Nathaniel Dusk, a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

, is the titular protagonist of two four-issue-long comic-book miniseries by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. They appeared in 1984 and 1985 respectively.

Creation

Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...

wrote and

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

provided pencils for both series. McGregor has said that he based Dusk on characters played by actor

Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'' ( ...

. He had been watching ''

I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

'', a series starring Culp, when the idea of Nathaniel Dusk came into his mind.

Fictional character biography

Dusk operates out of New York City in the 1930s. He served in the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was hired by the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

police force. Dusk fell in love with Joyce Gulino, a beautiful young saleswoman with two children, Jennie and Anthony. Gulino's ex-husband was a gangster named Joseph Costilino. Costilino later killed his family. The 2017-2019 miniseries '' Doomsday Clock'', by

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...

and Gary Frank, portrays Nathaniel Dusk in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

as a

noir film Noir (or noire) is the French word for black. It may also refer to: Places * Noire River (Ottawa River tributary), in the Outaouais region of Quebec * Noire River, a tributary of the Yamaska River in Eastern Townships area, Quebec People * ...

character portrayed by fictional actor Carver Colman. In 1954, Carver Colman is found bludgeoned to death with the award that he won. Colman having been the first actor whom

Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...

met after traveling to the

, he served as an "anchor" for Manhattan as he adjusted to life there.''Doomsday Clock'' #10. DC Comics. (May 2019)

In other media

Television

* Dusk is the subject of several movies which are shown being advertised at a movie theater throughout the third season of '' Stargirl''.

Collected editions

* ''DC Through the 80s: The Experiments'' (''Nathaniel Dusk'' #1, 504 pages, May 2021, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusk, Nathaniel 1984 comics debuts Characters created by Don McGregor Characters created by Gene Colan Comics characters introduced in 1984 DC Comics titles Detective comics Fictional private investigators