Most titles that home some of the best stories I have read usually have two problems: they usually go on for too long or for not long enough. Marv Wolfman’s epic run on The New Teen Titans was great during the 1980s, but as the 1990s progressed, the title begun to feel stale and ultimately, it needed to end. On the other hand, you can get exceptional runs such as Steve Englehart’s and Marshall Rogers’s run on Detective Comics, which is almost certainly a classic, but its major problem is that it needed to be longer. Yet, for once, here we have a title that ends just at the right moment. Whether O’Neil wanted the title to continue after The Question (vol 1) 36 (he must have to an extent due to The Question Quarterly issues), this was the perfect time to end the core run. O’Neil has already performed most of his magic on the main characters. If the run was to end any earlier, it would feel far too abrupt after he occurred in previous stories and any later, the title could have risked becoming dull and tired. No, this was the greatest time to end the title. After everything that happened, it needed to end on a high and with only six issues to go, let’s see if O’Neil can end the run as fantastically as he started it…
In the sixth of multiple reviews covering O’Neil’s run on The Question, I will be reviewing:
Boom The End --- The Question (vol 1) 31
The Peacemaker --- The Question (vol 1) 32
Harold --- The Question (vol 1) 33
“…Were it not that I have bad dreams…”/Let Nothing You Dismay…/Or Maybe Gomorrah --- The Question (vol 1) 34-36
The Question (vol 1) 31-36 was published from October 1989 to April 1990. All stories were written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan, Malcolm Jones III and Carlos
Garzon. I have read these stories in The Question: Peacemaker trade paperback.
Boom The End --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan and Malcolm Jones III
THE STORY
At a meeting of Hub City’s council, Mayor Myra confirms that the National Guard have been sent in to aid the police of the city. She also tells councillors that she has decided to destroy Hell’s Acres, a rotting old apartment building. Although all of those who lived there have been forced out, Vic hears the news and remembers his childhood when he once lived in the building and how it was rough. Later, Tot tells Vic and Myra that originally, the estate of Hell’s Acres was brought by munitions factory owner Marcus Hellaker, who wanted to create housing for the poor. However, the contractors robbed him blind and Hell’s Acres ultimately became a place of robbery, muggings and rape. Later in the day, demolition men head to Hell’s Acres to place their explosives down, but one of them is killed by an addict who once lived in the apartment building. The next day, Vic goes to the demolition site, wanting to see Hell’s Acres one last time before it is destroyed. He meets Izzy O’Toole at the scene, who wants to know where Myra is as she hasn’t been seen since the day before. Meanwhile in Hell’s Acres, Myra has been kidnapped by criminals who have lived in the building for years and they don’t want it destroyed. As they tell one of their men to head outside and tell O’Toole that they are holding Myra hostage, Vic enters the sewers and becomes the Question, making his way into the building. At the same time, Myra knocks over a lamp in the room, sending it into darkness as she tries to escape. As the Question takes out one of the gangsters, O’Toole and another officer briefly look inside the building, not finding Myra. In just two hours, the whole building will be destroyed. Meanwhile, as Myra hides in a laundry room, the Question appears and takes out the criminals hunting her. With only a few minutes to go, Lady Shiva appears, and she waits for the building to explode. Inside, Vic calls out for Myra, who responds. Once the two find each other, Vic comes to the conclusion that they can’t escape from the building in time. Suddenly, the demolitionists activate the explosives, and the building is destroyed, with just the rats seemingly surviving. Meanwhile in the sewers, Vic and Myra hear the explosion and Vic cries, remembering his childhood in Hell’s Acre. As the sun rises, Vic and Myra kiss.
