DARKANGELDARKANGEL
Real Name: Kevin (surname unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human vigilante;
active circa 1993 (and for an unrevealed period of
time prior to that)
Occupation: Vigilante
Group Membership: Midnight Men (a
succession of vigilantes)
Affiliations: Midnight Man (Virgil Lockhart), Barnett Pasternak
Enemies: The Surgeon
and her Russian associate, Dwight Youngblood, Noble Youngblood
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Midnight Man
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California
First Appearance: Midnight Men#1 (June, 1993)
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. Powers/Abilities: As the Darkangel, Kevin was strong and agile, experienced in hand-to-hand combat and swinging from between buildings, etc. Drinking alcohol while acting
as the Midnight Man likely impaired Kevin's sense of balance and
timing, likely contributing to his death. Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6') Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 200 lbs.) Eyes: Unrevealed Hair: Brown |
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History:
It was established in Los
Angeles to oppose the corrupt people who would victimize others
in the city. To pay his debt to society and in the name of civic
virtue, el Hombre del Medianoche (aka the Man of Midnight) set
up a trust fund to provide for a dynasty of champions who would
work as guardian angels for the city of angels. (Midnight Men#3 (fb) - BTS) <Approximately 1980 A.D.> - After the current Midnight Man (Virgil Lockhart) lost his leg, Kevin succeeded him as the newest Darkangel. Apparently conscious about his weight and
thinking he looked too fat, Kevin never allowed his picture to
taken. (Midnight Men#1 (fb) - BTS)
- At some point, Kevin began carrying a flask of liquor and
drinking while working as the Darkangel. (Midnight Men#1 (fb) - BTS)
- The Darkangel investigated the Surgeon, a Russian woman who
was harvesting thyroid glands (and leaving the donor/victim to
bleed to death) as part of an anti-aging formula, in association
with actor Noble Youngblood. The Surgeon and her associates,
Dmitri and at least one other sold Noble half of the anti-aging
formula in exchange for his money and his help (presumably in
procuring victims and supply a facility in which to work). The formula was in microfilm,
which was stored in one of Noble's Fabergé Eggs. A grifter and conman, Buddy Pasternak was somehow involved with Noble's illegitimate son, Dwight Youngblood, and Dwight somehow lost the egg containing the formula to Buddy (see comments). After "Buddy got bored and
demanded a payoff or collateral from Dwight -- or he would go to
Noble for the money," Dwight slew Buddy and then had the Surgeon
harvest his thyroid glands, making it seem that the Surgeon had
been the one to murder him. Seeking to keep his loss of the
Egg secret from his father, Dwight hired Buddy's son, cat
burglar Barnett Pasternak, to recover the Fabergé Egg that
contained half of the youth formula. Aware of this, Darkangel followed Dwight, Barnett and Lorraine (who had facilitated Dwight and Barnett's arrangement and was getting half of the payment) to Buddy's apartment, presumably drinking from his flask while he waited outside. |
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Seeking to save Barnett and/or
the Egg, the Darkangel dove after him, holding onto a ropeline
presumably to arrest their fall after he caught Barnett. Darkangel reached Barnett just
after Barnett had hit and broke off the end of a flagpole, and
Barnett's momentum apparently swung Darkangel around, causing
him to be fatally skewered through the chest by the pointed
flagpole. Darkangel's arresting his fall
allowed Barnett to grab the flagpole and save himself. (Midnight Men#1 (fb) - BTS) - Somehow taking off Darkangel's outer shirt while leaving Darkangel skewered, Barnett somehow got down (presumably using Darkangel's rope), taking the shirt with him as he traveled to his mother's work place. |
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(Midnight Men#2 (fb) - BTS)
- Taking Kevin's body back to his home/base and putting it in a
refrigerator, Virgil re-adopted the Midnight Man identity to
avenge him and finish his mission. (Midnight Men#1 - BTS) - As
Barnett fled from Dwight's agents -- after shattering the Egg
when Dwight tried to pay him off with Monopoly money -- Virgil
confronted in his Midnight Man costume and punched out Barnett,
who had initially been shocked, believing this to be a
still-living Darkangel. (Midnight Men#2 (fb) - BTS)
- The Midnight Man brought Barnett back to his estate and bound
him. Virgil asked Barnett how he had
killed the Darkangel, and Barnett told him that the Darkangel
had died saving his life. (Midnight Men#2 - BTS) -
Virgil asked again, and Barnett reiterated that the Darkangel
had died saving his life. After the still-masked Virgil had
shown the Fabergé Egg had contained microfilm with a Russian
formula and noted a suspected connection between Noble
Youngblood and the Surgeon, Barnett escaped his bonds, started a
fire and fled. (Midnight Men#2) - Delaying Virgil by throwing open the refrigerator door
in his face, Barnett was shocked to see Darkangel's corpse
within. (Midnight Men#2 - BTS) - As
Virgil stopped to put out the fire, Barnett escaped. |
Comments: Created by Howard Chaykin as part of the creator-owned Epic Comics' Heavy Hitters imprint.
