Question (comics)
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The Question is an American comic book superhero. Created by Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967). Originally created for Charlton Comics, he was acquired by DC Comics and has been incorporated into the DC Universe.
The Question is one of the more philosophically complex superheroes. As a tireless opponent of societal corruption, the Question expounded Ditko's belief in Objectivism, during his career as a minor Charlton hero (much like Ditko’s later creation, Mr. A). In an acclaimed 1987-90 solo series from DC, the character developed a Zen-like philosophy.
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[edit] Fictional biography (Charlton Comics)
Based in Hub City, Vic Sage made his mark as a highly outspoken and aggressive investigative journalist with a reputation for obnoxiousness. Not long after starting his TV appearances, he began to investigate a Dr. Arby Twain.
Sage was approached by a scientist named Aristotle Rodor, who had previously been Sage's professor, and Rodor told Sage about an artificial skin called Pseudoderm he co-developed with Dr. Twain. Pseudoderm was intended to work as an applied skin-like bandage with the help of a bonding gas, but had an unforeseen toxicity which was fatal when applied to open wounds. Rodor and Twain agreed to abandon the project and parted ways, but Professor Rodor discovered that Dr. Twain had decided to proceed with an illegal sale of the invention to Third World nations, regardless of the risk to human health.
Sage resolved to stop him but had no way of going after Dr. Twain without exposing himself. Rodor suggested that Sage use a mask made of Pseudoderm to cover his famous features. Armed with information, and more importantly a disguise, Sage eventually caught up with Dr. Twain, stopping the transaction and extracting a confession, and then leaving Twain bound in Pseudoderm in an ironic twist. On television, Sage reported on Dr. Twain's illegal activities.
Sage decided that this new identity, partially inspired by The Spirit, would be useful for future investigations, and partnered with Professor Rodor, who supplied the Pseudoderm and eventually modified the bonding gas to change the color of Sage's hair and clothing. The two men became good friends, with Sage affectionately referring to Rodor as "Tot".
[edit] Fictional biography (DC Comics)
The Charlton characters were acquired by DC Comics after the former company went out of business in 1986. DC finally gave the Question his own acclaimed solo series in 1987, which was written by Dennis O'Neil and primarily drawn by Denys Cowan. The series was published for thirty-six issues, two annuals, and five "Quarterly" specials. In Question #1, the Question was defeated in personal combat first by the martial arts mercenary, Lady Shiva, beaten near to death by the hiring villain's thugs, shot in the head with a pellet gun, and thrown into the river to drown. Lady Shiva then rescued him for reasons of her own and gave him directions to meet Richard Dragon as soon as he recovered enough to get out of bed. Once there, Sage learned both martial arts and eastern philosophy. When he returned to the city, he resumed his journalist and superhero careers with adventures that tended to illustrate various philosophic points. [1] To further illustrate those ideas, Dennis O'Neil had a reading recommendation in the letters page of each issue.
In the O'Neil ongoing series, Victor Sage is an investigative reporter for the news station KBEL in Hub City, who uses the identity of the Question to get the answers his civilian identity cannot. Unlike other vigilante superheroes, O'Neil's Question is primarily focused on the politics of his city, and rather than hunting down the perpetrators of petty theft, he tends to fight the corrupt government of Hub City. O'Neil's Hub City is noted as being "synonymous with venality, corruption, and violence", perhaps even outranking Gotham City as the most dismal city in the DC Universe. Despite the impoverished and scandalous nature of Hub City, O'Neil insisted repeatedly that it was based on an actual US city, though he always refused to comment on which one that might be.