MY THOUGHTS
Who thought that destroying buildings could help develop a character? Well, it does and ultimately, O’Neil writes another of his fantastic character-driven stories here. The focus of the story is usually the building and what happens in there hours before it is destroyed, but it’s the Question who the main focus is. Until the very end, Vic hides his emotions from everybody as despite the fact that the building itself is horrible, it contained his childhood. To Vic, when the building is destroyed, that part of his life is also destroyed. O’Neil writes Vic very powerfully in the last scene and as Myra says, it’s the first time we’ve ever seen Vic cry. Throughout, he has been a tough and sometimes jokey character, even in the direst of situations. Yet, when the purest time of his life is destroyed along with the building, it an unexpected yet welcome moment. The main plot itself is rather minimalist as it ultimately serves as a container for the change in Vic’s character. O’Neil writes a number of action scenes which are effective and breakup the story, while also adding some tensions with Myra and what might happen to her. In many respects, Hub City represents Vic Sage’s hell, a place he despises. Yet, for the Question, it is a place where he can unleash his anger on criminals. By the end of the story, with Vic’s breakdown, it begins a process, one which concludes in the final story. The conclusion to that process is Vic thinking about whether to leave Hub City or to stay, but more on that later. Like I said, although it may not appear as one at the very beginning, this is definitely a story about character and a change in Vic, which makes the impact of the story so much larger and overall, very enjoyable. That said, I do wonder what happened to the criminals that the Question defeated. Were they killed in the explosion?
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 6/10
The Peacemaker --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan and Malcolm Jones III
THE STORY
During the Vietnam War, Lieutenant William Palmer (with his platoon) search a village and find a boy in a red shirt running. As he shoots the boy, he is forever scarred by his experience. In Hub City, the present, Palmer is met with a group of
citizens who are part of the Neighbourhood Vigilance Association. They tell him that they could use his help as Hub City is like a warzone. Although at first Palmer doesn’t want to help, he reluctantly agrees to help on the conditions that he doesn’t carry a weapon or get involved in violence. Meanwhile, Myra speaks to Vic, who wants the two of them to get back together. However, she tells him they can’t because she has to perform her duties as Mayor. Vic then asks about the Citizen’s Patrol Program, which Myra is cautiously optimistic about, but the city is still a mess. Myra then asks about the man with no face, surprising Vic, believing that she might have uncovered the truth. Instead, she tells Vic that she wants to speak to the Question. As Vic leaves her office, he becomes the Question and takes out some criminals at a shooting gallery. However, he seriously thinks about killing one of them, nearly stabbing him. He manages to resist it. Later, Palmer meets with the Neighbourhood Vigilance Association, who are kitted out with weapons. As they head out on patrol, one of them thinks he notices something moving in the doorway. Suddenly, somebody begins firing at them from a window and Palmer pushes everybody behind cover. Palmer is then given a gun and he talks to himself, telling him that is will be different this time. Skilfully, Palmer rushes into the building and finds it to be empty, until he charges into a room and finds a child sitting in there. In the rush of the moment, Palmer shoots the child and quickly searches for his gun. He doesn’t find it. There isn’t any gun. Then, just after Palmer puts the gun to his own head, the Neighbourhood Vigilance Association team outside hear another gunshot.
MY THOUGHTS
When I first heard the title to this story and the book that publishes it, I thought that this story would feature the hero Peacemaker, another Charlton character created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette. I guess it’s a missed opportunity, but the story is good, nonetheless. The Vietnam War is often a story which many of the older writers use as a plot point to introduce a character, one wo has never gotten over the experiences of war. This is another one of those stories, but the sense of storytelling is told excellently by O’Neil. The Question really takes a back seat for the plot here and the main focus is on Palmer. Obviously, there is lots of potential for his character and the introduction to his character through several flashback pages are quite effective. O’Neil stresses here the difference between fighting in Hub City and real war. Near the end of the story, as Palmer enters the building with his gun, the other members of the Neighbourhood Vigilance Association decide that they should go home. It shows that Hub City really can’t be saved. Whether it be by the hands of the Question or a group of concerned citizens, the city is unsalvageable. One of my favourite moments from the story has to be the ending, which is very effective, and it proves that Palmer’s head will always be stuck in war, explaining why he decides to kill himself. That being said, that ending does feel incredibly abrupt since the last panel is the reaction of the Neighbourhood Vigilance Association to another gunshot. O’Neil has done this in previous issues and ultimately, I think the story needed to wind down a bit because the ending does feel abrupt. In the 1980s, the likes of O’Neil and Grell wrote multiple stories which are similar to this one and while O’Neil’s telling of the story does feel different due to his use of dialogue, it ultimately falls into a pile of other stories about the soldiers in the Vietnam War. I think as a plot device, it became far too overused and while the story is very memorable, its plotting is far from original.
