The Question: The Five Books of Blood introduced us to the new Question in her first solo adventure and while it may have been underwhelming and mediocre, it left us wanting more. The Five Books of Blood was never going to give Renee Montoya’s Question another miniseries, let alone her own title, but there was room in Detective Comics for her tales to continue. What always surprises me with this is that these stories were published in 2009. I thought backups were long dead by this point. Gone are the days when comics were published forty pages long and half of the issue would have to be filled with random short stories. By the 1990s, all you had was one story in twenty pages. That’s it. Perhaps DC were feeling somewhat generous, so they stuck the Question in the back of Detective Comics for nearly a year and that was it. Well, sort of. Blackest Night was the large overarching story during this period of DC’s history and to celebrate Vic Sage’s Question, they bring him back as a vengeful corpse. How kind.
Detective Comics 854-864 was published was August 2009 to June 2010. The Pipeline story was written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Cully Hammer. The Question (vol 1) 37 (published in March 2010) was written by Rucka and Dennis O’Neil, with art by Denys
Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz, and John Stanisci. I’ve read the Pipeline story in its trade paperback, and the Blackest Night crossover in its original issue.
Pipeline --- Written by Greg Rucka with art by Cully Hammer
Although one flowing story, Rucka splits Pipeline into two chapters. Both chapters are connected, but the first is more of an introduction to the main story. In that bleak lighthouse they call a home, Renee Montoya and Professor Rodor, or Tot as he’s usually referred to as, discover the Question’s next case. Montoya meets with a badly bruised immigrant named Hector Soliz who needs help finding his sister, Louisa . You see, Hector and his sister come from Culiacan, Mexico, where he paid a criminal named Varga to smuggle him across the northern border. Soon afterwards, Hector wishes the same for his sister, but Varga’s men beat him up and tell him that she will never be seen again. With her usual subtly, Montoya becomes the Question to break into a house where Louisa lived, but she instead has a run with Varga and his gang. Easily, the Question takes out Varga and his men and learns that Louisa is involved with a Mr Chandless in an exports company. This time, the Question is captured and nearly drowned in a sinking car, but she breaks free and interrogates Chandless (he too escapes). It turns out that, thanks to Greg Rucka’s less than subtle storytelling and dialogue, that Louisa is one of many women held captive thanks to a buyer in Long Beach. I mention Rucka’s writing because I think this is a revelation that could have been pulled off better if it was revealed much latter. Like, I don’t know, perhaps when Montoya discovers the immigrants? This would have been more dramatic, but I did see the revelation coming. That’s either because I’ve read the story before, or it became obvious the moment a shipping company was involved. Anyway, by using a code obtained by Varga and using Tot’s ingenious hacking skills to download its information, the Question discovers Chandless’s home address. Although she is quickly detected due to Chandless’s huge security system, the Question attempts to use him as a bargaining tool by taking him hostage. This is quickly rendered pointless as, due to a secret order, Chandless’s own men decide to put a bullet through his chest. Escapology seems to be a common theme with this story, and the Question manages to do so again here. However, this time she confronts the issue head on. The Question investigates Long Beach and once she takes out all the security, she finds all the immigrants huddled together. Thanks to the FBI arriving just in time to cease the criminal operation, Hector arrives to welcome his sister to the land of freedom. The first chapter ends there, and it comes across less like the first part of a story, but more like a fast-paced overture. As I alluded to, its action packed, and it never gets boring or slow. Rucka creates a good personal connection into the story and by the satisfying ending, there’s a sense of emotion present. That being said, villains like Varga and Chandless are quite shallow as characters. I get that you only have eight pages a month, but still. I should probably mention this later, but I will here instead. Reading each part with four weeks in-between must have been laborious. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you only bought Detective Comics for the Question strip. While financially it may not be worth it, I don’t think the story is either. There’s a sense of flow here that only works if you read each part back-to-back. Waiting for eight pages every month is less than ideal. Overall, the first chapter could have worked better as a two-parter in two twenty-page issues, but it works well enough as it does.
