CGC Registry

Of Angels and Men


Set Type: Midnight Nation (Complete)
Owner: Qalyar
Last Modified: 5/6/2021
Views: 25

Award Time Rank: 1
Award Time Score: 477


Set Description

J. Michael Straczynski was having a pretty good run as a comic book writer. The adaptation of his acclaimed TV series, Babylon 5, was well-received (if uneven). After challenges with DC's editorial policies, he moved to Top Cow and was given his own Joe's Comics imprint for Rising Stars, his debut original-to-comics series. That sold pretty well, and in 2000, he followed it with this title. Discussions of Midnight Nation often focus on the religious aspects of the story. And, yes, the Biblical Lazarus is a main character. There are angels. There's... the Other Guy. But this isn't a strictly religious story, anymore than Hellblazer is. Or TV's Supernatural. It's a story about heroism and self-discovery and love and sacrifice and of the dangers posed when our society forgets the least of us. JMS has repeatedly described it as the favorite of all his comic book work. I'm inclined to agree. These days, of course, everyone wants to know about the chances for adaptations. It would make an excellent miniseries, I think, and was licensed for one circa 2016. But that didn't happen. Some Spider-Man missteps have taken a bit of the shine off JMS's comic-writing star, but perhaps someday? In the meantime, this early 2000s book escaped the worst excesses of 90s Image. There are a few limited print foils, a couple reprints, and an early precursor of the modern store exclusive, but no holofoil jazz or other 90s gimmicks. The core series itself struggles to stay out of dollar bins, and most of the variants can be picked up for a few bucks. So, why go through the expense of slabbing these? First, I'm just a big fan. I bought the full run out of the Diamond boxes at the comic shop I worked in at the time, and I've recommended it to many others over the years. One of those was a good friend, several years back now. It was her first introduction to the comic book as a storytelling medium, and although she'd eventually read quite a few others, Midnight Nation remained one of her favorites. Sadly, cancer took her well before her time. This set, which I do someday hope to have as 9.8s across the board, is for her... and me, and all the other good memories with friends that I associate with this title. And because it deserves to be better than forgotten dollar box dreck. I am more than certain I'll never be able to recoup the costs of building this set. But that was never the point anyway.

comic_category_sm 2021
Slot DescriptionThe Comics Registry IDComic GradeScore Updated
Midnight Nation 1/2 2138810008 9.6 20 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1/2 2138810009 9.4 15 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1/2 3717436014 9.4 15 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1 2138810010 9.6 20 4/27/2021
Midnight Nation 1 Dynamic Forces Blue Foil Edition 0352975016 9.8 32 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1 Dynamic Forces Edition 2138810014 9.8 32 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1 Dynamic Forces European Edition 2138810015 9.4 12 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1 Dynamic Forces Gold Foil Edition 0016214004 9.8 32 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 1 Variant Cover 2138810011 9.4 12 5/6/2021
Midnight Nation 1 Second Printing 2138810012 9.8 32 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 2 No Comic    
Midnight Nation 2 Pink Foil Edition 2138810013 9.4 9 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 3 3717436015 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 4 2138810016 9.6 15 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 5 2138810017 9.8 24 1/5/2021
Midnight Nation 6 3717436016 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 7 2138810018 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 8 3717436017 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 9 3717436018 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 10 No Comic    
Midnight Nation 11 2138810019 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Midnight Nation 12 3717436019 9.6 15 11/12/2020
Top Cow Classics 1 3717436020 9.8 24 11/12/2020
Top Cow Classics in Black & White: Midnight Nation 1 Convention Edition 2138810020 9.8 24 11/12/2020

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