Story: 8/10
Art: 5/10
Harold --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan and Malcolm Jones III
THE STORY
In a mansion in Gotham City, a mother screams about how her son, named Harold, is a freak and an ugly beast, despite his talents such as fixing machines. As Harold walks in, his mother screams at her and orders him to get out. He does what she asks and leaves the house. Meanwhile, as Myra picks up her daughter Jackie from the orphanage, O’Toole phones Vic, telling him that Cathy Fregosi has been released by Judge Whelperson after being arrested. Myra discovered that Whelperson has been on the take for years and she gave him the choice of resigning or getting fired, which would result in his dirty dealings being revealed to the public. Vic then believes that Cathy has been sent after Myra on the orders of Whelperson. Vic then heads out to begin his mission. Meanwhile, as Myra drives home with Jackie, their car breaks down. As Myra checks the engine, Harold appears with a spanner. At the same time, Vic becomes the Question and finds Cathy entering Whelperson’s house. The Question just about manages to listen as he overhears Whelperson and Cathy talking about killing Myra. Suddenly, Whelperson’s phone rings and it is a neighbour telling him that somebody is looking into his window. That somebody is the Question, who is confronted by Cathy, who defeats the Question. Whelperson then tells Cathy to head to Myra’s office, where she may be while he phones the police about the Question. But, once he does so, the Question escapes. Although injured, the Question drives to Myra’s office, where she has just arrived with Jackie and Harold. Inside, she is chased by Cathy. However, as Myra, Jackie and Harold escape into an elevator, it stops half-way up. Cathy then pries the elevator door open and threatens Myra, while Harold manages to fix the elevator. However, just as the elevator reaches the top floor, the doors open, and Cathy appears. Once again, Myra manages to close the door on him before Harold using the electrical wires in the elevator to electrocute Cathy. Suddenly, Jackie begins to have a fit as Myra has left her medicine in her car. Harold then helps Myra and Jackie escape the elevator through a hatch. Then, they trick Cathy by sending the elevator down with him it as they stay on top of it and leave as it passes (continued)
the open lift doors. As Cathy is stuck in an elevator, the Question appears and rescues Myra and Jackie. However, Myra wonders where Harold has gone. Outside, Harold walks away through the snow.
MY THOUGHTS
This one here is a classic for multiple different reasons. Before looking at the details of the story, you have to look at Harold, who will ultimately become a huge player in the Batman: Hush story by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. After this story, O’Neil (as editor on the Batman titles) makes Harold into a supporting character during Doug Moench’s, Alan Grant’s and Chuck Dixon’s runs on the Batman titles. Its never really clear why O’Neil took this decision, but it was ultimately a good one. This story simply introduces us to him and his talents, creating a character who you can easily feel sorry for. By the end, you realise that he is a character who can be easily misjudged, especially since he saves Myra and her daughter from Cathy. Yes, the plot here is very similar to something you’d read in Green Arrow by Mike Grell, but due to Harold’s presence, the story feels unique and constantly interesting. Cathy is simply a giant brute with a strange choice of name. I can’t imagine that there are many men called Cathy, so O’Neil’s choice of name is rather perplexing here. Anyway, for the majority of the story, it is a good old-fashioned chase, and it was tense. That is partially down to Jackie, a character who did feature earlier on in the series very briefly. However, O’Neil uses her here very cleverly as she appears in the final story of the run. If she didn’t appear before then I suppose that many readers would have simply forgot about her existence. Anyway, the plot itself is very compelling and makes for a good read, even if it does feel incomplete. What happens to Cathy? I know he is trapped in the elevator but surely, he gets out. More importantly, what happens to Whelperson who starts the whole story off? We assume that he gets caught at the end by the Question, but I think we should have seen it for clarification. That all said, the main focus here should rightfully be on Harold. O’Neil creates a fantastic character in him, one which is surprisingly good-hearted. The reason I say surprisingly is because most characters that O’Neil introduces in the run can often be villainous. Even Izzy O’Toole started off as something of a villain. But O’Neil does a great job here introducing a great new character, one who will be very important in future stories and feature in some of the greatest Batman stories.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 5/10
“…Were it not that I have bad dreams…”/Let Nothing You Dismay…/Or Maybe Gomorrah --- Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan, Carlos Garzon and Malcolm Jones III
THE STORY