While the Question’s case with Hector and the immigrants is over, Chapter Two raises a much larger question. How much more organised crime is going on? It isn’t just kidnapping immigrants, but also car theft and weapon smuggling. The Question, with the help of Huntress, find some gangsters involved in organised car theft and confront them about the mysterious Network. Meanwhile in Gibraltar, a hired assassin is, well, hired to take out the two heroes. I didn’t know who this character was, but it turns out his name is Zeiss; he was from Batman 582 by Ed Brubaker. He looks like a bad 1990s character as his eyes are fully stitched open and he wears a pair of red glasses. Regardless, the Question and Huntress head back to the lighthouse, knowing that the Network is going to strike back. Indeed, that is what occurs, and Zeiss attempts to kill the heroes, along with Tot. Next thing you know, Zeiss informs his employer that the deed is done. However, it turns out the Question and Huntress are still alive, and they have to pay Zeiss three million dollars to basically make sure he goes away for good. Understandably, Tot berates Montoya about both the state of his home and the fact that she is betraying Vic Sage’s legacy by paying a criminal. From a storytelling standpoint, there are many things wrong with this. For starters, why didn’t the Question tell Tot to leave the lighthouse. They clearly stated that an attack was imminent, but she instead decided to let him stay behind and risk death. Also, paying a criminal off just isn’t the Question. Sure, you want Montoya’s Question to be unique and different, but its still the same mask. A punch in the face would have worked better. With Tot now angrily out of the picture, the Question and Huntress find help from Oracle, and they learn that all of Zeiss’s commands can be traced back to a server farm in Ukraine. After that, they find a concrete location on Oolong Island, where they receive the full post-9/11 treatment and are immediately waterboarded the second the plane lands. This, however, is all part of the plan. The heroes meet with Veronica Cable, President of the island, and unbelievably manage to convince her that if the FBI discover that Oolong Island is hiding the Network, then her reign will come to an end. Instead of just killing the two heroes, she tells them that the Network’s main operations are in Syria. Upon arriving there, the Question and Huntress search the Network’s palace only to find that the man behind the crimes all this time has been… Vandal Savage? What? Out of all the villains to behind international organised crime, Vandal Savage wasn’t the first to spring to mind. Sure, (continued)
it’s a surprise, but for the wrong reasons. It turns out, possibly in 52 or something, that the two heroes have had a run in with the immortal villain once before as he is now possessed, or proclaiming to be, a reborn embodiment of Cain. Although Huntress tries, the Question quickly realises that it would be foolish to fight Savage. The villain reveals that the fiery red symbol permanently attached to his forehead is a curse, one which has forced him to live in isolation and perform his evil acts stealthily (even though organised crime was never really Savage’s way of committing crimes). Anyway, he tells the two heroes that one of them must claim his curse, or he will kill them both. After some debate and fighting, the Question decides that she herself is to be the one who must claim the curse and she does so. As the heroes depart from Savage’s castle, Huntress demands to see her friend’s face. A mask-wearing Question refuses. Like The Five Books of Blood, Rucka leaves the story open-ended. It didn’t really work with the previous story, and while it doesn’t really here, I understand why he chose it to be the ending. It leaves us with a sense of mystery and, I guess in many ways, suggests that the Montoya aspect of the Question is now gone. There is no longer any outside world, but I don’t know. The story doesn’t exactly make that clear. I think the main problem is that the curse is so vague that it’s never explained what it actually means. What effect does it have? It just makes Savage into a bit of a hermit and while he may continue to be a threat, I really don’t think he was the most suitable villain for a story like this. Sure, he has some connection to the Question and Huntress, but everything that comes before just doesn’t add up when you discover who the real mastermind is. Overall though, the second chapter may not be as smooth or good, but it does well on expanding the story and developing the mystery. It’s just the last few pages that really bother me…
As the only artist on the story, Cully Hammer’s art is radically different from the likes of Cowan and Mandrake. In some ways, it looks closer to Ditko, but it has a much more cartoony edge to it. That being said, it doesn’t look bad at all. It may lack some detail and it often looks simplistic, but there is a real sense of drama in the storytelling. Sure, it’s not hugely memorable or unique as many other artists, like Phil Hester for example, possessed art styles like this during the 2000s. Overall though, it’s not bad at all.
