{{Supercbbox| <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
image=225px
|caption=Cover to the collected edition.
|comic_color=background:#80ff80
|publisher=Joe's Comics
|writers=J. Michael Straczynski
|pencillers=Gary Frank
|inkers=Johnathan Sibal<br>Jason Gorder<br>Jay Leisten
|colorists=Matt Milla
|title=Midnight Nation
|format=limited series
|past_current_color=background:#ff9275
|issues=12 regular issues, one special (#½)
|date=October 2000 &ndash;<br>July 2002
|schedule=Monthly
|main_char_team=David Grey<BR>Laurel
|}}

'''''Midnight Nation''''' is a religious-themed twelve issue 2000 by Top Cow Productions under their now defunct Joe's Comics imprint. It is about a man who is killed, in a sense, and is on a journey to save his soul.

==Synopsis==

Los Angeles police officer Lieutenant '''David Grey''' encounters a brutal murder. When he tracks down a possible lead he encounters strange, goblin-like men who attack him. When he awakes, Grey finds himself in a hospital, and those around him have become translucent and can no longer see him. It is explained to him by his mysterious guide '''Laurel''' that he has lost his soul and he has now been plunged into a shadow world that runs parallel to our own. Here is where all the abandoned and forgotten people and things go. 

David is told that without his soul he will slowly become like "the Walkers", the monstrous people he encountered who attacked him. David must travel on foot to New York where "'''The Other Guy'''" (who is essentially Satan) holds his soul. Laurel has led many others in David's position before but none have ever made it.

Along the way David encounters various tests, such as fighting these Walkers, meeting his future self, slowly losing his mind and his sense of self, and finally falling in love with Laurel, who is not in fact human. He also saves his ex-wife (who had walked out on him years earlier due to his unwavering dedication to his job as a police officer) from the Walkers. This had already caused him to lose hope even before his soul was stolen, and it wasn't until he met Laurel that he felt a reason to live once again. He also encounters an enigmatic old man who seems immune to the Walkers attacks and has no fear of them, and is able to drive them away in terror. It is later revealed that he is Lazarus, and has been waiting since Jesus told him to do so for him to return. He is currently watched over by an angel wielding a flaming sword.

When David finally reaches New York, the Other Guy begins to lecture him on things such as life, hope, God, and humanity. He tells him that hope is a lie and that he intends to increase misery around the world until all of humanity becomes like the abandoned and forgotten people he met on his trip through the parallel world. When that it is done, he can recreate the world as he sees fit. He then forces David to feel all the suffering humanity has felt over its existence, which causes him to go crazy and run through the streets as one of his Walkers.

Meanwhile, Laurel has surrendered herself to the Other Guy like she always does: it is in the rules, written by God Himself, that she must follow. He asks her to rebel against God as he did, but she refuses, never giving up hope. As David runs through the streets of New York, he sees a mannequin that resembles Laurel in a shop window. He remembers his humanity and his love for Laurel and returns to Satan's lair where he finds Laurel being nailed to a circular wooden board. 

'''''Midnight Nation''''' est une série de Semic Comics.

Straczynski a réalisé une histoire finie en douze épisodes, à laquelle a été ajouté un épisode promotionnel dessiné par Michael Zulli et vendu avec le magazine ''Wizard''.

==Synopsis==
David Grey est un inspecteur de la police de Los Angeles. Il enquête sur un meurtre d'un jeune noir dans un quartier populaire, certainement un règlement de comptes entre dealers de drogue pour son chef. Sur la piste d'un certain Arlan Jaeker, Grey découvre des êtres monstrueux (les ''Walkers'' en anglais) et leur chef qui lui vole son âme. À son réveil, David découvre que les gens sont translucides, ne le voient, ni ne l'entendent. Une jeune femme lui explique qu'il est passé dans l'entre-deux-mondes (''place in between''), qu'il a un an pour reprendre son âme ou il deviendra un ''Walker'' à moins qu'elle ne le tue avant.

David et Laurel vont marcher à travers les États-Unis de cet univers dans lequel se retrouvent tous les objets et personnes qui disparaissent de la vue des gens : les marginaux, les sans domicile, etc. Leur objectif est New York où dans cet univers, un être sans nom, rebelle à l'autorité divine, en lequel on peut voir Lucifer, a installé ses quartiers afin de démontrer que Dieu s'est trompé en créant le monde tel qu'il l'a fait.

==Commentaire==
Straczynski, bien qu'athée, a utilisé de nombreux éléments du christianisme dans ''Midnight Nation'' :
* Christ l'ayant oublié sur Terre après l'avoir ressuscité,
* les discours de Lucifer sur l'imperfection du monde créé par Dieu, et ses solutions,
* la crucifixion finale qui brode autour de la notion de sacrifice.