There is a fine line between heroes and vigilantes in comic books, but The Question knows how to walk it. Although most people are likely more familiar with his spiritual successor, Rorschach from Watchmen, The Question has a legacy of his own that goes all the way back to the Silver Age of comics.
The Question's Comic Origins
Created by Steve Ditko in 1967, The Question was meant to be a reimagined, more appropriate version of Mr. A, one of Ditko’s previous characters. When Ditko was hired by Charlton Comics to pen a new Blue Beetle series, he included the Question in Blue Beetle #1 as a back-pages story. Unfortunately, Ditko’s Blue Beetle series was short-lived, as was The Question’s tenure in Charlton comics. After his own three-part story in 1968’s Mysterious Suspense and a brief appearance in the final issue of Blue Beetle, The Question fell off readers’ radars for the next fifteen years, but he wouldn’t stay gone forever.
In 1983, DC acquired the rights to all of Charlton Comics’ superhero characters, including The Question, who made his first appearance in DC continuity in Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman two years later. Then, in 1987, The Question finally received his own series from Dennis O’Neil and Denys Cowan, which ran for 36 issues. Since then, The Question has become an irregular but important figure of the DC universe, appearing in notable storylines such as Blackest Night and The New 52’s Suicide Squad. Most recently, after another hiatus, The Question returned this year to star in his own series from DC's Black Label called The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage by Jeff Lemire and Denys Cowan.
Within the world of DC, The Question’s origin story didn’t change much from his days in Charlton Comics. His real name remained Vic Sage, and he was still a hardboiled investigative journalist based in Hub City with an innate distrust of authority. As such, he adopted the vigilante persona of The Question to get the answers he couldn’t otherwise obtain as a civilian. He bent a few rules and broke a few laws along the way, but all for the greater good - most of the time, at least. The Charlton Comics Question often employed brutal methods, even going so far as letting criminals die, but the DC Question usually resists the urge to kill. In fact, DC’s version is overall more philosophical, having studied martial arts and eastern philosophy under Richard Dragon, one of the best martial artists in the DC universe. However, The Question will take lives when he deems it necessary, and his philosophies vary between storylines depending on the writers.
Comic Abilities & Equipment
As an investigative reporter, The Question has top-tier detective skills in addition to a genius-level intellect, which makes him adept at solving crimes and uncovering conspiracies. Unlike Batman and other vigilantes, however, The Question usually focuses on fighting governmental corruption as opposed to street-level crimes, though situations that require combat still often arise. When they do, The Question can almost always hold his own thanks to Richard Dragon’s martial arts training, which puts him in league with some of DC’s top fighters.
In of equipment, The Question makes use of various gases, primarily for theatricality and intimidation purposes. He also uses gas to change the color of his hair and clothing so as to better protect his secret identity. However, his most important piece of equipment is his mask, which completely obscures all of his facial features without impeding his vision or other senses. In the more modern series, the mask is said to be made of Pseudoderm, a synthetic substance created with technology from Dr. No Face, one of Batman’s adversaries, and an extract derived from Elongated Man. The Question also uses another gas that can be sprayed from his belt buckle to bind his mask to his skin so it can’t be removed during a fight.
Other Versions of The Question
There have been several different iterations of The Question over the years. In the 52 series (not to be confused with The New 52, which we’ll get into momentarily), The Question is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, causing him to his mantle on to Renee Montoya, a former Gotham police officer and associate of the Birds of Prey. Montoya follows in Sage’s footsteps and trains with Richard Dragon before officially becoming The Question after Sage’s death, though she primarily operates in Gotham as opposed to Hub City. This was retconned in The New 52, where The Question’s origins were drastically altered. He is first seen as one of three people standing trial before the Seven Wizards, and as punishment for crimes unknown to the reader, his memory and facial features are erased. This unnamed man goes on to become The Question, a major player in the Trinity of Sin storyline, where he investigates Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains with the goal of regaining his memories and, ideally, his face.
As mentioned before, Rorschach, one of the main characters of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, is something of a spiritual successor to the Question. This is largely because Watchmen was originally supposed to feature heroes from Charlton Comics, but DC asked Moore to create original characters instead, so The Question was replaced with Rorschach. Despite the change, Rorschach retained many of The Question’s attributes, including distrust of authority, martial arts, and even similar clothing. Ironically, in Grant Morrison's Multiversity: Pax Americana series, The Question borrows more from Rorschach in of attitude and the violence of his methods, showing that the two characters have come to influence each other across publications.
The Question’s role in the larger DC universe is relatively minor but effective. His appearances may be sparse, but The Question always makes the reader think about things in a different light, and his philosophical complexities make him one of DC’s most intriguing characters.
