Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The Question

There will be a new series for The Question, written by Greg Rucka, according to LITG - so it's got to be true.

If it's not, I'm gonna be a suspect in "CSI: Dying in the Gutters"!!

Q's featured on an upcoming cover of "52":
click to see the cover

Here\'s a larger view, more visible.

If there is an ongoing Question series by Rucka, Im going to buy it.

Is Rucka writing the Question segments of "52"? It's certainly different from how he was in The Huntress mini. Certainly influenced by the JLU version more than the latest mini (which is probably for the best). He comes across as quirky rather than nuts and knowledgeable in a mysterious way -- I like! (but he still needs a hat)

Somewhere (?) I read that Rucka is doing the Question/Montoya scenes but that the writers will rotate characters at some point. I would think in a series like this, that changing writers wouldn't change the character much, anyways, if they're all collaborating.

A hat would be a nice added eccentric touch, but it would have to be the classic fedora. The Q. in a baseball hat, tweed cap or bowler just wouldn't work.

sombrero!!

There's a good issue by issue recap of the beginning of the O'Neill series, at the site Your Mom\'s Basement .

From the introduction:

Denny decided to change everything about the Question, he implemented his own eastern philosophical ideas which were in some ways a complete turn to the ones Ditko had for the character. Denny was an editor on the now legendry Frank Miller run on Daredevil, Miller had made the character his own and brought in ideas of Daredevil’s catholic childhood, infused hardboiled characters within the superhero genre, strong influences of Will Eisner's The Spirit comic, martial arts and beautiful choreographed of fight sequences. These all may have influenced O’Neil when he reworked The Question.

Cool site with a nice rundown of the O'Neil series. Was there a part two? The series was just getting really good at that point.

Similar to the guy who wrote that article, I initially found "the Question" in the cheap bins (I think it was up to #12 at the time). And I was also so intrigued by that Seinkewicz cover for #1 that I decided to take a chance.

Couldn't find a part 2, but I e-mailed to ask if it would be continued. It certainly encouraged me to prowl the back-issue bins to find the whole series. Now that The Question has more prominence in the DCU, prices will probably shoot out of the quarter-bin category.

In that case I'd gobble them up quick FC! They're so good I'd say pick 'em up even if they skyrocket up to the 99 cent bin!

I'm definitely encouraged that sales of 52 are so high - The Question has always been peripheral at best so between this and the JLU, it'll be good to see him ascend the DCU hierarchy (assuming he lives through the year... (any more news on that rumored series by Rucka?))

I agree with Drake FC. I loved the O'Neil Version. It was and still is one of my favourites. It's one of those that stays on the bookcase, instead of boxed up and in the cupboard and I regularly re-read it.

Everything fitted together so well, even the letter page was a must read and the Recommended Reading list started me on a lot of good authors.

The more recent series, while still enjoyable, just didn't seem like " My Vic".

I wasn't interested in the the whole Infinite Cash Cow thing so haven't been getting 52 but I really hope the Questions' higher profile in this will lead to better things. Maybe even a couple of collected editions of the O'Neil series.

Even though the post O'Neil incarnations of the Question have strayed from that characterization, I've enjoyed this evolution (of which O'Neil's version was simply another step anyway). I don't think anyone else would have been able to do that "zen" thing as well as O'Neil as it seemed very personal to him. Most other writers might've ended up making him seem like a walking fortune cookie or something. And this latest "Mulder" version opens up room for more humor.

Like I said, I haven't read any of 52 but I'm guessing that's where the "Mulder" reference comes from, Drake. Either way it sounds good.

That was one of the traits of the character (that did get kind of lost in the later O'Neil issues) that I found so interesting - he was driven by his curiosity.

While other characters were defined by revenge or guilt or grief he just wanted to know the truth.

Hence the name, I suppose.

I had no idea Vic played such a prominant part in 52. Damn, it looks like I'm going to have to start buying 52.

Walk,

Question is more of a enigma at this point, with a lot of speculation about whether it really is Vic Sage under the mask. So far it seems he already knows certain truth and is the writer's instrument of revealing the truths to the protagonists.