For the majority of the series, he is covertly assisting the goodhearted Myra Fermin win the seat of Mayor. His interest in Myra extends beyond admiration, as the two shared a relationship before his near-death experience with Lady Shiva, and his training under Richard Dragon. Upon his return he discovered that she had married the corrupt drunkard, Mayor Wesley Fermin. Despite losing the election by one vote, Myra's competition was found dead as a result of what was called "the worst tornado in history." At her victory speech, her husband Wesley shot her for supporting what he believed to be Communist beliefs, putting her into a coma and sending Hub City further into chaos. Sage donned the guise of the Question, acting as the city’s only form of justice for a short while, before the Mayor woke from her condition. The gang warfare in the weeks following the election led Sage to Lady Shiva, first as a combatant, and then enlisting her help as an ally of sorts to get in a position to talk to the gang-leaders. As Myra adjusted into her role as Mayor of Hub City, she and Sage began to rekindle their relationship, although Myra told Sage that she would not act on her feelings until she left office. Despite their long-term friendship, she never connected that Sage and “the man without a face” were one and the same until the very end of his time at Hub City.
O’Neil’s Question is also very conflicted on how far to go in enforcing justice, often feeling tempted to kill. He resisted this temptation during his time in Hub City, realizing that part of his desire to go so far is just to see what it feels like to take a life. His relationship with his mentor, Aristotle Rodor, is one of many things that keep him from going over the edge and back towards the darkness he had shown in his youth on the streets of Hub City.
Eventually, during a massive hallucinogenic trip, his subconscious told him through his mother that he had to leave Hub City to ever be able to live happily. Around the same time Richard Dragon came to see Victor as he had sensed that he was on the verge of a major turning point in his life, and convinced him that living in Hub City was killing him. In an agreement with Richard, Lady Shiva arrives with a helicopter to usher The Question and Aristotle Rodor away, at which point she decides to stay in Hub City and embrace the chaos. He nearly convinces Myra to come with him and escape the chaos of the city, but she is unable to leave. She leaves her only daughter, Jackie, and wanders back to the city alone to meet her duties as Mayor and do her best to stand for what she believes in.
After leaving Hub City, Vic takes Jackie with him to South America, hoping to rid himself of his "No Face" alter ego and find a land free of the clutter and corruption that filled Hub City. However, this was not fated to last for Vic as he quickly gets drawn into a drug war which ultimately forces him to kill a man in order to save Jackie's life. This marks a major turning point in the Question's career as he thinks to himself that he didn't feel anything and would kill again if needed. Though it is not entirely clear what the Question's current view is on murder, he kills again in the 1991 Brave and the Bold mini-series and the 2005 Question mini-series.
The Question Annual #2 retroactively altered the character's origin by revealing that Victor Sage was originally Charles Victor Szasz, an orphan who had a reputation as a troublemaker. Szasz prided himself in defiantly enduring the physical abuse of the Catholic orphanage where he was housed. He eventually managed to get into college where he studied journalism. However, his higher learning did not mellow his violent tendencies, such as when he beat up his pusher for giving him LSD which caused the frightening experience of doubting his own senses under its influence.
The 2005 Question mini-series suggested that the Question's long experience and practice with meditation had led him into shamanic trances, and later into a more permanent state of shamanic awareness, in which he was able to interpret coincidences and thus "talk to the city." In this state, he was also able to sense chi, or life force. He is now able to "walk in two worlds" for an increased awareness of his surroundings and of any disturbances in a city's natural order.
[edit] 52
Currently, The Question is appearing in DC's expansive weekly series, 52 as the protector of Gotham City while Batman disappears for a year following the events of Infinite Crisis. The Question's storyline surrounds his partnership with ex-Gotham police detective Renee Montoya and an investigation into an invasion of Gotham by Intergang. A sub-plot is the appearance of a new Batwoman in Gotham. Having gone to Khandaq to further investigate Intergang, Montoya and The Question are arrested by the local authorities (only to escape the following week). While in hiding Montoya figures out that Intergang is planning on bombing Black Adam and Isis' wedding. She and The Question make it there on time and are able to avert the threat. Awarded the Order of the Crescent medal from Black Adam, he gains his help in his quest against Intergang. His advanced investigative skills finally lead Black Adam and Isis in the Intergang lair in Khandaq, where they manage to free some kidnapped children (even Amon Tomaz, Isis' brother) from being brainwashed into Intergang operatives. They then go separate again their ways, with Renee and Question travelling to Nanda Parbat to train with Richard Dragon. There it is revealed that Question is dying of cancer and has been training Montoya as his replacement. After returning to Gotham to save Kate Kane, the Question is forced to enter hospice care at Kate's.
