Nite Owl

Superherobox|

caption=Daniel Dreiberg as Nite Owl
Art by Dave Gibbons
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=Nite Owl
real_name=- Hollis J. Mason
- Daniel Dreiberg
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Watchmen" #1 (1986)
creators=Alan Moore (story) and Dave Gibbons (art), based on Blue Beetle, created by Steve Ditko
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status=Active
alliances=(Mason)
Minutemen
(Dreiberg)
Crimebusters
partners=(Dreiberg)
Rorschach
aliases=(Dreiberg)
Sam Hollis
relatives=Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre II, wife)
powers=(Mason)
Athlete-level strength, skilled hand-to-hand combatant, detective skills.
(Dreiberg)
Has technical knowledge and employs several high-tech gadgets and weaponry, notably including a flying/submarine owl shaped ship (that he affectionately refers to as "Archie"), good fighting prowess, quite intelligent.
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Nite Owl is the name of two fictional characters in the comic book limited series "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics. They are modified versions of the various Blue Beetle characters created for Fox Feature Syndicate and later sold to Charlton Comics, with the second Nite Owl bearing certain similarities in appearance to Batman and the first bearing a resemblance to The Phantom. The second Nite Owl made it to number 115 on Wizard's Top 200 Comic Book Characters list.

Hollis J. Mason

Fictional character history

Hollis J. Mason (1916-1985)
At the age of 12 his father left the family farm in Montana and moved to New York City, working at Moe Vernon's Auto Repairs.

Starting out as a New York City policeman in 1938, he was inspired by Action Comics' "Superman" and the real life exploits of Hooded Justice to take up the life of a vigilante. He was nicknamed "Nite Owl" for spending his evenings working out in the Police Gymnasiums as much as possible and going to bed at 9:00pm to rise for a 5:00am work out before donning his badge and uniform.

His costume was designed to free his arms and legs while protecting his chest, abdomen and head with a tough leather tunic. With the tunic hiding his hair, a domino mask concealed his identity.

He became a member of the Minutemen, a "masked adventurer" league in mid-1939. Mason was an "old school" crimefighter, a real "Boy Scout" in the eyes of Captain Metropolis. He stopped colorful criminals like the Screaming Skull and went on to fight supposed Axis operatives including Captain Axis during World War II. He retired in May, 1962 to open an auto business and write his memoir of his crime-fighting exploits, "Under the Hood". By reading "Under the Hood", Silk Spectre II later learned of the Comedian's attempted rape of her mother Silk Spectre I.

Soon after Hollis retired, Daniel Dreiberg sought out Hollis in the mid-1960s and asked if he could use the name and persona of Nite Owl to fight crime. Hollis met Daniel and was far too impressed by Daniel's technologies and ideas to deny him the mantle of Nite Owl.

Personality

Mason was quite possibly the most decent and "normal" of the masked adventurers presented in Watchmen. While many of his colleagues have psychological issues with regards to society, race, gender, sex or just simple megalomania, Mason is apparently free of these traits, and judging by the excerpts from his book, is something of a voice of reason in the world of the costumed adventurers. Both in person and in his book his words tend to be kindly and temperate, with a slight tendency towards light hearted self-deprecating humor.

He seems to be well liked by most of his teammates and to get along with most as well, despite sometimes being all too aware of their faults and flaws. His enmity seems to be saved for the Comedian, whom he never forgave for the attempted rape of Sally Jupiter, and whose brutal means of crimefighting proved too much for Mason to reconcile himself with.

Role in "Watchmen"

After Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II break Rorschach out of prison on Halloween night, the Knot-tops, led by Derf, hear of the news. Angered by it, the entire group follows the suggestion of a gang member who mistakenly believes that Mason is the same Nite Owl that had participated in the prison break. Mistaking the group for trick-or-treaters, Mason opens his door to them, and afterwards they proceed to attack en masse. Mason gets in a few solid hits but is beaten down. Ignoring the protests of some of the Knot-Tops, Derf kills Mason with the very statue that was given to him as an acknowledgment and reward for his service as a costumed adventurer.

Dan Dreiberg

Fictional character history

Born in 1945, Daniel Dreiberg relied more upon technical wizardry and tools than toughness, which set him apart from his fellow costumed adventurers. Still, he has demonstrated more than adequate skills when defending himself. All of his gadgets and costumes are based on an owl theme. He uses an owl-shaped flying vehicle nicknamed the "Owlship" or "Archie" (Archimedes, after Merlin's pet owl), equipped with a variety of offensive and defensive devices, such as flamethrowers and "screechers" -devices capable of producing a sharp screech-like sound.

Dreiberg's father was a banker who left him a large inheritance, which he used to design and build his crime-fighting gear. Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, was his hero and when he retired, Dan wrote to Mason, asking if he could carry on his name. Upon looking at his gear, Mason was too impressed to refuse, and gave Dan the greenlight to start fighting crime in the 1960s. From then, the two men became friends, and met every Saturday at Hollis' house.