Story: 7.5/10
Art: 7/10
One More Question --- Written by Dennis O’Neil and Greg Rucka with art by Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz, and John Stanisci
The Question (vol 1) 37 is one of dozens of titles that are so great I can’t remember any
which were revived for one final issue (along with the deceased main character). In the obvious case of this one, since the numbering continues O’Neil’s series from the 1990s, we see the return of Vic Sage. The story begins with a retelling of Vic Sage’s life, from his time of his first death at the hands of Lady Shiva, to his second death witnessed by Renee Montoya. At least, that’s what I think happens since Sienkiewicz’s inks don’t make things clear. Anyway, Montoya and Tot await the return of Vic (due to recent resurrections of others), only to find that Lady Shiva has decided to join them. With antagonism between them, Shiva and Montoya train with one another moments before the darkened spirit of Vic Sage’s Question appears! Although I’ve never read Blackest Night (mainly because bringing back a load of dead characters is no longer unique in comics), I think the point of the evil resurrected heroes is to basically discourage and kill their successors. Vic is an example of this as Vic duels Montoya. There is a nice personal moment when Tot tries to reach out to Vic, as if he’s a father who longs for the return of his child. Together, Tot, Montoya, and Shiva remind Vic of who he once was, and they convince him that killing was not his way. In the end, he somehow buys that and leaves the three of them. Where is he going? Don’t know, but wherever it is, Montoya follows intently. It’s something of a symbolic story as O’Neil and Rucka both capture the similarities in the characters of Vic and Montoya. However, since I have very little interest in Blackest Night, the story is very lacking. Most of it is just a big fight and the presence of Lady Shiva isn’t really justified. If it went down the more character-based route as I hoped it would, then this story would have been a far more satisfying read. As it stands, its readable and average, something the art is.
Holy hell. On the original series, I was never the biggest fan of Denys Cowan. However, I thought his style suited the urban tone and appearance of the book and the inks by Rick Magyar made it look presentable. Here, Bill Sienkiewicz comes along and effectively craps on the pages. The inks are incredibly scratchy and sloppy to the point where any storytelling is buried under masses of messy lines. You wouldn’t know that John Stanisci also inked this issue because of it. Sure, it looks atmospheric and bleak, but that’s not an excuse for this really awful art. Sienkiewicz’s inks may work on covers, but never inside a comic when there’s some actual storytelling involved…
Story: 5.5/10
Art: 3/10
VERDICT
Overall, The Question: Pipeline is far better than The Five Books of Blood. It does have the usual problems that all eight-pages-a-month story have, but the first chapter tells an emotional and fast-paced story that is continued well, for the most part, in the second chapter. My main problem with it however has to be the villain. Vandal Savage just doesn’t fit in with organised crime and immigrant smuggling. Really, I would have thought anybody but would have been more suitable. That being said, I think Rucka writes a good story here for Montoya’s Question and her teaming up with Huntress reminds me of something from the Brave and the Bold. As an additional piece, One More Question is tolerable, but I’m still not a huge fan of the Blackest Night concept or the art in the story. While it would be difficult to describe Rucka’s Question stories as a run, he does do some interesting things with the character, but ultimately with mixed success…
Stories: 6.5/10
Art: 5/10
Next Week: DC Universe by Alan Moore: Part One (Detective Comics 549-550, Green Lantern (vol 2) 188, Vigilante 17-18, The Omega Men 26-27). Written by Alan Moore with art by Klaus Janson, Dave Gibbons, Jim Baikie, and Kevin O’Neill.
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