Something like this after doing a monolith like Infinite Crisis is ideal. After The Question Quarterly was cancelled, DC seemed to just completely forget about the character. He didn’t appear in much else and never got his own ongoing series ever again. I do hope that will change as O’Neil’s classic run obviously shows how much potential for good storytelling the character and cast have. Yet, this is where it ends really. O’Neil’s time with the Question has certainly changed the character, yet due to the early cancellation of both the main title and the quarterly series, we have these two one-offs to tie up some loose ends, I guess. I say that because there still remains much mystery about what happens to the Question after the events of the fifth Question Quarterly issue. However, let’s be grateful that DC actually thought it was a good idea to do more Question stories, particularly with O’Neil at the helm.
In this penultimate review of Dennis O’Neil’s run on The Question, I will be reviewing Azrael/Question and The Question Returns. Azrael/Question (titled The Anger, the Terror, the Question) was published in December 1996, written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Vince Giaranno. The Question Returns was published in February 1997, written
by Dennis O’Neil with art by Eduardo Barreto. I have read both of these stories in their original issues.
The Anger, the Terror, the Question --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Vince Giaranno
THE STORY
In a hotel room, Vic Sage plays poker before the room is raided by mobsters, who he easily takes out. Their goal was to attack Colonel Chablis, a politician opposing munitions factories. He offers Vic Sage the job of protecting him, but he declines. Chablis then mentions how his daughter, Rita, a famous actress, could also be in danger due to her father’s beliefs. When Chablis tells Vic that Rita is performing on a cruise ship for two days, he manages to convince him to find and protect her. Vic tells him to send the money for his services to the orphanage in Hub City. Meanwhile, Junior Musto (from the Question (vol 1) 6 and 21) organises a meeting of terrorists to regain the once prestigious reputation of the Musto Group by telling them his plan to kill Rita and everyone on the ship, before blowing it up. When the terrorists leave, Junior rips his facial bandages off, revealing his deformed face as he tells himself that his father would be proud of him. Elsewhere, Jean Paul Valley dreams of St Dumas telling him that he is a failure as all he needed to do was follow orders. St Dumas orders him to search for clues for his next mission. Jean Paul then wakes up and reads a newspaper, finding the advert for Rita on the cruise ship. Later, entering the ship, Vic Sage saves Rita from falling into the sea when her she drops her luggage. She tells him that she hopes they meet again. Nearby on the boat, Junior watches and orders his men to meet in his cabin. Later in the night, while Rita is introduced onto the main stage, Junior plans that when Rita plays a note on her piano tomorrow, it will set off explosives, causing the room to catch fire. Junior then explains that he is leaving it until tomorrow as that is when he has arranged their escape. Meanwhile, watching her performance, Vic isn’t impressed while Jean Paul finds it beautiful. Afterwards, Vic meets Rita, who admits that her performance was pretentious and it will only get worse tomorrow. Asking about him, Rita learns that Vic was dumped on the steps of a church as a child; he never knew his parents. As the two become closer, Vic wonders if he is blowing his job and that the Question should appear. Arriving back in his room, Vic becomes the Question. Meanwhile, one of the actors with Rita falls onto the piano and it explodes, causing Jean Paul to become Azrael to investigate. The Question does the same as Junior is confused that the piano exploded too soon. As the Question rescues Rita, Azrael appears and leaps into the fire, before smashing a hole in the wall to release the smoke. Suddenly, one of Junior’s men attacks Azrael, who easily takes him out. As the Question stays behind to look after Rita, Azrael goes after Junior, fighting him and his armed men. The ship then begins to sink due to the fire and as everyone escapes, Azrael takes out Junior. Afterwards, the Question thanks Azrael, with the two deciding to keep their masks on until another time. With the Question gone, Azrael finds Junior, helping him up and deciding to take him to a doctor for his injuries.
