"It started with the gangs. Nobody could pick 'em out of a lineup 'cause of the damn masks, so a few of us cops decided to mask up, too — finish what the law couldn't..."

Moving to New York City from his grandfather's farm at twelve, the young Hollis J. Mason grew up loving the pulp adventures of the Shadow and Doc Savage. While he was a beat cop by day, he would become "Nite Owl" at night and eventually joined the "Justice League"-esque Minutemen. Mason was an "old school" crime-fighter, a real "Boy Scout" in the eyes of his fellow masks. He retired to his family auto business as a mechanic and went public with his identity, published his best-selling autobiography, Under the Hood. He was later contacted by a young man named Daniel Dreiberg who wanted to carry on the name and, thusly, became "Nite Owl II".

"Golden Age" Nite Owl ranks as my second favourite character in Watchmen after Rorschach. He's really the most "decent", "normal", and "balanced" characters in the novel — even more than Dan actually. 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 seems to be the voice of reason in the world of the costumed adventurers, although he does have a light-hearted, self-deprecating sense of humour that makes him so amusing and endearing to me. I love his "Boy Wonder" outfit, with his domino mask, leotard shirt, flesh-coloured tights, and leather undies! It's so wonderfully tacky — and he knew it — and I still love it. I used the outfit seen in the film, with the little ears, which make me "squee"...

There's not enough Minutemen art on DA anyway!

Medium - 2B mechanical pencil.

Nite Owl (I) © DC Comics.