The story is ongoing.
[edit] Equipment
The Question's mask is made from Pseudoderm, a substance made by Doctor Aristotle Rodor using technology lifted from an old Batman foe named Bart Magan (Dr. No Face) and Gingold Extract.
The Question's specialized belt-buckle is similar to that of the Spider-Man villain Chameleon. In his initial appearances, which were drawn by Ditko, the Chameleon had used a device in a belt buckle which emitted a transformation-enhancing gas. It is possible that Ditko used that as inspiration for the Question.
[edit] Homages and other versions
- The Question's appearance — ordinary clothes, fedora, and a face with no eyes, nose or mouth — may have been inspired by the Dick Tracy villain The Blank, who appeared in the 1930s.
- The Question was featured in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again as a right-wing, anti-government conspirator. This version of Sage—a nod to Ditko and Alan Moore (see below) —is Randian and preachy, at one point going on television for a series of humorous "Crossfire"-style exchanges with the liberal archer Green Arrow. Additionally, he is shown as a technophobe monitoring the dark conspiracy Batman and his allies must face.
- In the mid 1980s, renowned writer Alan Moore had intended to devote a miniseries to the Charlton characters recently purchased by DC Comics, thrusting them into actual Cold War history -- Hiroshima, Cuba, Vietnam, Nixon, etc. -- and the geopolitical and social context of a world where costumed heroes had actually existed in real life, as they did in the comics, since the Depression. DC liked the idea, but had its own plans for the Charlton stable. So Moore went back and created protagonists patterned after the Charlton "Action Heroes" of the 1960s. The Question became Rorschach, a merciless trenchcoat-and-fedora-clad vigilante who takes moral absolutism to its most violent extreme. Rorschach was widely regarded as the standout character in the classic comic book series Watchmen, created by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. [citation needed]
- The Question #17 (1988) had Vic Sage read Watchmen; He initially sees Rorschach as being quite cool, but gets beaten up after trying to emulate his brutal style of justice. He concludes that 'Rorschach sucks'. [2]
- Q, an enigmatic character from the fighting game Street Fighter III, is similar to the Question.
[edit] Other media
The Question has been a major recurring character in the animated television series Justice League Unlimited, his voice is performed by Jeffrey Combs. Like his comic book counterpart, he uses a special mask (bonded to his face by a gaseous chemical) to conceal his identity. He is portrayed as a conspiracy theorist, a blend of Rorschach from the Watchmen comics and Fox Mulder of the popular X-Files series. His character design is similar to the O'Neil/Cowan revamp of the character.
The Question of the DC Animated Universe is a completely obsessive, darkly comic loner — skeptical, paranoid, antagonistic and unpredictable, often given to believing in various odd conspiracy theories. He's been shown humming pop songs while breaking into a building, claims the motives and purpose of aglets (the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces) are "sinister", and believes in ominous links between boy bands and global warming, the Girl Scouts and the crop circle phenomenon, and fluoridated toothpaste and spy satellites. He also believes there was a literal 'magic bullet', forged by Illuminati mystics to hide 'the truth'. In recent investigations, he also discovered that Baskin-Robbins in fact has thirty-two flavors of ice cream, and is concealing the thirty-second for dubious reasons. He expressed a belief that these and many other events are tied to a single, vast conspiracy by a hidden cabal dating back to ancient Egypt, which has supposedly ruled the world from the shadows for millenia, aided by the common man's ignorance of it.
After the events of "Fearful Symmetry", in which Supergirl encounters her clone Galatea, Batman assigns Question to investigate and find out whatever he can about those responsible, much to the chagrin of the other League founders.