After experiencing another nightmare about her relationship with Vic, the Question and how she murdered Hatch (The Question (vol 1) 4), Myra wakes up at three in the morning and phones Tot, asking to speak to Vic. However, he isn’t there. Meanwhile, Vic, as the Question, fights against a group of muggers, taking them out before heading into his car and taking his mask off. Then, Vic drives to a colourful home with his mother, who makes him lunch. His mother then tells him to talk back as he tells her that she isn’t the boss of him. Vic then collapses and transforms into a child, crying about his father. Back in the real world, Vic is unconscious as he has crashed his car. A group of criminals recognise him as Vic Sage, and they take all of his clothes off. Meanwhile, Myra phones a psychiatrist named Doctor Hector Bohling, asking for his help. He tells her that he can see her in forty minutes from now. As she drives to Bohling’s house, she notices a naked man beaten man leaning on a post box, unaware that it is Vic Sage. Meanwhile, a helicopter passes over Hub City, with its passenger deciding to get off in a park. At the same time, Myra meets with Bohling, who gives her something to inhale. She then begins to feel sleepy as Bohling asks about her lovers. Myra then wakes up and notices Bohling taking his clothes off. Myra comes to the conclusion that the last psychiatrist in Hub City is insane, before punching him in the face. Meanwhile in the park, the wheelchair-bound passenger exits the helicopter and is confronted by the gangsters who found Vic Sage, but they are easily defeated by the crippled man. Later, at home while reflecting on her life, Myra hears a knock on her door and when she answers it, it is the crippled man asking if she is Myra. He then introduces himself as Richard Dragon and he has come to help…
Somewhere in Hub City, a man dressed as the Question shoots a man for no reason. Before dying, the man manages to get to a police station, and he tells an officer that the shooter was a man with no face. O’Toole hears the news and believes that it was only a matter of time before the Question would kill somebody. Meanwhile, Richard Dragon tells Myra that about four years ago, Vic stayed with him for a year and acquired martial arts expertise, but he wasn’t ready to release Hub City and its meaning for him, as it is a place where addictions are fed. Dragon then tells Myra that Vic could be at a crisis point, in which he can either progress or regress. Myra decides to help Dragon in his search. Meanwhile, the gangster dressed as the Question kills a group of people after robbing them. Later, Myra and Dragon visit Tot, who believes that Vic gets enjoyment from violence. Dragon agrees, but tells Myra that if you have to fight, then the battle is already lost. Then, Myra remembers the near-naked man she saw earlier, believing that it could be Vic. Meanwhile, O’Toole finds Vic’s crashed car. O’Toole decides its time to check out Vic’s place. Somewhere, Vic is unconscious, and he doesn’t know where he is. Meanwhile, after having a long zen-full conversation about hopelessness, Myra and Dragon find Vic’s car as well. As Dragon comes to the conclusion that Vic must be nearby, they are confronted by two thugs. Meanwhile, Tot is surprised when the Question comes home. However, it is the fake Question, who punches Tot and asks for his money. At the same time, Myra lectures the two thugs about how she is sick of brain-dead punks trying to kill her and she threatens them, telling them that if they want to fight then they can. Dragon watches as the thugs back away and leave. As Vic hallucinates about his mother again, Tot gives the fake Question the money and he ask him about Vic. Then, as there is a knock on the door, the fake Question punches Tot and O’Toole enters, firing his gun at the fake Question, who escapes by leaping out the window. Despite being injured from a bullet-wound himself, O’Toole chases after the fake Question. Meanwhile, Myra and Dragon arrive at a church, a place related to Sage’s past. Although they are told that Vic hasn’t been here, Dragon isn’t so sure. Meanwhile, O’Toole manages to catch the fake Question and he takes his mask off, revealing him to be Melly Warder, a crook who O’Toole has arrested numerous times. Warder then dies from his injuries. Back at the church, Dragon and Myra search under the straw of a shrine, finding Vic, who tells them must leave Hub City because his mother told him so…
As Myra gives Vic her coat to keep warm, she asks how he didn’t freeze to death. However, Dragon reminds her that Vic was taught that if he imagined a sun in the
