“There are no dark corners for evil to hide in… no shadows too deep for the ever-vigilant eyes of Dr. Mid-Nite to penetrate”

Doctor Charles McNider was a world class expert in medical research as well as a practising physician. Therefore it was not unusual for him to be called out during the night. The particular night in question he was called out by the local police to attend the bed of an informant vital to the prosecution of Boss “Killer” Maroni who had been shot. In order to finish the job one of Maroni’s stooges threw a hand grenade through the window. The informant and his wife were killed along with the police officer but somehow McNider survived. Eventually McNider was released from hospital but flying glass had robbed him of his sight rendering him blind. With the help of his nurse, Myra Mason, he continued his research and began a second career as an author publishing sensational attacks on Marconi and his kind. While angered by this the gangster decided to try and ignore the written attacks.

Not naturally given to self pity McNider found himself with a lot of free time on which to reflect upon his condition. One such night he was sat alone in his darkened study, when, quite suddenly a majestic owl accidentally crashed though the window. The surprised McNider accidentally loosened the bandages covering his eyes and discovered that he could see perfectly in the pitch black of the night, however when he turned on the light he found himself blind once again. In effect his eyesight had been inverted, he could see as well by night as a normal man could by day and vice versa. McNider adopted the owl who he named “Hooty” and began researching lenses for glasses that would let him see in the daytime. Based an infra-red compound the infra-red specs shielded his eyes in the daytime effectively making it look like night time.

Angered by Marconi’s continuing campaign of terror and rackets McNider decided to put his new found ability to good use. Hiding the fact that he could see from Myra he began putting together the identity of Doctor Mid-Nite. Inspired by the bomb that had blinded him he mixed trace amounts of explosives with other ingredients to create his signature Black-out Bombs, a compound that he would later share with his successor (Dr. Midnight) and the Batman, they rendered the entire area in a fog as dark as night that still allowed his altered vision to see through. Donning an old masquerade costume and gloves (to hide his fingerprints) he was, along with Hooty, ready to confront Marconi

After saving the life of an important witness against Marconi (by operating as a physician in the dark rather than a mystery man) Dr Mid-Nite tracked down the gangster to his hideout. Blowing the fuses so that he could operate in the dark and too confuse his opponents. He attacked, easily taking down the blinded thugs. Marconi was soon out cold and all wrapped up complete with evidence for the police. Keeping the identity of Dr Mid-Nite secret McNider was able to watch Marconi brought to trial with his own commentaries covering the affair in the paper.

As a caped crusader Doctor Mid-Nite was an enigmatic and constant force against the various gangsters and criminals of New York City. However by day he maintained the image of the blind doctor and newspaper writer. Driven by his need to undermine and topple the gangsters Mid-Nite avoided collecting a colourful rogues-gallery like many of his contemporaries. When Alan Scott (Green Lantern I) and Rex Tyler (Hourman I) stepped down from the Justice Society the team asked McNider and Ted Knight (Starman I) to join them against the evil scientist Dr Elba. Then when the United States fully entered the war he was a founding member of the All-Star Squadron until the Justice Society disbanded to allow the individual members to enlist in the regular army.

Despite his blindness McNider served as a special consultant to the US Army Medical Corps with the rank of Captain in the South Pacific war theatre (he even brought Myra along with him). In due course the war department reformed the Justice Society as the Justice Battalion and McNider once again became Dr Mid-Nite. Times changed, especially after the war, and the Doctor found himself up against true super-criminals with the likes of original Doctor Light, who used light based technology to even the odds. Now McNider splits his time between New York City and Washington D.C. as he becomes embroiled in one of the most important mission’s the Justice Society has ever undertaken…