In the episode "Double Date", the Huntress (recently kicked out of the League for making a failed attempt on the life of Steven Mandragora, the mob boss who killed her parents), appeals to Question for help tracking him down, in exchange for information she claims to have on Cadmus. Question agreed, even though he knew for a fact she never had any info on Cadmus in the first place. After being persued by Green Arrow and Black Canary to the dock where Mandragora was meeting his infant son, Question talked Huntress down from killing Mandragora, and she instead pinned him under rubble to await imprisonment. When asked why he helped her, having known the outcome of the encounter far in advance, Question admits to Huntress that he did so because he liked her. In response, Huntress drags him away, presumably to show her appreciation; the two would continue to be an item throughout the rest of the series. (Huntress dubs him with the nickname "Q".)
In the episode "Question Authority", the Question discovers Lex Luthor's plot to instigate a full-scale war between the government and the Justice League. He also learns of an alternate universe (seen in the Justice League story "A Better World") in which Luthor becomes president, has the Flash killed, and is murdered in the Oval Office by Superman as revenge, an act that eventually leads to the Justice League taking over the world. Convinced that the history in this alternate universe was in fact a predestined time loop that would eventually repeat itself, the Question decides the only way to derail this possible future permanently is to kill Luthor himself, before he can become president and before Superman can kill him. Furthermore, he was confident that his reputation for being a paranoid 'crackpot' would deflect any suspicion that he was doing this on the orders of the Justice League, allowing the League and Superman's legacy to survive. However, Luthor, now augmented with super strength thanks to Brainiac (who, in the Superman episode "Ghost in the Machine", had planted a nanotech copy of his programming in Luthor's body), delivers a savage beating to the faceless vigilante while admitting that his presidential campaign was nothing but an expensive ruse to keep Superman on edge, "a small part of a much grander scheme." Question is turned over to Project Cadmus for interrogation by Dr. Moon. After almost a week of torture without caving in, he is rescued by Huntress and Superman—despite the resistance of Captain Atom, who has been recommissioned by the government—and transported to the JL Watchtower for treatment. Although still weak from the torture when the Ultimen invaded the Watchtower, Question was able to subdue one of the clones.
"Question Authority" has several homages to Ditko's Objectivist beliefs, as well as to Rorschach, Alan Moore's infamous Question pastiche. As Sage recoils from the information he's downloaded from the Cadmus files, he begins to speak in monotone sentence fragments, as Rorschach did. ("Not alternate reality," he quivers. "Time loop.") In the same episode, Huntress' comments indicate that, while spending days at his research, Question has neglected everything else, including his personal hygene-- another Rorschach trait. In his room on the Justice League satellite is a poster warning of a global fluoridation conspiracy, a reference to the last page of Watchmen, which in turn references Kubrick's black comedy about nuclear war, Dr. Strangelove, in which a mad general believes that it is part of a Communist plot.
Later, as Question confronts Luthor at his penthouse office, he declares that "A is A ... and no matter what reality he calls home, Luthor is Luthor." This statement is an homage to Ditko's other Objectivist mystery man, Mr. A, whose name comes from "A is A", an algebraic statement of the Law of Identity. Additionally, in the episodes follow-up "Flashpoint" shows the injured Sage without his mask, with bruises and injuries to his face similar to those suffered by Rorschach during his capture and imprisonment by the police.
The Question makes cameos in the episodes "Flashpoint", "Panic in the Sky" and "Grudge Match", as well as the series finale "Destroyer". In the battle between the League and the forces of Apokolips, he is seen fighting off Darkseid's Parademons by running them over with his car. His last appearance, in the same episode, is running down the steps of the Metro Tower alongside his fellow Ditko/Charlton era Leaguers.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Appearances
- Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967) to #5 (November 1968)
- Mysterious Suspense #1 (October 1968): "What Makes a Hero?"
