Red Eye

Red Eye

Creator: Moscow M. Schnecke

Characters

Henry Deal

The Nose

The Lear

Miss Adder

The Polecat

Brutus

            Henry Deal is a rather battered looking private detective by day, but becomes the feared Red Eye at night, his goal to bring down evil-doers.

A strange and terrifying figure appeared on the edge of the lot clad in black tights and shirt, his tie sporting a glowing red eye. The daring masked man swarmed up the shaft of the crane.

This has a bit of a comedy maybe, but is a fun series. Henry Dear is usually bleary-eyed during the day from too much booze, and feels a little like Mike Hammer. But when he becomes Red Eye, he’s all business. The bad guys had evil names that might have been found in Dick Tracy, like The Nose, The Polecat, The Lear, Miss Adder, Brutus, etc.

The series lasted for several issues.

“Red Eye: The Hound Caper” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #26

“Red Eye: The Case of The Purloined Painting” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #30

“The Case of The Gastric Goof-Up” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #37

“The Vase Case” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #42

“The Case of The Querulous Crocodile” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #43

The Omen

The Omen

Creator: Steve Mitchell

Characters

Alice Neville

            Alice had been one of the victims experimented on by Nazis. They wanted to create monsters for their war effort. But their experiment failed with Alice. While on the table waiting for her transformation, she begins seeing the future, and sees her captors dead this night. There is another power as well, that of controlling others with your mind. She does that now, telling the doctor to release her, and he does. She stands naked on the floor, her blue eyes blazing, her copper hair flowing about her shoulders.

            Alice escapes from the Nazis, and leads them to their deaths. For a year she sunk into the bottom of a whiskey bottle, until on a train she meets a couple. She sees their future, the man killing the woman with a pipe, and now she wonders if maybe there is something she can do for the good of people, instead of drowning in whisky. Forcing the man to leave, she influences the woman to leave the train for somewhere else.

            If she couldn’t actually fight crime, perhaps she could prevent it, and change the outcome of her visions.

            I don’t know if there were more than one story in this series, but this was an interesting concept.

“The Omen” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #29

Mr. Midnight

Mr. Midnight

Creator: Paul V. Fornator

Characters

Mike Knight

Jack

            Mike Knight is a night school teacher, making very little money. But he has a side job. He becomes Mr. Midnight at midnight. Mr. Midnight slipped his mask on; it was one of his inventions. It was a gas mask with an amplified speaker. He carried small pellets of tear gas.

He was something of a Robin Hood thief, stealing from the criminals and drug dealers, and giving the money to the poor of the city. His roommate, Jack criticized him for not keeping some of the loot to help pay their rent.

            He has extensive combative skills, and usually has to punch a hoodlum or two in the tales. And is very athletic.

            Jack is his roommate, friend, and associate.

            The stories are fairly short, with Mr. Midnight moving in on drug dealers, tossing tear gas pellets under their noses, then knocking the bodyguards out with his fists or knees. There have been seven stories in all.

“Mr. Midnight” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #16

“Midnight & Dawn” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #17

“Midnight And The Poor” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #19

“Lady of The Night” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #21

“Why Midnight, Man?” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #22

“Midnight Has A Baby” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #23

“Midnight Falls” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #28 

The Moon Girl

The Moon Girl

Creator: Steve Mitchell

Characters

Anne Darvell

The Tiger

            Anne Darvell is a lovely dark haired woman in her early twenties. When her parents died they left her and her brother well off. It was the 1940s and young men were fighting in World War II. She was in love with an Army bomber pilot, and wanted to do something at home to help. She married John Rawlings after the war in 1946.

            The Moon Girl wears a knee-length, sleeveless tunic of white. A strip of white cloth is tied around her head at eye level, obscuring her features. On her finger is heavy silver ring, set with an opalescent, pearly blue stone. She felt the power of night touch her, a gentle, familiar caress

            Although only one story is listed in my records, the Moon Girl may have appeared in stories featuring other heroes. She is said to have fought beside The Tiger, so my records may not be complete.

“Memory” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #29

The Midnight Sentinel

The Midnight Sentinel

Creator: Jens H. Altmann

Character

Alexander Nichols

Detective David Hammer

Imogene (Alexander’s wife)

            Friends talk Alexander Nichols into attending a costumed party one night, and he takes an old Star Trek Next Generation uniform and turns it into a super hero costume for the party. It consists of a full black facemask, a dark blue bodysuit with black shoulders; there are decorative black stripes that run down his arms to the black gloves. A similar black stripe ran from his black boots up to his waist, meeting in a decorative black pseudo-belt. A silver crescent moon decorated his chest where the black tapered down. Like Batman, he was human, but dedicated. He is trained in martial arts, but has no super powers.

            During one of his cases he had met Imogene and fell in love, and they soon married.

            Detective David Hammer is the police official in the cases.

            In the final story, Akiko Ando coauthors the last story with Jens Altmann. She and Jens had married by then. They sent me a photograph of their wedding.

            There were several stories in the series.

“Midnight Sentinel” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #38

“Coleman’s Angel” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #40

“The Only Thing Necessary” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #41

“Diplomatic Impunity” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #42

“Hardball” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #44

“Fools And Burning Houses” DOUBLE DANGER TALES #45