MY THOUGHTS
What is this more of? Is it a Question story? Or is it an Azrael story? In some strange way, its both. The story itself feels very much like a Question story, mainly due to the villain being Junior and Vic Sage being the main focus of the story as opposed to Azrael. On the other hand, in terms of its storytelling and how the plot is told, it is (continued)
much more of an Azrael story. Unlike the Question, O’Neil’s Batman stories from the 1990s are far less plot heavy. Fight scenes are often used to break up the story. His Question stories feel very much like there is no wasted space and every single piece of information counts. Here, O’Neil’s sense of storytelling feels far less strict and often more fluid, making it a quick read while also very engaging. Now, I should highlight one of my major criticisms of the story right here, since it is a question which I asked myself at the very beginning of the story: why has Vic been playing poker for a year? At least when O’Neil changed the setting from Hub City to Brazil, there was some explanation of how he got there in Green Arrow (vol 2) Annual 3. Here, there isn’t anything like that, leaving us confused. Plus, the Question never really did have a knack for playing poker before, so why did it manifest itself here? Regardless, if you like a fluid story with quick action and good characters, then you have come to the right place. The Question and Azrael are undoubtedly two characters which O’Neil knows like the back of his hands. He did create one of them after all. However, due to his complete awareness of their respective characters and how they would respond differently in some situations, he knows exactly how to write their scenes and ultimately create an enjoyable story. I would have liked to have seen the two heroes meet more throughout the story however, just to display some differences between them as although the Question is extreme in his methods, Azrael can be even more so. Apart from the poker and how Vic got his task to protect Rita, the majority of the story is just good fun and isn’t at all dark. Yes, it is a relatively serious story, but O’Neil makes it fun. Speaking of Rita, the main problem I have with her is actually her father, who appears briefly at the very beginning. By the end, there doesn’t appear to be any relevance to his political opposition to munitions factories, a factor which O’Neil writes as a catalyst for the attack on his life. This should have featured more, as the main villain, Junior, doesn’t even attack Rita due to her father. The reasoning for why Junior decided to go after Rita is very clouded, but to me that’s the point. He is constantly trying to impress his dead father and he is trying anything to do so. He is a very desperate villain and that is what makes him so great and memorable. His ending is also nice as well, with Azrael seemingly helping to find some good left in him. The coverage of the two characters by the end if pretty equal, with the Question being prominent more so in the first half and Azrael in the second. Like I said, I would have liked more interaction between the two characters, but that certainly isn’t to say that what O’Neil has delivered here is mediocre in any way shape or form…
Vince Giarrano has always been one of those artists who I’ve been aware of, but his art style has never been particularly memorable. I would have to say that the same applies to this story. I’m not sure if its to do with the bright colouring or the art itself, but the Question looks far too vibrant here. He works best in the shadows or in darker environments. Everything here seems to be fully lit. On the other hand, this style of art seems to reflect well on Azrael, which is odd. However, the art is still fairly forgettable and just about average.
Story: 9/10
Art: 6/10
The Question Returns --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Eduardo Barreto
THE STORY
On a sinking boat, Vic Sage is held hostage by an angry poker player named Hartly,
who knocks him out and steals his wallet. When he awakens, Vic phones Tot, who tells him that Myra has vanished from Hub City as she was forced to shoot a criminal in self-defence. However, Vic ignores him, telling him that it was her own fault for staying in Hub City and that he isn’t a hero anyone. Escaping from the sinking boat, Vic decides to hitchhike on a nearby road, only to be arrested by the police. In his cell, Vic speaks to another prisoner, one calling himself the emissary of the river spirit. He then asks Vic’s name, calling him wrong when he mentions it be either Vic Sage or Victor Szasz. However, when he admits that he was the Question, the emissary disappears. Vic learns from an officer that there was never another man in the prison. The officer then releases Vic, telling him that Hartly paid his fine. Leaving prison, Vic becomes the Question once more and hitches a ride on the back of a truck. Then, the truck is stopped by Hartly, who threatens to shoot the driver if she doesn’t give him her money. The Question intervenes and takes out Hartly. As a thank you, the driver gives the Question a lift in her truck. After the Question remembers Myra and how she was always against violence, he phones Tot, telling him that he is coming back to Hub City. The truck is then stopped again, this time by the police. Suspicious of the Question, the police ask him to step out of the truck. Vic does that, but then beats up and defeats all the officers, before suddenly being knocked out by the truck driver. Waking up some time later, Vic finds himself tied up and confronted by Rory Limbo, a Hub City gangster. Limbo then summons Cathy (from The Question (vol 1) 33 and Quarterly 3), leaving him alone with the Question as he (Limbo) has to hunt Myra. However, the Question fights back and manages to escape from Cathy. The Question then frees himself from his handcuffs and he heads to the docks. Meanwhile in a houseboat, Myra speaks to someone named Billy about how she failed to save Hub City and she was deluded to think she could in the first place. She explains that Limbo tried to bring her down and is now attempting to kill her. Nearby, the Question finds Limbo and his gang, following them on a speedboat and taking some of them out. Limbo then orders one of his men to shoot the Question, who hides under the water. Suddenly, the speedboat explodes due to a gasoline leak and Limbo’s guard firing his gun. Safe, the Question finds Myra in her houseboat, attacking Billy before Myra tells him that he rescued her. Confused, the Question learns from Myra that Billy found her in time before Limbo did. The Question works out that the two are a couple and when Myra asks if he expected her to wait for him, the Question leaves.
