Classic MOKF Post: Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter!!

This post first appeared in April of 2009

Ladies and gentleman--presenting the most egregiously underused supporting character of all time--Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter!!

What's so great about him? Well, first of all, he was named after a brand of carbon paper (really--ask Doug Moench!!)

Secondly, he has two nicknames--two!!

Thirdly, he is an American expatriate who just happens to be the English heavyweight full-contact karate champion, and is also a great sportsman:

Sadly, his opponent isn't so noble.

Which turns out to be a huge mistake!


Carter knows a lot about Zen physiology and binocular vision:






...or maybe he's just full of jive:

And by the way, he owns an antique shop, and needs help against mobsters running a protection racket:

He knows how to deal with the lowlife:

Oh, and he doesn't really run an antique shop, he works for the CIA, and it was all a cover to steal of bunch of French intelligence files from the Yugoslavs, but it turned out they were all about some cat Shang-Chi had already offed last issue, so it was all for nothing...there you go, that's how things rolled in MOKF.

Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter is so badass, he smokes stogies in his hospital bed, and uses the cigar to burn up his CIA ID card as a particularly badass way to resign:


Of course, then his former masters want to kill him because he "knows too much," so he ends up going to Shang for help. And they've got a great buddy act going:


And his ex-boss finds out the hard way: you DO NOT betray Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter. Ever.


And that's it. After 3 meager appearances, Rufus Carter hasn't been heard from again since 1983. Nada. Zilch.

How is that possible?!?

How can it be that this man hasn't made zillions of guest appearances, and had his own limited series? Hell, a continuing series?!? Where the hell is Ed Brubaker when you need him--Rufus Carter is right up his alley!!

And why in Zod's name hasn't somebody optioned him for a film?!? For heaven's sake, movie studios will pay big bucks to buy an option on one of Mark Millar's cocktail napkin scribblings before a single issue is even published, and no one wants to make Super-Midnight: The Rufus Carter Story?!?!?! Who wouldn't want to see a film about a one-eyed American English karate champ who runs an antique shop but is really a CIA operative but is now a man on the run from his own government while going freelance to help those in need? What's wrong with this country?!?!?!

OK...gotta calm down...all I'm sayin' is, there's a hell of an opportunity to do something with one hell of a great character who's been neglected for 2 and a half decades.

So hop to it, Marvel.

PS. Nobody draws better moustaches than Mike Zeck. I'm just sayin'.

Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter appears in Master of Kung Fu #96 & 99 (1981) by Doug Moench and Mike Zeck and Gene Day, as well as #120 (not pictured here because it's Zeck Week) by Moench and Day. C'mon, Brubaker? Van Lente? Somebody??? Use this guy!!

Manic Monday Bonus--Pilot For A New Series??

From the letters column in Tales To Astonish #98 (1967):

Well, it's long since settled that former hobo Namor's full name is indeed Namor McKenzie. So, Marlon Fields of Joplin, MO 1, Stan 0.

But what's more important, here, I think, is one phrase: "Odin Jones."

Man, that rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Odin Jones...Odin Jones....

Can't you just see it? Odin, amnesiac and exiled from Asgard, sets up shop as a private eye (appropriate for a guy who has one eye, and is all-knowing).

Working the dark back streets of the Marvel Universe to help those in need while seeking clues to his own identity, Odin Jones could be the new Jessica Jones (except, of course, Bendis won't get to ruin him by hitching to another, more popular character, making him sorta kinda join the Avengers (but not really), and spending 100% of his on-panel time being a worried mother).

Then, about eight issues on or so, Odin Jones could meet...Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter!! Because who's a better team-up for an amnesiac All-Father working the seamier side of Marvel than a one-eyed American English karate champ who runs an antique shop but is really a CIA operative but is now a man on the run from his own government while going freelance to help those in need?

And so popular would the team-up be, that soon they'd join in a permanent buddy team Power Man/Iron Fist type of arrangement. The book would be renamed "One-Eyes," as two one-eyed private dicks prove that one eye is better than two...when it's their eyes!! Odin Jones and Rufus Super Midnight Carter--one's an exiled god, one's a kick-boxing ex-CIA agent on the run--together they fight crime!!

Man, this so needs to become a Marvel NOW! book...

Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter

Ladies and gentleman--presenting the most egregiously underused supporting character of all time--Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter!!

What's so great about him? Well, first of all, he was named after a brand of carbon paper (really--ask Doug Moench!!)

Secondly, he has two nicknames--two!!

Thirdly, he is an American expatriate who just happens to be the English heavyweight full-contact karate champion, and is also a great sportsman:

Sadly, his opponent isn't so noble.

Which turns out to be a huge mistake!


Carter knows a lot about Zen physiology and binocular vision:






...or maybe he's just full of jive:

And by the way, he owns an antique shop, and needs help against mobsters running a protection racket:

He knows how to deal with the lowlife:

Oh, and he doesn't really run an antique shop, he works for the CIA, and it was all a cover to steal of bunch of French intelligence files from the Yugoslavs, but it turned out they were all about some cat Shang-Chi had already offed last issue, so it was all for nothing...there you go, that's how things rolled in MOKF.

Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter is so badass, he smokes stogies in his hospital bed, and uses the cigar to burn up his CIA ID card as a particularly badass way to resign:


Of course, then his former masters want to kill him because he "knows too much," so he ends up going to Shang for help. And they've got a great buddy act going:


And his ex-boss finds out the hard way: you DO NOT betray Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter. Ever.


And that's it. After 3 meager appearances, Rufus Carter hasn't been heard from again since 1983. Nada. Zilch.

How is that possible?!?

How can it be that this man hasn't made zillions of guest appearances, and had his own limited series? Hell, a continuing series?!? Where the hell is Ed Brubaker when you need him--Rufus Carter is right up his alley!!

And why in Zod's name hasn't somebody optioned him for a film?!? For heaven's sake, movie studios will pay big bucks to buy an option on one of Mark Millar's cocktail napkin scribblings before a single issue is even published, and no one wants to make Super-Midnight: The Rufus Carter Story?!?!?! Who wouldn't want to see a film about a one-eyed American English karate champ who runs an antique shop but is really a CIA operative but is now a man on the run from his own government while going freelance to help those in need? What's wrong with this country?!?!?!

OK...gotta calm down...all I'm sayin' is, there's a hell of an opportunity to do something with one hell of a great character who's been neglected for 2 and a half decades.

So hop to it, Marvel.

PS. Nobody draws better moustaches than Mike Zeck. I'm just sayin'.

Rufus "One Eye" "Super Midnight" Carter appears in Master of Kung Fu #96 & 99 (1981) by Doug Moench and Mike Zeck and Gene Day, as well as #120 (not pictured here because it's Zeck Week) by Moench and Day. C'mon, Brubaker? Van Lente? Somebody??? Use this guy!!