Jamie

Cheers Jamie! I'm John buy the way.

So we don't even know who's under the mask?

Well this makes me want to read 52 even more.

Damn you D.C.!!!

Talking of enigmas, does anybody remember The Enigma comic from a while back?

Damn it was good!

Nice to meet you John!

No. There has been some speculation that it is Ted Kord based on some of the more humorous lines the character has had (and they were both Ditko Charelton characters).

Right now, 52 has some of the highest marks from me (and others). If the payoff is worth it, then IC will pale in comparison. I think it does already but that's just me.

And off-topic, I was stationed in Edzell for a number of years in the '90's and we had a house in Stonehaven.

Jamie

Ted's back?!

Yay!!

I was WELL pissed off when they killed him off.

The Blue Beetle was the first comic I ever read.

Back in Primary school, when I was 5 or 6, (1975 0r 76)our teacher had a box of old comics that we got to read if we behaved. My favourite one was The Blue Beetle. It was Ted Kords origin issue and I must have read it fifty times, untill the sad day I came in and found that Mrs Frame (our tacher) had let another pupil cut it up to make a collage.

So when the early 80's came around and I had discovered a comic shop all of my very own (AKA Books and Comics # sigh #) I was delighted when Ted got his own series at DC. I seemed to be one of the very few people who actually bought it and I was even more pleased when he went on to join the JL.

Then DC (Damn you DC!!!) killed him off for no other reason than to promote this Infinite Crisis thing...AND!!! they used it to mess with The Flash as well.

I may NEVER forgive them.

But Ted is back? Maybe?...Hmmm

Well he did team up with the question in his (BB's) series and they (along with other Charlton characters) teamed up again in L.A.W.

Hmmmn...as they used to ay on Rowan and Martin


Verrry Interesting!

Well, I sprung for the Denny O'Neill series, or most of the issues (there's a chunk missing in the teens). Read #1-2-3 so far, pretty good stuff. I liked that O'Neill took the trouble to find a rational explanation for how Sage could survive being beaten, shot in the head and dumped in the river.

Keep hunting for them Cramer, they are worth finding.

Some of the stories are very thought provoking:they throw up more qustions than answers - hence the name of the book.

Some of my favourite storylines were The Mikado and the one with Colonel De Beck.

As I can't afford to buy 52 (I'm waiting for the TPB) is there any more news or speculation about the Question and who he is under the mask?

Steve Wacker still refers to him as "Vic" in interviews, so it's likely that he's still Vic Sage. We are supposed to meet some of his close friends in an upcoming issue of 52, so that should give more clues if not outright confirmation.

Cheers Cramer.

I've read a lot of good reviews of 52 so far.

It seem it may actually be an "event" comic that is worth getting, for a change.

It's definitely Vic in case you haven't been reading "52" - he reveals his identity to Montoya but calls himself "Charlie" (Charles Victor Sage being his name). Did Rodor call him Charlie? I dont' remember. It'll be nice to see Tot again (assuming he didn't get killed off somewhere when I wasn't looking).

And FC, I don't know if you've seen it yet, but they did give Q a more relaxed "cap and jacket" look in the O'Neil series. Does it work for you? (I thought it was ok. I definitely wasn't into the long hair he later sports).

Cap and jacket doesn't work as well as the trench coat and fedora for me, not at all. Too much government agent style - or maybe it was the Magnum P.I. look. The trench is at once more oddball and detective, which suits him better. I'm not a fan of the long hair either, but it was the eighties....

Rodor did call him Charlie, and he isn't dead yet, although he's been severely beaten at least twice by #23 (I'm missing 13-19 AND #8, the Mikado issue).

The artwork is a bit strange in that some panels look rough or rushed - and others are really outstanding.

There are a lot of interesting questions raised about the nature of identity and ethics. The letters are pretty good as well. I had read a single issue of this series before, in isolation - and it didn't really work well - but as a series, it's very captivating.