region of his solar plexus, it would keep him warm. Suddenly, the three of them notice a gang destroying a car, before a man walks up to them with a dead baby, attempting to trick them into believing it is alive. Then, Vic collapses and Dragon decides to place him in his wheelchair. This confuses Myra as she thought, he was really handicapped. However, Dragon explains that he played the charade because when Vic visited him all those years ago, he didn’t want him to see him as a fighting challenge since this would have resulted in Vic learning nothing. Myra then admits that she doesn’t know what he is talking about. Then, Myra notices that her office is on fire and they instead decide to go to Tot’s house. On their way, they meet O’Toole, who admits that he thought that Warder was actually the Question. He decides to follow Myra, Dragon and Vic (still unconscious), that is after he takes out a fat criminal dressed as Santa, giving his coat to Myra. As they arrive at Tot’s house, he is happy to find Vic, who wakes up and asks for his mother. Vic is put to bed, with O’Toole congratulating him on managing to hide the fact that he was the Question for so long. As O’Toole leaves to carry out his duties, Myra checks in on Vic. While he is sleeping, she tells him that she loves him. The next morning, it is Christmas and as Myra and Vic go out to play in the snow, Tot releases that he hasn’t got anymore coffee. While throwing snowballs at one another, Vic asks Myra to leave Hub City with him, but she can’t since she’s the Mayor. However, not long afterwards, Tot drives Myra to the orphanage, where she picks up Jackie and tells the nuns that she is leaving Hub City with her daughter. However, the nun asks her to take all the other children as well as they are out of money, food and fuel. Myra quickly leaves, telling the nun that they don’t have the room. Arriving at the meeting point, Vic, Tot, Dragon, Myra and Jackie find a helicopter waiting for them, with Lady Shiva also waiting. She tells them that when they leave the city, she will appear as it will provide challenges that will amuse her. Vic tells her that he doesn’t know what to say, as he fears that if he says the wrong thing, she may destroy him. However, Shiva tells him of the grand secret: she cannot destroy him unless he permits her. Shiva then leaves. However, as everybody gets onto the helicopter, Myra gives Vic Jackie and tells her that she can’t leave. As Myra remembers the children at the orphanage and the dead baby, she remembers he duties as Mayor as she has to stay and do what she can. Vic and Jackie watch as Myra walks away from the helicopter through the snow.
MY THOUGHTS
This is the final story of the core series and, as Richard Dragon says, it is a turning point. The Question is faced with a choice: continue to fight the unending battle in Hub City or abandon it for good. The story serves as a conclusion for most of the plot points that have been present since the start of the run. Myra is the first character we witness in the story and while it is great that O’Neil acknowledges that she killed Hatch violently in the fourth issue of the run, that fact was rather forgotten both by her and seemingly O’Neil for most of the run. It would have been great to see her have these nightmares throughout the run, but that just didn’t happen. However, her nightmares link to a larger part of the story, but more on that later. Ever since his death in The Question (vol 1) 1, Vic changed in some more zen way, somebody seemingly at peace with themselves. By now however, the old Question seems to have returned. In fact, something I didn’t notice until recently was that in this last story, it is the first time in a while since he has worn his original Question costume (designed by Ditko), showing that his character has simply reverted back to how he once was. Ultimately, this story is a reminder for Vic and he nearly dies. He has forgotten the teachings of Dragon and throughout the story, we see the persona of the Question trashed not just by gangsters, but also the vigilante himself. Despite not being in the story for the first two parts, Vic plays a very important role His car crash is a key moment of the story as it triggers those strange hallucinations of his mother, one of the few characters who will ever see Vic submit to. As we have seen in the run, Vic loves talking back, and he constantly wants to be right. His mother seems to be the only person to convince him that being the Question in Hub City is the wrong choice. He realises that Hub City cannot be saved, a message which has been present since the run begun. Hub City is hell and Vic finally realises this. Richard Dragon is another character who is very important here. He first appeared in the series way back in The Question (vol 1) 2, but his messages of zen have been relevant constantly and here is where we and Vic learn that. As he is a character that O’Neil created, Dragon is a very entertaining character. He isn’t one of those boring zen masters, the ones who stay at the top of a mountain with huge grey beards and recite strange borderline meaningless phrases. He is actually quite an entertaining character, reminding me sometimes of the Chief from the Doom Patrol with his humour. During this point of the story there are two searches going on, one for Vic Sage and another for the Question. Starting with the latter of the two, this one is incredibly interesting for a number of different reasons. The Question has never been afraid to use violence. He has never been afraid to violently attack or nearly kill those who are criminals. The fake Question who appears primarily in the (continued)
