MIDNIGHT MANMIDNIGHT MAN
Real Name: Anton Mogart
Identity/Class: Human (conventional weapons-user)
Occupation: Art dealer, art thief
Group Membership: None revealed
Affiliations: Formerly Raoul Bushman and his unidentified criminal ally, unidentified lover (Jeff' Wilde's mother; last name possibly Wilde)
Enemies: Marlene Alraune, Raoul Bushman and his unidentified criminal ally, Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp, Moon Knight
(Marc Spector), Nedda (Marc Spector's cook), New York Police Department
(including Chief Edward X. Delaney), Samuels, everyone from whom he
stole;
indirectly an enemy of Khonshu
Known Relatives: Jeff Wilde (son, Midnight, presumed deceased)
Aliases: Midnite Man (used in some newspaper articles)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly an unidentified hospice center;
formerly an underground chamber in Manhattan's sewers;
formerly a mansion in New York City;
formerly mobile across Earth
First Appearance: Moon Knight I#3 (January, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Mogart was a highly
accomplished art thief, escaping authorities across the world while
providing hints and taunts to draw their attention. He could bypass
most security systems, enter high-rise buildings and he utilized
glass-cutters
Midnight was highly athletic, able
to repel down walls, swing on ropes, and hold his own against Moon
Knight in combat. He used a handgun and daggers in battle, and he was
not above using a knee to the crotch if needed.
He arranged traps, such as medieval knight statues firing a crossbow (activated by a trip wire), and ropes pulled into webbing patterns to trap others.
Mogart was a genius, though his
eccentricities spiraled into madness after his face had been scarred
and he lost his collection.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6', as Mogart appeared to be an inch or two shorter than the 6'2" Marc Spector)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 210 lbs.)
Eyes: Apparently dark brown
Hair: Black, graying, including beard
History:
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS / Marc Spector:
Moon Knight#5 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A
to Z hardcover#7: Midnight entry) - A renowned art collector, Anton
Mogart, a was secretly a thief known as the Midnight Man because he
committed his robberies at midnight. Driven by a mania to possess
priceless things, Mogart’s thefts spanned the globe as he moved from
one city to the next, targeting various collectibles in each city and
taunting local law enforcers with notes deriding their incompetence.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#5 (fb) - BTS)
- At some point, Mogart had an affair with a woman (whose last
name may have been Wilde), with whom he fathered a son, Jeff. Mogart
financially supported Jeff as he grew up, sending him money but never
but never leaving a return address or visiting Jeff.
Jeff only knew his father through newspaper
articles from around the world detailing Mogart’s exploits; Jeff
clipped and kept these articles.
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS) - For 22 nights
in a row, the Midnight Man stole pieces of fine art throughout
Manhattan each time at the stroke of midnight. His thefts ranged from
paintings and original manuscripts to priceless collectibles. He
taunted the police by mail. His most recent note defied anyone,
"including that gaudy buffoon Moon Knight" to stop him, "not that I've
amply demonstrated that the police are no match for my cunning or
finesse."
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - The Midnight Man acquired a large
number of priceless paintings, statues, antique furnishings, rugs,
automates, jewelry, and artifacts.
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Midnight Man burgled a rare Monet oil painting from the Ramadan Art Gallery on Fifth Avenue, near 59th Street.
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS) - A Daily Bugle editorial predicted that an encounter between the Midnight Man and Moon Knight was inevitable.
(Moon Knight I#3) - Saturday night, the Midnight Man stole a statuette from a museum, escaping as a nearby cathedral tolled.
Sunday night, only blocks away from where Moon
Knight stopped an arsonist, the Midnight Man stole a French automate
from a penthouse apartment.
Monday night, the Midnight swung down from a box
seat at a special Broadway showing, stealing the Hurkos diamond
necklace.
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Considering
that -- as the police tended to get in each others way and were
encumbered by too many rules and regulations -- Moon Knight was the
only one who might stop him, the Midnight Man plotted to arrange a
confrontation so he might eliminate his opponent and get on with his
business.