- Charlton Bullseye Vol. 1 #5 (July-September 1976) [fanzine]
- Charlton Bullseye Vol. 2 #1 (June 1981)
- Americomics Special #1 (August 1983)
- Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 (September 1985)
- Blue Beetle Vol. 2 #4 (September 1986) to #7 (December 1986)
- Question #1 (February 1987) - Question #36 (March 1990)
- Detective Comics Annual #1 (1988) "Fables, Part I"
- Question Annual #1 (1988) "Fables, Part III"
- Question Annual #2 (1989)
- Green Arrow Annual #3 (1990): "A Walk in the Wind"
- Question Quarterly #1 (Autumn 1990) - Question Quarterly #4 (Winter 1991)
- Question Quarterly #1 (Autumn 1990): "Any Man's Death"
- Question Quarterly #2 (Summer 1991): "Gomorrah Homecoming"
- Question Quarterly #3 (Autumn 1991): "Hell In Hub City"
- Question Quarterly #4 (Winter 1991): "Waiting For Phil"
- Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #2 (January 1992): "Chapter Two"
- Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #3 (February 1992): "Chapter Three"
- Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #4 (March 1992): "Chapter Four"
- Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #5 (May 1992): "Chapter Five"
- Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #6 (June 1992): "Chapter Six"
- Question Quarterly #5 (Spring 1992): "Outrage"
- Showcase '95 #3/3 (March 1995): "Homecoming"
- Azrael #10 (November 1995): "Arena" [As Vic Sage]
- Azrael Plus #1 (1996): "The Anger, the Terror & the Question"
- Question Returns #1 (February 1997)
- Steel #38 (May 1997): "The Gambler"
- Batman Chronicles #15/3 (Winter 1998): "An Answer In the Rubble"
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #1 (September 1999): "Avatar Rising"
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #2 (October 1999): "The Way of the Warrior"
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #3 (November 1999): "The Past is Always Present"
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #4 (December 1999): "Martial L.A.W."
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #5 (January 2000): "To Serve And Protect"
- L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #6 (February 2000): "The L.A.W. ...And Order!"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1 (June 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 1"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #2 (July 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 2"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #3 (August 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 3"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #4 (September 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 4"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #5 (October 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 5"
- Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #6 (November 2000): "Cry for Blood, Part 6"
- The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2002)
- The Question #1 (January 2005) - #6 (June 2005)
- Justice League Unlimited #8 (June 2005): "The island"
- Solo #5 (August 2005): "The Question: 'Al Kufr'- The Infidel"
- 52 Week 1-2, Week 4, Week 9, Week 11, Week 12, Week 14, Week 16 (May 2006-)
- Helltown (Novelization by Denny O'Neil, 2006)
[edit] Cameos
- Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (October 1985)
- Guy Gardner: Warrior #29 (March 1995): "It's My Party And I'll Fight If I Want To"
- Detective Comics #723 (July 1998): "Fight Back To Gotham"
- Green Arrow Vol. 3 #16 (October 2002): "The Archer's Quest Chapter One: Photograph" [Flashback]
- Batman: Gotham Knights #38 (April 2003): "Knight Moves, Part One: The Queen is Dead"
- Batman: Gotham Knights #39 (May 2003): "Knight Moves, Part Two: Castling"
[edit] External links
- VicSage.com: Fan site with forums, galleries, articles, and news related to The Question
- International Catalog of Superheroes entry on the Question
- The Unofficial Question Biography
- Index to the Earth-4 adventures of the Charlton Action Heroes
- Article on the history/legacy of the Question from the Comics 101 article series by Scott Tipton.
- Alan Moore interview at TwoMorrows that discusses (among other things) the Question, Steve Ditko, and Charlton Comics.
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | L.A.W. members | Charlton Comics superheroes | DC Comics heroes, non-superpowered | DC Comics martial artists | DC Comics titles | Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional conspiracy theorists | Fictional detectives | Fictional reporters | Fictional vigilantes | Fictional atheists | 1967 introductions
