearly a vigilante with a cause and as a symbolic tool of socialism, he was portrayed to be pro-people and an arrogant opponent of capitalism. This made him look more like a foolish pawn of socialism and less of a hero.

Speaking of San Francisco, could you imagine what would it be like if Night Man was real today and witnesses how the Satanic Left of San Francisco led the city into social deterioration and disorder? Watch the videos below for insight…

If you are seriously planning to buy an existing hard copy of The Night Man #6 (1994) be aware that as of this writing, MileHighComics.com shows that the near-mint copy of the regular edition costs $16.

Overall, The Night Man #6 (1994) is recommended.

+++++

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