The Question

DANGER: THINKING AHEAD!



Let me start by saying that I am quite possibly the biggest Question fan ever! And that I also was a fan long before the JLU cartoon "made" him cool. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED JLU. That depiction was more like Alan Moore's version of The Question, Rorschach. Which if your not in the know, Rorschach is actually a combo between the original concept of The Question, Charles Victor Szasz, and his objectivism, and Mr. A with his conspiracy-theorist persona. And isn't it odd how Victor Zsasz, Batman villain/serial killer, is the original name with reversed "S"'s & "Z"'s. Quite possibly a nod to the bleak philosophy that is objectivism with that of Zsasz and his "philosophy" about people are "zombies". Getting a little off track. Hmm...ah, well. But, I digress. Heh.The Question's first appearance started out as a back-story in the 4th series of Blue Beetle, first using Ted Kord, in Charlton. (Side note: Anyone notice how in 52, The Question was killed on his 4oth Anniversary as a literary character. Ya...anways...) Charlton was acquired by DC and begain integrating the characters into their universe. Ted Kord got his series and eventually so did Captain Atom, which was a fantastic series. Anyways, Denny O'Neil was the one to take on the character with nothing less than genius on his part.

In '87, Denny "killed" the concept of Charles Victor Szazs to stray from Objectivism. Now this is where I loved the place he took it. He started adding philosophy and theology to the character, which in turn called him from then on, Vic Sage. It really showed the transition as a conceptual evolution rather than just the physical, figurative, and persona's transformation of The Question. It delved into Zen and the power of one's mind in the face of problems/obstacles in life. And he did this somehow in a non-trite way. The stories would show him meditating to show that he was using his head to solve the crimes or deal with the situations at hand. From quitting smoking to taking down corruption in all aspects of his beloved Hub City.It brought me into the film-noir genre of comics as well. It really felt like a crime-drama with over-acting and over-emoting movement through Denys Cowan excellent artwork. It's a shame he didn't do more for DC. Whom has a pretty distinguishable art-hand, like Sam Keith or Tim Sale. Through the Dennis/Denys combo, the ominous atmosphere was mystery-perfect. The way every person in the book was portrayed was kept in the realm of realism. Like, Vic was a learned martial-artists, yet if he has to take on more than two guys he would have some trouble. Buddha forbid if they have a weapon. Even black-belts in the real world would have trouble with more than one person. Also, with the realism, The Question's villains in Denny's series are more the world we live in. He faces the horrible people that we as real people deal with: drug-dealers, pedophiles, murderers,rapists,corruption in the judicial system, and all aspects of The System. This series will go down as the most definitive Question series of all time. O'Neil's and Cowan's run is now being collected into trade-paperback. So, if you consider yourself a fan of graphic novels, whether you're into superhero stuff or not, I can sincerely say you are missing out if you haven't read this graphic novel. (The Question, Vic Sage R.I.P. 1967-2007)