Justice League Unlimited the Question has a poster for Stonehenge on his wall along with all his other cryptid and conspiracy stuff which is hilarious to me. There’s no theories about Stonehenge because it was built by Europeans so to someone like the Question it would clearly be a conspiracy that there are no conspiracies about this one ancient construction.
The Question was originally a Charlton Comics character created by Steve Ditko in 1967. DC Comics bought all of Charlton Comics’ Action Heroes characters (this included the Question) in 1983, 2 years before Charlton Comics decided to close down it’s comic book publishing division.
The Question’s first appearance in the mainstream DCU was during the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series - according to the Crisis, all of the Charlton Action Heroes were inhabitants of Earth-4. After the Crisis, the Question appeared in a few issues of Blue Beetle v2 (Blue Beetle was another DC acquired Action Hero, by the way).
In 1987, the Question received his own self-titled ongoing series thanks to Dennis O'Neil (writer) and Denys Cowan (illustrator). Few people realize that O'Neil used to write for Charlton Comics in the mid-1960s. Actually, Dick Giordano (executive editor at Charlton Comics) brought O'Neil with him to DC when Giordano was offered a job at DC comics in 1968. That would probably explain why GiordanogaveO'Neil the first pick at deciding whether to write a new series about Captain Atom or the Question when DC acquired the characters from Charlton in 1983.O'Neil chose the Question over Captain Atom since he enjoyed writing street-level stories (as opposed to stories about demigods).
For the new ongoing series, O'Neil didn’t stray too far from the original Charlton Comics source material: the Question is still the faceless vigilante alter-ego of Vic Sage (an investigative journalist for Hub City), and still has the assistance of Prof Aristotle Rodor (the inventor of the binary gas that gives the question his blank face). One thing O'Neil did alter, however, is the addition of Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva into the origin of the Question. Both Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva were characters co-created byO'Neil and they first appeared in DC’s Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter (1975 - 1977) - a series also (mostly) written by O'Neil. Lady Shiva would make regular appearances throughout TheQuestion v1.
All of the stories in this series pretty much occur in their own self-contained universe of Hub City* as no other DC heroes (or villains) ever appear to help the Question with his war on crime. (Batman appears as a hallucination in the second issue and in the first annual, Mike Grell’s Green Arrow appears in a few issues and an annual or two, and the Riddler appears in a single issue.) Actually, much like Mike Grell’sGreen Arrow v2 ongoing series (1988 - 1993) which was also being published during the same era, I’d consider The Question v1 as a pre-Vertigo title (The Question v1 started sporting a ‘Suggested For Mature Readers’ at issue #8).
I’m having a little bit of trouble describing this series, or rather, the GENIUS of this series**. It begins as a conventional film noire/pulp title but quickly evolves into something much more. There’s a lot of things going on in this series: the theme of redemption and atonement for one’s sins, a few dabs of zen philosophy, the exploration of a multitude of social issues, a tight continuity, the evolution of the main characters and supporting cast, and a sense of modern realism (ex: villain doesn’t always get captured, some questions have no answers). I’m tempted to tell you that this series is as much about the Question’s interpersonal relationship with a supporting character as it is about his battle against the city’s corruption. Let’s not forget the personal touches that O'Neil adds to the story (see if you can spot which character was a homage to Marvel Comics’ Wolverine). The great thing about this series is that things never conclude as you expect them to and the end of the issue always leaves you wanting more. Cowan’s pencils are perfect to set the mood of the grim and gritty urban atmosphere. I actually forgot who how much I enjoyed this series or I was too young/immature to appreciate it the first time I read it all those years ago.
Anyone who has ever questioned why O'Neil is considered one of the best writers in the comics industry needs to read this series. There’s a reason why O'Neil has won numerous industry awards for his writing prowess (this is also the same writer responsible for the acclaimed early 1970s Green Lantern/Green Arrow run, among other things). The entire The Question v1 ongoing series had been reprinted numerous times and has acquired a cult following.
The Question v1 was cancelled in 1990, but continued in 1990’s The Question Quarterly.
*It was theorized that Hub City was based on East St. Louis, Illinois and/or Chicago, Illinois
**O'Neil would later claim that Paul Levitz (high in the DC publishing chain of command) advised him to go nuts and push the envelope as far as uncoventional story-telling was concerned. LevitzreassuredO'NeilthatThe Question did not have to be a financial success and that he was free to take chances.