(Moon Knight I#3 - BTS) - Tuesday, in the
guise of cabbie Jake Lockley, Marc Spector drew out a group of men at
Cue's billiards, whom Moon Knight then beat up, hoping to force them to
tell him where the Midnight Man fenced his loot. One of men explained
that the Midnight Man didn't fence his loot, but apparently kept it; he
further noted that the word was out that the Midnight Man was going to
arrange things to take on Moon Knight that night.
(Moon Knight I#3) -That evening Anton Mogart attended a charity fund-raiser hosted by Steven Grant (another alias used by Moon Knight) at his mansion, and he introduced himself to Grant. Noting himself to be an art collector who received a note threatening theft by the Midnight Man, Mogart offered to pay Grant's "associate" mercenary Marc Spector (Moon Knight's true identity) $100,000 to protect his valuable paintings. "Grant" asked Mogart if he had informed the authorities, but Mogart noted that he felt the police would only bungle it, but that also not all of his acquisitions were acquired legally.
Noting that Spector owed him a favor, Grant
agreed to subcontract on his behalf and asked for payment in trade, a
painting to fill a gap on his wall. 
(Moon Knight I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Mogart later
departed the gala. Twenty minutes later, Grant headed out, changing
into Moon Knight and having his partner, Frenchie (Jean Paul DuChamp)
fly him -- via Mooncopter -- to Mogart's home. Noting his suspicion
that Mogart was the Midnight Man, Moon Knight descended to the roof,
pried a window open with a crescent dart, and entered the home.
(Moon Knight I#3) - Moon Knight swiftly set
off a trip-wire, narrowly dodging an arrow fired from a crossbow held
by a suit of armor, after which the Midnight Man turned on the lights
and confronted him at gunpoint. 
After Moon Knight shattered the chandelier to
plunge the room in darkness and leapt down to the next level, the
Midnight Man fired several times before rushing down the stairs, at
which point Moon Knight used his truncheon to knock the gun out of his
hands.
Although Moon Knight dominated the conflict, the Midnight Man
continued to fight, ultimately tackling Moon Knight through a window
and out onto the roof. When Moon Knight slipped on a loose shard of
glass, the Midnight Man rushed forward with an Oriental dagger
intending to fatally stab him. However, as Moon Knight raised his
truncheon to ward off the blade, the Midnight Man was shot in the back
from the ground by the arriving Marlene Alraune (Spector/Grant's
lover).
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Marlene's gun was loaded with rubber bullets.
(Moon Knight I#3) - The Midnight Man slipped on more glass and
tumbled off the roof, and Moon Knight grabbed his opera cape, but it
tore free from Mogart's falling form, which struck the water in the
moat surrounding the mansion and failed to surface.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb)) - The river current pulled Mogart under, but he
revived enough to fight his way to the surface so distance away.
(Moon Knight I#3 - BTS) - Noting that the Midnight Man had been refreshingly psychotic, Moon Knight claimed a painting as his fee and departed with Marlene and Frenchie before the police arrived.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb)) - Mogart was swept downstream and across to
the Manhattan side, finally coming to rest by a drainage viaduct. The
burning from the toxic waste effluent shocked him into awareness, and he
climbed into the sewer system to avoid police detection.
He hid there for three days.
When he finally exited the system and returned to
his home, he found that the police had removed all of his stolen
artwork. He also realized that the chemicals to which he had been
exposed in the sewer had hideously scarred his face. He blamed Moon
Knight for the loss of his possessions and his appearance.
(Moon Knight I#3 - BTS) - Spector subsequently donated the painting he had claimed (as well as two of his own) to an art museum.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Considering himself of mockery of
what he had once been, Mogart made a new home in the sewers that was a
mockery of his former mansion and collection.
The sewer chamber had a number of platforms covered with junk items he collected, and numerous cables spanned the facility like a spider-web.