In 1965, Dreiberg (as Nite Owl) successfully debuted and teamed up with fellow costumed adventurer Rorschach to take on organized crime. He supported the idea of costumed vigilantes forming a group to fight crime strategically, but his partner, Rorschach, and the Comedian rejected the idea. Having already come to understand that his expensive activities were too limited in scope to make any real difference, Dreiberg retired after the passing of the Keene Act on August 3, 1977, although in 1985 (when the story takes place) he seems to regret his decision to give up crime fighting. Rorschach would later say regarding his retirement, "No staying power." When not fighting crime, Dreiberg mastered in aeronautics and zoology at Harvard University, contributing scholarly articles to ornithological journals after his retirement in 1977.

His owl-ship represents advancements in propulsion, nautical engineering, and aerodynamics that would have exceeded the level of technological innovation known at that time, suggesting that Dreiberg was a genius, though as a costumed adventurer he would have had access to fellow hero Dr. Manhattan's nuclear technology.

Personality

Like Hollis Mason before him, Dan Dreiberg was friendly, honest, and affable. Dreiberg's psychological issues were much more subtle than those of his colleagues. The scene in which he attempts to make love to Laurie Juspeczyk reveals that Dreiberg is impotent and self-doubting while in the guise of Daniel Dreiberg. However, later on, it is revealed that he is able to function sexually at a sufficient level while donning the guise of Nite Owl. This could be interpreted as Dreiberg lacking libido, and possibly self-confidence, while assuming the identity of Daniel Dreiberg, but maintains a glorified, sexually confident, view of himself as he dons the costume of the Nite Owl. Dreiberg appears to have old fashioned tastes in music, preferring 1930-1940s Jazz like Billie Holliday to modern pop music.

Events of "Watchmen"

Dreiberg becomes romantically entangled with the second Silk Spectre, Laurie Juspeczyk, after she leaves Doctor Manhattan. He returns to vigilantism along with her which began with a heartening night out in costume where they successfully save the occupants of a burning building. The excitement of aiding the residents awakens Dreiberg's sexual feelings for Laurie and the two make passionate love following the rescue. They later break Rorschach out of prison in an attempt to stop Ozymandias' scheme to "save the world from itself." Unfortunately, the freeing of Rorschach indirectly resulted in the murder of Hollis Mason, which Dan learned of only when he and Rorschach went to interrogate suspects. Upon learning of Mason's death, Dan becomes violent, attacking the informer and loudly swearing vengeance against Mason's killers with such ferocity that Rorschach, a notorious sociopathic killer, had to restrain him. In the end, Hollis' killers (the Knot Tops) were killed along with half of New York City by Ozymandias' plot.

Dan and Rorschach travel to Ozymandias' Antarctic fortress without Silk Spectre, as she had been teleported away by Doctor Manhattan. They battle and are swiftly defeated by Ozymandias, who reveals his plan to unleash a telepathic monstrosity on New York City that would expand massive psychic waves that would kill half the city. Dan expresses the desire to stop him and is told that the events already had happened well before the conversation itself. Millions are dead, and the world's nations agree to work together to combat this new 'threat'. Reluctantly, Dan and the returned Laurie agree to keep this secret for the sake of world peace.

Rorschach leaves anyway, attempting to take Dan's vehicle back to civilization and tell the world. Unseen by the others, Doctor Manhattan attempts to stop him, but Rorschach demands Doctor Manhattan kill him rather than live with keeping such villainy a secret, to which Manhattan complies. Dan and Laurie are offered hospitality by Ozymandias, which they accept. Before leaving for another galaxy, Manhattan seems satisfied and happy at the sight of Laurie now in a relationship with Dan.

In the conclusion of the story, having been assumed to be dead in the attack, they are seen in their new identities of Sam and Sandra Hollis (in homage to the late Mason), with dyed blonde hair. They travel to California and make a brief visit to the former Silk Spectre; in which Laurie reconciles with her mother over the discovery that the Comedian was her father. Promising to visit again soon, they leave with the intent of continue their adventures in crime-fighting.

Film

*Patrick Wilson is portraying the second Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg, in the upcoming film. [http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=6056] . Although not a comics fan, Wilson enjoyed "Watchmen" upon reading it and opted to gain weight for the part, rather than wear a fatsuit. Stephen McHattie will portray the elder Nite Owl, Hollis Mason. It is not known who will play the younger Mason in the Minutemen flashbacks. During several attempts to get "Watchmen" adapted as a film, both Kevin Costner and Richard Gere were each considered for the part. John Cusack, who is an admitted fan of the graphic novel, expressed great interest in playing the role. [cite news | author=Shawn Adler | url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1562299/story.jhtml | title=John Cusack Calls Hilary Duff 'A Revelation'; Has His Eye On "Watchmen" | publisher=MTV | date=2007-06-13 | accessdate=2008-02-20]

Although Wilson's role will remain relatively faithful to his comics' counterpart, the Nite Owl costume was radically changed, because Zack Snyder wanted him to look scarier. While he retains his night vision googles, utility belt and thick cape from the comic, the brown spandex/leather bodysuit has been replaced with chain mail-type armour.

References