Okay but let’s talk about the Watchtower being a perfect place to find your signicant other:
Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are the original starcrossed lovers™ who act like an old married couple, both are stubborn and butting heads but also are willing to die for each other (or betray their whole nation). They never stopped loving each other and I doubt that even death could do them apart.
Wonder Woman and Batman is the best “Will they won’t they?” in history of television. Light and dark, but not in this cliché, tired-ass “the girl is fascinated by the dark playboy” way. They are equals, she admires his skills, dedication and spirit, he sees her as warrior to fight alongside with, not a trophy girl to win.
Black Canary and Green Arrow - their chemistry is unparalleled, these two and their famous sparring match scene was a sexual awakening for a lot of people. Dinah is protective of Ollie, Ollie boasts how great of a fighter Dinah is. Two blonde cinnamon rolls who could strangle you to death in order to protect their parter? Yup, it’s them.
Huntress and the Question had the best first date in history of a humankind: I still can’t get over the fact that Q did all of that wild goose chase manhunt because he liked Helena and did not know how to say that. Also Helena blackmailed Superman to help her looking for her boyfriend, so it’s safe to say they are ride or die.
In conclusion, DCAU should totally make an animated rom-com with those couples
There’s realistic comic book fighting, then there’s whatever the fuck kinda comic book fighting nonsense Cassandra Cain and Lady Shiva are able to do
This is part of the reason why I hype O’Neil/Cowan’s Question so much: because that book perfectly shows both.
Vic Sage is a guy who’s been trained by Richard Dragon, but he still gets very fucked up in fights against anyone with a modicum of actual training, or against more than three dudes, or against dogs. For all his traing and experience, he’s still a pretty realistic guy living in a pretty realistic world.
But that same book also has Lady Shiva, who on top of effortlessly beating the shit out of everyone she meets, is also apparently capable of just fading in and out of existence at will. That same book also has Richard Dragon, who judo tosses a guy while on a wheelchair. Despite being set in one of the grittiest, most believable places in a DC comic, it still allows for these borderline magical people who don’t play by the rules to exist, and is all the better for it.
And the thing is, it works not just because it’s fun to see Shiva and Richard beating the shit out of people, but because it establishes how different Vic is from them. It says that there are people who live by the rules of the world they’re attached to, and people who’ve become so detached from that world that they seemingly exist outside of its rules. It deepens Vic and deepens Richard and Shiva and makes the whole book more interesting because of the questions it opens. Why is Vic so attached to the material world? How did Shiva and Richard become so detached to it? Is it just a matter of skill, of discipline, or of mentality? Would Vic ever be able to reach that level? Would he be happier if he did?
Just because a setting is “realistic” (or puts on realistic airs) doesn’t mean that everyone within it has to play by the same rules. And when done correctly, for an actual thematic reason, for character study and development, that freedom only makes stories better.
Academy Award nominee Rosie Perez has been cast as Renee Montoya and will join Harley Quinn’s girl gang in the Margot Robbie film “Birds of Prey,” TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Montoya is a detective working for the Gotham City Police Department. Montoya is openly gay, and during The New 52 comics she took on a costumed identity, becoming the Question. The female superhero team-up film will be released on Feb. 7, 2020.
Helena; I’ve never actually been in a snowball fight. Vic; really? Helena; I don’t even know the rules. Is there like a point system, or is it to the death?
I don’t normally enjoy doing fancasts personally, but…wouldn’t Jason Mantzoukas be perfect as The Question? Like, he doesn’t really look anything like Vic Sage but that’s not what’s important when you’re casting the Question! What’s important is the amount of manic energy the actor can bring to the role and in that respect there is absolutely no other actor who can rival him.
JLU au where everything’s the same except instead of being a paranoid conspiracy theorist The Question is a hardcore objectivist like he originally was in the comics and the League never gets anything done because he and Green Arrow are too busy screaming at each other about politics
no wait I have an even better idea: JLU au where The Question pretendsto be a hardcore objectivist specifically because he knows it will piss off Green Arrow. Also, after a couple of weeks Ollie finally clocks that he’s faking but continues to play along because as we all know Green Arrow is a Dramatic Bitch
Q, talking to Huntress: Actually Ayn Rand is one of my favourite authors.
Ollie, from the other side of the room while dramatically flipping a table: I’ll kill you in real life, Victor!