MY THOUGHTS
Technically, this is where the story ends. This is the end of O’Neil long run writing Vic Sage’s Question. True, he does co-write The Question (vol 1) 37 with Greg Rucka in 2010, but that’s mainly with Renee Montoya’s Question. This here ends one of the major plot points of the series which began pretty much with the very first issue, that being the relationship between Vic and Myra. She is the reason he becomes the Question again and ultimately the reason, I think, that he stops being the Question. Just from reading the last few pages when Vic realises that Myra has moved on from him, to me that is the death of the Question. That is where Vic could stop being the Question forever and he himself could move on. That is how I see the ending and (coninued)
ultimately, I think reading it from that viewpoint ties up the run nicely. Apart from another strange reference to poker at the very start, the first half of the story is there to transform Vic back into the Question. Tot plays a part in that and speaking of him, where the hell has, he been? He wasn’t in any of the Quarterlies, or the Azrael crossover. He just appears here like he has always been present. There isn’t any reunion of sorts, which is a shame. O’Neil writes a transformation similarly to how Frank Miller does it in The Dark Knight Returns. In this case, the emissary in the prison forces Vic to say that his real name is the Question. Like Bruce Wayne, Batman is who he really is and the same applies to Vic Sage. That is a good idea, one which may have been done before but it works as a great way of reintroducing the Question to us, even if the emissary or whatever the is doesn’t make too much sense. Now, villains are always important when it comes to great stories and throughout the run, O’Neil has rarely failed to deliver great and threatening villains. Here however, Hartly (who vanishes in the middle of the story) and Limbo are incredibly dry and dull. They both lack any interesting features, and their goals feel very undeveloped and predictable. Yeah, Cathy does turn up again, but his appearance is very pointless in the grand scheme of things. Without a doubt, the villains are the most disappointing aspect of the story, not just because they are dull and boring, but because they could have been so much more, and they could have featured in a dramatic and tense ending. That being said, the ending we did get wasn’t disappointing and it was ultimately very powerful, since (as I said) it ends the relationship between the two main characters. I don’t know if O’Neil had planned this ending from the very beginning back in the late 1980s, but her decision to move on makes sense. I mean, after losing her daughter, hating Hub City and Vic going away for god-knows how long, I don’t know how Vic can be surprised to find that when he does come back, she has moved on. He of course realises that ultimately it ends the run on a sour note. Yet, it is a great way to end a core aspect of the run, particularly when you have followed both of these characters from the very start. Oddly, the structure and storytelling of The Question Returns is very much like the Azrael story. It isn’t exactly plot-heavy at all and it isn’t a long read. All of the other Question stories, even the Quarterlies, felt like there was no wasted space, but in this story, I feel like there are so many moments which just don’t add up. Take the beginning for example, or the scenes where Vic rides in a truck with a woman who then knocks him unconscious. By the end, these scenes have barely, if any, relevance whatsoever. Overall, this is a good conclusion to the run, but it could have been so much better.
Eduardo Barreto’s art is very impressive and as opposed to the art supplied by Giarrano in the Azrael story, it fits the tone of the Question. The colouring is far more muted and dulled down, which is a good move, and the action scenes are told in very dynamic ways, with the page layouts working effectively. My only real problem is that Barreto lacks a distinctive style and his art can often look quite plain. However, his style is well suited to the story, particularly with the dulled-down colouring.
Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8/10
VERDICT
Overall, these two-one offs are both enjoyable in their own rights. Azrael/Question is a fast-paced story full of action and drama along with great characters and despite the art not exactly fitting the tone of the Question, it still had its moments. The Question Returns serves as a conclusion to the run, with O’Neil excellently tying up the loose ends surrounding Vic and Myra. However, it could have been so much better in the villain’s department and there are a number of scenes which just don’t have much relevance. That said, the art tells the story very well. Well, this is it! The end of O’Neil’s Question run. Well, almost at least. The annuals are next and while they aren’t exactly essential reading for the run, they are good if you want to maximise the experience of O’Neil’s time on the title and its characters.
Next Week: The Question: Fables (Detective Comics Annual 1, Green Arrow (vol 2) Annual 1-3, The Question Annual 1-2). Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Klaus Janson, Tony DeZuniga, Tom Artis, Tom Dzon, Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar, Bill Wray, Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin. Expected by 27/12/2020.
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