Night Man

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Night Man (or NightMan) is an American television program running from September 1997 to May 1999, loosely based on a comic book published by Malibu Comics and created by Steve Englehart (the original comic title was "The Night Man") and developed for television by Glen A. Larson. It starred Alexandra Hedison as Jennifer Parks and Matt McColm as the title character, a "martial artist" superhero whose real name was Johnny Domino, a saxophonist. Englehart would write three episodes of the series. Nightman is also one of the few series to cross over with characters from Larson's previous series, in the episode "Manimal" Johnny Domino allies with Professor Jonathan Chase, the star of the short-lived 1980s' series Manimal. The show aired nationally on WGN Superstation from its premiere through 2005.

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[edit] Plot summary

Johnny Domino is a well-known San Franciscan jazz musician who is accidentally struck by lightning in a freak cable-car accident. The strike allows him to telepathically recognize evil. Although Night Man has no other superhuman powers on his own, he owns a special bodysuit that gives him several abilities, including flight and advanced sight. His arch nemesis was Kieran Keyes (played by Kim Coates), who would slay Johnny's father Frank Domanus in the premiere of the second and final season.

[edit] Comics version

Published by Malibu Comics for its Ultraverse line, the comic book Night Man gained his powers from piece of shrapnel that embedded itself in his head after his car was struck by a cable car that had been hit by a burst of energy known as a "jumpstart", later found to originate from The Entity, an alien starship which had crashed on the Moon. Though not himself jumpstarted, the passengers of the cable car were empowered, some of which went on to form The Strangers. This version of Johnny Domino, while not unconditionally telepathic, could hear evil thoughts, could see in the dark and did not require sleep. His costume and equipment were merely makeshift items from hardware stores and the like, plus a kevlar vest his father lent him. His father was a former police officer turned security guard at a San Francisco Coney Island-type amusement park called "Playland", based upon the real-life Playland (San Francisco).

He used both a gun and a taser to fight crime, though the gun was only used as a last resort and even then, never used to kill. This version could not fly, but like Batman, used a grappling hook and rope to swing about the city or at times, used a motorcycle he bought in the first issue as a means to transport himself quickly. A final difference, though minor, pertains to Johnny Domino's legal name. In the comic book, his name is Johnny Domingo (shortened to Domino as a catchy name to capitalize on his career as a saxophone musician) and his father's name was Edward Domingo (as opposed to the name his father was given on the television series).

During the series, Nightman meets and befriends the Freex, a group of super-powered teenagers on the run. In addition to dealing with his own problems, Nightman promises to watch out for them. Unfortunately he must deal with the death of one of the team, Plug, murdered by the Ultra-killer Rafferty.

[edit] Two Night Men?

In October 1994, Malibu Comics was purchased by Marvel Comics. In a drastic attempt to gain new readers, the Ultraverse was given edicts from their new owner, and various Marvel elements began popping up in the monthly Ultraverse titles. One such storyline centered around mainstay Marvel Universe villain Loki (brother of Thor) searching for the Infinity Gems which had been stolen (and lost) by the ancient intergalactic vampire known as Rune. One such gem, the Reality Gem was discovered by the Night Man who, through trickery from Loki, began creating various other Night Men, each one the result of a simple choice he made while wielding the gem. Eventually, what appeared to be the original Night Man used the gem to eliminate all of the doppelgangers, leaving only himself and one additional Night Man. When asked by Loki if they'd reached a decision upon surrendering the gem to him, the initial version surrendered his gem, while the double vowed to stop Loki and charged towards him... only to be destroyed (alongside the duplicated Reality Gem) by the God of Mischief. Loki then left in search of other Infinity Gems to collect, and the surviving Night Man went off on his own way (eventually taking time for himself as Johnny Domino). However, as the God Of Mischief, Loki resurrected the Night Man he'd killed, whom began to continue where the original left off. The double (not knowing he wasn't the original) found out that an "imposter" was living his life. Tracking the real Johnny Domino down (who was playing the saxophone at a nightclub), they engaged in a fight that was only stopped by the sudden reappearance of an old foe, Rhiannon. She offered power to both men, more specifically magick. Johnny Domino refused, but the other Night Man accepted Rhiannon's offer. Johnny tried to stop his double but was knocked out by Rhiannon. The pair made their escape to Stonehenge to prepare for the rituals that would grant this Night Man magick, while the original, recovered from being knocked out found himself in hot pursuit. The rituals were completed and the double did indeed gain the powers promised to him, but at a cost that Rhiannon had fueled her own life with: gaining and maintaining magick through cannibalism... a choice the double made willingly if it would help him defeat evil, and using the argument that "The Night Man has ALWAYS evolved when it comes to threats against the innocents". His costume also transformed as a result, looking more celticish, the long hair he wore now in matching locks, and instead of a mask, now sported a crescent-shaped tattoo on the left side of his face, along with a floating eyepiece similar to the original look of the Night Man and his other eye was now red. The original Night Man arrived and tackled his now-magick double, but due to the instantaneous reality-changing events unfolding elsewhere in the Ultraverse known as Black September, a portal opened up at Stonehenge, swallowing the original Night Man and transporting him to the Marvel Universe while the double reassumed the original's life as both Johnny Domino AND the Night Man. The original Night Man was stuck in the Marvel Universe, where he may continue to be as of today. Barring the continuity-plagued story that attempted to half-heartedly resolve the dual Night Men situation, it is universally believed that this version (written by David Quinn who had no previous experience with the Ultraverse line of characters and released as The Night Man/Gambit miniseries) took place in an alternate Marvel Universe as opposed to the version of the Marvel Universe where the original Night Man encountered Wolverine (as shown in The Night Man/Wolverine #0, written by Steve Englehart). This would also conclusively explain the inconsistencies displayed in Quinn's storyline (which showed, among other things, a hale and hearty Gail Yee, Johnny Domino's would-be girlfriend, who suffered irrepairable brain damage in the last storyling written by Steve Englehart and alleging that Johnny Domino's mother WAS Rhiannon, throwing an incest-like plot twist into the mix for some type of shock value, despite the fact that in Englehart's stories, it had been established that Johnny's mother died around the time he was four or five and that in a framed picture of his mother and father, the woman in the photo looks nothing like Rhiannon).

