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dantastic's review
4.0
Victor Sage, aka The Question, fights crime in Hub City, possibly the most corrupt city on Earth.
Prior to this volume, most of my exposure to The Question was in Modern Comics reprints of Charlton comics stories and the weekly 52 miniseries. The Question has been held in high regard for years so I finally gave it a shot.
Dennis O'Neil's run on The Question stems from DC creating a mature readers line before later creating the Vertigo imprint. It's a tale of a man facing an insurmountable tide of corruption in his home town.
The Question started as a backup feature in Blue Beetle, a Steve Ditko character who shared much of his creator's Randian philosophy. O'Neil and team gave The Question a near death experience and a new Zen lease on life, making him a much more viable character.
Now that the history lesson is over, this was some good shit, especially considering it's 30 years old at this point. While it's wordier than most of today's comics, O'Neil was way ahead of the curve. There aren't a lot of comics that feature the hero floating face down in a river after a gunshot to the head and that's just in the first issue.
The Question's journey sees him learning from Richard Dragon, 70's DC kung fu hero, now confined to a wheelchair. When he returns to Hub City, everyone has hell to pay.
Deny Cowan's art suits the story perfectly. I was skeptical at first since I wasn't a fan of his work on the Superman books in the 1990s but it had an understated, cinematic feel. There were a few wordless fight scenes that I'd put up against anything today. As always, Bill Sienkiewicz was marvelous on the covers.
O'Neil, Cowan, and the others had a good thing going with The Question, a dark crime comic that paved the way for a lot of others down the road. Four out of five stars.
Prior to this volume, most of my exposure to The Question was in Modern Comics reprints of Charlton comics stories and the weekly 52 miniseries. The Question has been held in high regard for years so I finally gave it a shot.
Dennis O'Neil's run on The Question stems from DC creating a mature readers line before later creating the Vertigo imprint. It's a tale of a man facing an insurmountable tide of corruption in his home town.
The Question started as a backup feature in Blue Beetle, a Steve Ditko character who shared much of his creator's Randian philosophy. O'Neil and team gave The Question a near death experience and a new Zen lease on life, making him a much more viable character.
Now that the history lesson is over, this was some good shit, especially considering it's 30 years old at this point. While it's wordier than most of today's comics, O'Neil was way ahead of the curve. There aren't a lot of comics that feature the hero floating face down in a river after a gunshot to the head and that's just in the first issue.
The Question's journey sees him learning from Richard Dragon, 70's DC kung fu hero, now confined to a wheelchair. When he returns to Hub City, everyone has hell to pay.
Deny Cowan's art suits the story perfectly. I was skeptical at first since I wasn't a fan of his work on the Superman books in the 1990s but it had an understated, cinematic feel. There were a few wordless fight scenes that I'd put up against anything today. As always, Bill Sienkiewicz was marvelous on the covers.
O'Neil, Cowan, and the others had a good thing going with The Question, a dark crime comic that paved the way for a lot of others down the road. Four out of five stars.
matt4hire's review
4.0
Great, great crime stuff. You can see how Frank Miller influenced this...or maybe was influenced by it. Rick Magyar's inks aren't bad. And it weaves an excellent crime story, with some great long-term mysteries.
birdmanseven's review
2.0
I like the Question and really wanted to like this. I just couldn't get into it. It feels dated and the I found the characters to be pretty wooden.
adelaidemetzger_robotprophet's review
4.0
This was pretty good and you gotta admit, The Question is d*** cool! Dennis O' Neil is great and the art ain't too shabby--I enjoyed the imagery more than Watchmen in fact. This particular series by Neil was created in the '80's and if you're not a comic nerd like me, you probably don't know that the 1980's is when the Modern Age of comics started and superheroes were no longer just for children. That being said, The Question: Zen and Violence is a dark origins story for mature readers, but I wouldn't compare it to Alan Moore's Watchmen.
But overall, good story filled with great characters and an awesome protagonist. Just don't get him mixed up with Victor Zsazs, the murderer notorious in Arkham Asylum. Totally different character.
But overall, good story filled with great characters and an awesome protagonist. Just don't get him mixed up with Victor Zsazs, the murderer notorious in Arkham Asylum. Totally different character.
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