Mogart bricked up the water inflow into the chamber to protect his home/collection.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Escaping prison, Raoul Bushman recruited the Midnight Man in a plot against Moon Knight. Bushman also enlisted an unidentified criminal to facilitate things.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Mogart broke into the Grant mansion
by breaking an upper window and getting through the "unbreachable"
security system.
(Moon Knight I#9) - Just before midnight, the scarred Mogart entered
the room of the sleeping Marlene at Grant mansion, his presence
awakening her.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Surprised by his nightmarish
appearance, Marlene threw a clock at Mogart, and her screams drew
Frenchie. His approaching footsteps led Mogart to flee.
(Moon Knight I#9) - The Midnight Man smashed Frenchie aside and escaped into the darkness, avoiding Frenchie's gunfire.
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - While Frenchie and Marlene searched
the mansion, Mogart frightened the cook, Nedda, and -- presumably with
Bushman (or his agents)'s aid -- made off with both Moon Knight's
butler, Samuels, and Moon Knight's statue of Khonshu (knowing it was
important to Moon Knight's belief in his abilities); he also recovered
his cape, which Moon Knight had hung up by some art as a reminder.
The Midnight Man brought Samuels and the statue
into a location in the sewers where he had set a trap for Moon Knight.
Samuels was strung up by his feet.
(Moon Knight I#9 - BTS) - Having learned of Bushman's escape, Moon Knight relentlessly sought to locate him, following a lead (secretly the criminal employed by Bushman to lead him into a trap). Marlene called Spector (who was following the criminal in a cab at Jake Lockley) and told him of the break-in and kidnapping of Samuels, but not the theft of the statue.
Still obsessed with Bushman, Moon Knight pursued the unidentified criminal into the sewers.
Meanwhile, suspecting the thief/kidnapper's identity, Marlene confirmed this by finding the Midnight Man's cape missing.
(Moon Knight I#9) - The Midnight Man turned on a light in his
chamber as Moon Knight entered, and he watched from above before
swinging down at him. Moon Knight had only a second to see and
recognize him before he was kicked back, as Mogart noted that he was
now out to collect the most precious prize of all...Moon Knight's life.
Moon Knight landed on a number of cables, which
stopped his fall, and Mogart revealed the circumstances of his survival
and his subsequent fate. Mogart then revealed the statue of Khonshu,
which he then threw off a platform to shatter on the ground below.
The Midnight Man then pulled out a gun and began
shooting at Moon Knight, shocking him from the loss of the statue, and
Moon Knight swiftly leapt up around the platforms, dodging the gunfire.
Mogart rushed to reload, while Moon Knight struggled to get through the
cables, finally using his grappling hook to pull away the gun before
Mogart could fire anew. Moon Knight then tackled him, dodged a punch,
and then subdued his enemy with a kick and punch.
When Moon Knight demanded to know where Mogart
was keeping Samuels, Bushman then revealed his presence (and the
involvement of the criminal Moon Knight had been pursuing), slamming a
steel door on the sole entrance/exit and then blowing open the wall
Mogart had bricked shut. As the water rushed in, Samuels was dangled by
rope into the inrushing water. 
(Moon Knight I#10) - After Bushman reviewed his plot, he left the Midnight Man to die with Moon Knight and Samuels.
Mogart then turned his gun on Moon Knight, ordering him to save them or he would kill him right now. Snapped back to his senses by Mogart's voice, Moon Knight swam underwater to try to break apart some loose mortar.
Mogart panicked as Moon Knight was underwater for
an extended period of time, but finally Moon Knight opened up a weak
spot and then kicked the region open further. After Moon Knight
surfaced, Mogart assumed he had failed, but after Moon Knight noted
that he had opened a hole big enough to squeeze through, Mogart
insisted he go first. Intending to free Samuels, Moon Knight let Mogart go
first.
After Moon Knight escaped with Samuels, Mogart was nowhere to be seen.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#5 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#7: Midnight entry) - The chemicals to which Mogart had been exposed eventually gave him cancer, slowly killing him.
Learning he had terminal cancer, Mogart checked into a hospice and contacted Jeff, now 16, finally meeting his child face to face.