As a side-note, Steve Englehart has stated on his official website that he'd pitched the idea of writing TWO monthly Night Man comics, one centering on the Magick Night Man taking place in the Ultraverse, with the other book taking place in the Marvel Universe and centering around the Original Night Man as he tries to make his way in a world that's unfamiliar to him. Unfortunately, the higher-ups at Marvel weren't interested and that was one of the deciding factors which led Englehart to leave what was left of Malibu Comics and the characters he breathed life into.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Season 1 (1997)

  1. 1- 1 20 Sep 97 (pilot) (1)
  2. 1- 2 20 Sep 97 (pilot) (2)
  3. 1- 3 12 Oct 97 Whole Lotta Shakin'...
  4. 1- 4 19 Oct 97 I Left My Heart
  5. 1- 5 26 Oct 97 Still of the Night
  6. 1- 6 2 Nov 97 Face to Face
  7. 1- 7 9 Nov 97 Chrome
  8. 1- 8 16 Nov 97 Takin' It to the Streets
  9. 1- 9 23 Nov 97 Lady in Red
  10. 1-10 30 Nov 97 That Ol' Gang of Mine
  11. 1-11 11 Jan 98 Bad Moon Rising
  12. 1-12 18 Jan 98 Constant Craving
  13. 1-13 25 Jan 98 You are Too Beautiful
  14. 1-14 1 Feb 98 Do You Believe in Magic?
  15. 1-15 8 Feb 98 The House of Soul
  16. 1-16 15 Feb 98 Nightwoman
  17. 1-17 22 Feb 98 Chrome II
  18. 1-18 1 Mar 98 Bad to the Bone
  19. 1-19 26 Apr 98 Hitchhiker
  20. 1-20 3 May 98 Devil in Disguise
  21. 1-21 10 May 98 Double Vision
  22. 1-22 17 May 98 Amazing Grace

[edit] Season 2 (1998)

  1. 2- 1 11 Oct 98 The Ultraweb
  2. 2- 2 18 Oct 98 The Black Knight
  3. 2- 3 25 Oct 98 It Came from Out of the Sky
  4. 2- 4 1 Nov 98 Book of the Dead
  5. 2- 5 8 Nov 98 Fear City
  6. 2- 6 15 Nov 98 Manimal
  7. 2- 7 22 Nov 98 Knight Life
  8. 2- 8 29 Nov 98 The People's Choice
  9. 2- 9 10 Jan 99 Ring of Fire
  10. 2-10 17 Jan 99 Sixty Minute Man
  11. 2-11 24 Jan 99 Blader
  12. 2-12 31 Jan 99 Love and Death
  13. 2-13 7 Feb 99 Burning Love
  14. 2-14 14 Feb 99 Scent of a Woman
  15. 2-15 21 Feb 99 Dust
  16. 2-16 28 Feb 99 Spellbound
  17. 2-17 7 Mar 99 Double Double
  18. 2-18 25 Apr 99 The Enemy Within
  19. 2-19 2 May 99 Gore
  20. 2-20 9 May 99 Revelations
  21. 2-21 16 May 99 Nightwoman Returns
  22. 2-22 23 May 99 Keyes to the Kingdom of Hell

[edit] Trivia

  • The Night Man character would appear in the animated series UltraForce (another Malibu Comic creation), but the back story of Johnny Domino is altered as well compared to the TV series and comic.
  • "First, Raleigh has no counterpart in the comic, but was added to the series to give Johnny/NightMan someone to talk to. Second, Raleigh was played by an American actor (Derek Webster) in the first season, which was shot in San Diego, but when the series moved to Vancouver for its second season, Canadian rules forced everyone in the cast except Matt McComb (NightMan) to be replaced by Canadians or dropped altogether. Johnny's father Frank and House of Soul owner Jessica Rogers (another TV addition) were axed; the police presence switched from Lt. Charlie Dann to Lt. Briony Branca; but Raleigh, as Johnny's confidante, had to remain - so he was replaced by a Canadian (Derwin Jordan) who looked very similar and basically played the first guy."
  • Scifi veteran David Winning directed three episodes in season two; "Fear City", "People's Choice", and "Gore".
  • The episode "Hitchhiker" S2E19 was adapted from the TV series "The Highwayman", from the episode "The Hitchhiker". Most of the original footage from that episode was reused for this one.
  • The main character rode a Plymouth Prowler during most episodes of the series.[1]

from http://www.steveenglehart.com/Film/NightMan-Dust.html

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nightman's Prowler. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.

[edit] External links