By Dennis O’Neil, Denys Cowan & Rick Magyar (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-839-3
In the “real†world, some solutions require better Questions…
An ordinary man pushed to the edge by his obsessions, Vic Sage uses his fists and a mask that makes him look utterly faceless to get answers (and justice) whenever normal journalistic methods fail. After a few successes around the DC universe Sage got a TV reporting job in the town where he grew up.
This second collection (reprinting issues #7-12 of the highly regarded 1980s series) of the seminal reinterpretation of Steve Ditko’s faceless seeker of Truth finds the obsessively driven reporter back on the streets of Hub City – probably the Worst City in America – and encountering a succession of highly conflicted and complex characters.
In ‘Survivor’ it’s aging vulpine racketeer Volk, who finds himself in the way of lesser, but more venal thugs, whereas ‘Mikado’ is a good man driven by the daily horrors of the city to take action, making his punishments fit the crime. Formerly corrupt cop Izzy O’Toole continues his struggle for redemption in ‘Watchers’ as the Question searches for his missing mentor and confidante Professor Rodor, a hunt that takes him to the Tropical hell-hole of ‘Santa Prisca’ and a confrontation with a sadist who wants to be a Saint in ‘Transformation’.
The Halloween celebration ‘Poisoned Ground’ closes this volume as a contaminated housing project provides a backdrop for another killing spree for Baby Gun, the mentally impaired gunman who killed Sage in The Question: Zen and Violence (ISBN13: 978-1-84576-690-0).
These are tales that probe the very mature of the struggle between Good and Evil, using Eastern philosophy and very human prowess to challenge, crime corruption, abuse, neglect and complacency.
Combating Western dystopia with Eastern Thought and martial arts action is not a new concept but the author’s spotlight on cultural problems rather than super-heroics make this series O’Neil’s most philosophical work, and Cowan’s raw, edgy art imbues this darkly adult, powerfully sophisticated thriller with a maturity that is simply breathtaking.
The Question’s direct sales series was one of DC’s best efforts from a hugely creative period, so it’s up to you to make it the popular hit it always should have been via these superb trade paperback collections, available at last due to the hero’s major role in the weekly comic maxi-series 52.
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