Mogart spent his final days, recounting his story and passing on his trade secrets to Jeff. At the end, he begged Jeff not to become a criminal.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#5 (fb) - BTS) - Wishing to become a
crime-fighter, Jeff sought to learn from and become the partner of Moon
Knight.
Training for two years before making his move. Initially, Jeff initially committed break-ins as Midnight to get Moon Knight’s attention, leaving Midnight-based clues and signing things with his father's name.
Moon Knight eventually caught up to and defeated Jeff. Learning Jeff’s true motivations, Moon Knight initially rejected his partnership request.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#7 - BTS) - After Midnight saved others from explosives, Moon Knight agreed to teach him.
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#8 - BTS) - While working with Mogart's
son, Jeff Wilde, aka Midnight, Moon Knight told the Punisher, "I guess
I figured I owed him. I killed his old man. At least three times."
Comments: Created by Doug Moench and Bill Sinkiewicz.
I would imagine that the Midnight Man's costume
is actually black, but comics frequently draw solid black as blue
because it shows detail better.
Thanks to Ron Fredricks for the cleaned up main image.
This profile was completed 8/08/2020, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Midnight Man is the father of
(Moon Knight I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Considering himself of mockery of
what he had once been, Mogart made a new home in the sewers that was a
mockery of his former mansion and collection.
The sewer chamber had a number of platforms covered with junk items he collected, and numerous cables spanned the facility like a spider-web.
Mogart bricked up the water inflow into the chamber to protect his home/collection. The Midnight Man brought Samuels and the statue
to his lair in the sewers where he had set a trap for Moon Knight.
Samuels was strung up by his feet.
(Moon Knight I#9) - The Midnight Man turned on a light in his
chamber as Moon Knight entered, and he watched from above before
swinging down at him. .
Moon Knight landed on a number of cables, which
stopped his fall, and Mogart revealed the circumstances of his survival
and his subsequent fate. Mogart then revealed the statue of Khonshu,
which he then threw off a platform to shatter on the ground below.
The Midnight Man then pulled out a gun and began
shooting at Moon Knight, shocking him from the loss of the statue, and
Moon Knight swiftly leapt up around the platforms, dodging the gunfire.
Moon Knight subdued Mogart before he could reload.
When Moon Knight demanded to know where Mogart
was keeping Samuels, Bushman then revealed his presence, slamming a
steel door on the sole entrance/exit and then blowing open the wall
Mogart had bricked shut. As the water rushed in, Samuels was dangled by
rope into the inrushing water.
(Moon Knight I#10) - Bushman left the Midnight Man to die with Moon Knight and Samuels.
Moon Knight broke apart some loose mortar below
the water's surface and allowed Mogart to escape while he freed Samuels.
images: (without ads)
Moon Knight I#3, cover (profile, fighting Moon Knight);
pg. 2 panel 3 (stealing statue);
pg. 11, panel 2 (Mogart face, full);
panel 4 (face, close-up);
pg. 13, panel 5 (mansion, exterior);
pg. 15, panel 3 (mask, obscurred by gun);
pg. 19, panel (shot in the back);
pg. 20, panel 1 (falling from mansion);
#9, pg., (sewer base);
pg. (kicking Moon Knight);
pg., panel 4 (scarred face)
Appearances:
Moon Knight I#3 (January, 1981) - Doug Moench (writer), Bill Sinkiewicz (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Moon Knight I#9-10 (July-August, 1981) - Doug Moench (writer), Bill Sinkiewicz (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#4 (September, 1989) - Charles Dixon
(writer), Russ Heath (artist), Danny Fingeroth
(editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#5 (October, 1989) - Charles Dixon
(writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Mark Farmer (inker), Danny Fingeroth
(editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#8 (Mid-November, 1989) - Charles Dixon
(writer), Sal Velluto (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Danny Fingeroth
(editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#7: Midnight entry
First posted: 09/24/2021
Last updated: 09/23/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Mogart's 
Mogart's