This story was overall pretty enjoyable, but it is still a bit hard to follow, perhaps as there was only dialog and no narration, segueways, etc.
Thanks to Loki for recommending this character for profiling and for helping me sort out some of the confusion (Loki's comments in italics):
I don't know exactly how Buddy was involved with Noble
#3: Virgil says Barnett is a "two-bit grifter, just like your father" - so I think Buddy was a crook, perhaps a con man. Dwight also tells Barnett as he attacks him "you had to be a smart boy, just like your father." So I suspect that when Dwight got tired of owing Buddy money and decided to have Buddy killed; since he'd be an obvious suspect in any "normal" murder, given he owed Buddy money, camouflaging the death as just the latest work of a serial killer makes sense to redirect suspicion. As Dwight's comments in #4 make clear, he's the one who actually killed Buddy or ordered it done: "he never saw me coming."
How did Dwight Youngblood get the Fabergé Egg containing half of the formula
I think he just stole one of the many Fabergé Eggs his father owns (shown towards the end of #2), unaware that it was the one his dad had hidden the microfilm in.
How did Dwight lose the Egg to Buddy
#1, p7, pan 1: "Buddy got bored and finally demanded a payoff or collateral, or he'd go to Dwight's father for the money." So Dwight somehow owed Buddy money - so either for services rendered or gambling debts OSLT - and gave Buddy the egg as that collateral. Given it had to be a lot of money if something as valuable as a Fabergé Egg was needed for security and that Dwight seems to be a jackass, I'm thinking it was either for some insane business scheme (see prior about Buddy perhaps being a con man), or something illicit (drugs, prostitutes) or gambling. In #3 Noble mentions how he keeps having to pay his son's debts.
Why was the formula kept in the Egg in the first place.
In-story: Might be as simple as it being a convenient place to hide a piece of microfilm to smuggle it out of Russia. Mind you, if it were me hiding something like that formula, I wouldn't keep it inside anything that a random thief might think to steal. Real world - it's riffing on the Bond movie Octopussy, where microfilm is hidden inside a Fabergé Egg stolen from the Kremlin vaults.
Going with the oddly/unimaginative exactly 15-year interval for Midnight Man incarnations, Virgil presumably was the Midnight Man from 1965-1980, and then Kevin (frustrating there was no last name) from 1980-1993, with Barnett Pasternak taking over in 1993.
This profile was
completed 05/18/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended
for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Midnight Man (Kevin; aka Darkangel) should be
distinguished from:
First posted: 09/11/2026
Last updated: 08/02/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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should check out the real thing!
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
(Midnight
Men#1) - No sooner had Barnett cracked his father's safe from an
upper floor in a high-rise building and retrieved the Egg than
Darkangel crashed through the window. 
(Midnight Men#1) - Darkangel's
body eventually fell off the flagpole where the waiting Virgil
found him. Finding the flask, Virgil remarked, "