Where Did You Get That Blank Expression?

Until he rocked up in the excellent Justice League Unlimited cartoon series, the Question was pretty much a forgotten character in the DC universe, almost relegated to the status of somebody he might have been.

After falling out with Marvel, comics legend Steve Ditko signed up to Charlton and was allowed a greater deal of creative freedom. The Question first appeared in a Blue Beetle comic – introducing us to TV journalist Vic Sage, whose investigative skills nevertheless require a secret identity. Using inventions created by Professor Rodor, when needed Vic takes out a mask from a hidden belt compartment. This also releases a gas which bonds the mask to his face and changes the colour of his clothes and hair, but the best part is that the effect given is that our hero no longer appears to have any facial features, creating an unnerving effect to the villains he encounters.

Under Ditko, Sage/The Question took a stance inspired by the creator’s interest in the works of Ayn Rand. On his news show, Sage would attack his viewers for enabling criminals to prosper by using the illegal services they provided. Incorruptible to the core, he would refuse to tone down his (somewhat hectoring) stance, which carried over to his Question identity. This saw him refuse to help criminals in risk of mortal peril, musing that their activities had seen them put in a situation in which they would receive their just punishment.

Ditko would take these Objectivist ideas further still with Mr A, who had an absolute black and white view of the world, which doesn’t settle too well with this reader, who believes in a world full of various shades of grey. The Question pretty much slid from view until the 80s, where he was resurrected by another superb writer, Dennis O’Neil. That this happened soon after Alan Moore’s Watchmen was released, with its Question/Mr A expy Rorschach, may not be a coincidence.

It’s in this run that I came to the character, which may explain why I think O’Neil had Vic Sage nailed down the best. This Sage was given up at birth and brought up in an orphanage as Charles Victor Szasz, taking on his better known name when he appears in Hub City to work on the TV station. Professor Aristotle “Tot” Rodor provides a role as his mentor, voice of reason and best (only?) friend. In the first issue, we see Hub City as a deeply corrupt place with a drunken major being controlled by Reverend Hatch, who can best described as slightly hatstand. As both Sage and the Question, our man has been causing problems for the bad guys, and lured as his alter-ego into a trap, he’s beaten close to death by mercenary martial arts master Lady Shiva then shot in the head and dumped off the end of a pier for good measure.

As ever working for her own reasons, Shiva rescues Vic, heals his knackered body and arranges for him to spend time with Richard Dragon, a somewhat philosophical kung-fu dude who lives in the mountains. After a time, he returns to Hub City with a new line in Zen thinking to aid his honed fighting skills. Over 30-odd issues, we see him try to avoid falling back into his old ways as all around the city begins to collapse into absolute disorder with seemingly only the Question and bent-cop-now-reformed Izzy O’Toole fighting the other corner.

Though the overall tone is serious, Sage – in true comic book tradition - does have a good way with a line. Often asked about his (non) face, he replies “Overdosed on acne medicine”. Yet his jokes hide a man constantly at war with himself. As the series progresses, Sage spends less time meditating (or “going inside”, a technique he uses to put together seemingly obtuse clues) and more engaging in brutal fights as the fabrics of Hub City unravel.

One amusing sidenote sees Sage buy a copy of Watchmen to read on a flight and admiring Rorschach’s moves. Later, he adjusts his combat style to sheer brawling and get’s his arse handed to him on a plate, leading him to muse that “Rorschach sucks”.

As a collection, for me it’s only equalled by Watchmen and Garth Ennis’ run with the Punisher on the Marvel Max imprint. Vic’s work as the Question is shown to be more a search for identity: at times he seems to think that his actual name is the Question, as his original name was given to him at the orphanage and Vic Sage merely one he gave himself. A telling moment towards the end of the run has Sage save a man from a mugging and asked “who are you?”, to which he answers “A reasonable question. At least for now”. Earlier issues had seen him answer similar inquiries with “Good question”. We’re led to wonder, as Izzy O’Toole does, whether he will eventually crack and start killing criminals rather than just beating seven shades of shit out of them.

In the now and then, I believe the Question is still out there, albeit under a new identity: Renee Montoya taking on the mask after Sage died of lung cancer. As stated at the top, he returned on our TV screens as an oddball character convinced of various conspiracy theories involving boybands and the tips at the end of your shoelaces. Think of Fox Mulder in a cool coat and hat combo. Though miles away from previous incarnations, this Question worked in large part due to the brilliant voicework of Jeffery Coombs and a memorable scene where he confronts Lex Luthor on his latest plan for world domination with objectivist logic: “A is A, and no matter what reality he calls home, Luthor is Luthor”.