Question (vol 1) 35 could have been a reflection of sorts, one showing what Vic Sage could have so easily become if he gave into his anger and rage. The same applies to Batman on many levels, but it is much more impactful with the Question, mainly because his costume is very simple. If anybody got hold of the Question’s costume like they did here and posed as him, it could easily convince people like it does in this story. The Question’s reputation is almost destroyed here since somebody pretends to be him while carrying out murder. It is also partly the reason why Vic decides to leave Hub City at the end. He realises that he is going down a dark path which would ultimately, turn him into the very thing he swore to defeat. O’Toole is the best character to deal with this segment of the story. He has been a character present since the very beginning, and it was the Question who played a part in turning him into a straight cop. O’Toole seemingly sees the Question in a similar position to what he was once in. Meanwhile, the search for Vic may not feel as dramatic or even important as the hunt for the fake Question, but it allows for some great scenes featuring Myra and Dragon. During one of these scenes, it is Dragon who says that if you have to fight, the battle is already lost, which is a great summary of Vic’s time in Hub City and by the end, he realises that he lost long ago. There are many moments throughout not just this story, but every previous issue to convey that Hub City is beyond hope. The third and final part of the story is a great conclusion to the core run, while also bringing up some questions about the future. Suitably, it is Christmas (something which isn’t really even mentioned before the third issue) as we see Hub City being passed on from a vigilante to, whatever Lady Shiva is. Before that however, we get some of my favourite moments from the story, in which Myra comes to the conclusion that she must stay in the city. Her time as Mayor and even watching her now-dead husband drunkenly perform the duties of public office has taught her that you can’t just walk away from the city. There’s a great scene with Myra heading to the orphanage to pick up Jackie and O’Neil writes a terrific nine-panel page featuring the nuns and the children saying how they want to come with Myra. That is a very emotionally strong moment and when Myra denies them any hope, you know it won’t end there. Myra has a commitment to the travesty known as Hub City, but she does rescue her daughter Jackie, giving her to Vic. This is where the questions appear. What will the future hold? Where does Vic, Jackie, Tot and Dragon go? What about Myra? What happens to Hub City with Lady Shiva now looking over it. Some of these questions will be answered, but others will not. In fact, I think now is a great time to mention one of the problems I have had with the run since it began: what was the point of Lady Shiva. Obviously, she has a huge impact on the story by killing Vic, but then she saves him and later in the run, she appears as an ally of sorts. Why? I really do wonder what will happen next with her character and why she came back a number of times before simply vanishing. These are the questions which need to be answered and unfortunately, not all of them are. However, as a conclusion to the run, this was something I was hoping for. It features a real analysis of Vic and the Question and how the two characters can almost be seen as two different entities. O’Neil gives some closure to the main characters, but perhaps not as much as he should have done. Although this is the end of the main series, O’Neil’s story of the Question doesn’t end here. The Question will return, several times in fact.
Story: 9/10
Art: 4.5/10
THE ART BY DENYS COWAN, MALCOLM JONES III AND CARLOS GARZON
Although the run comes to an end, our time with the artists on the series does not. At least, with Cowan anyway. I do have to confess that I really like the consistency of the series. Cowan has drawn nearly every issue of the series and while I am certainly not the biggest fan of his art, I have respect for that. He and O’Neil started the core series together and they have ended it together. Of course, Cowan will return in the Quarterly stories, but we’ll get to those very soon. Jones III’s inks over Cowan are as scratchy as ever, reflecting the gritty mood of the story and ultimately not looking very appealing. It’s a style of art I’ve never been fond of. For some odd reason, Carlos Garzon inks the Question (vol 1) 34 and his inks aren’t exactly great. Everything looks very rough and there is a lot of dry brush, another artistic style which I don’t really like. It can work occasionally but to the extent of it here, I just think it looks messy. But like I said, I may not be keen on the style, but I sure do respect of the consistency of Cowan’s art. This title is as much his as O’Neil’s.
VERDICT
Overall, The Question: Peacemaker is a satisfying conclusion to the core run that completes Vic Sage’s time in Hub City. All three of the one-off stories are very good, particularly the Harold story. Also, the main three-parter is an entertaining conclusion to this part of the Question’s story. Yet, there are still many questions which need to be answered. The art once again works with the gritty tone of the stories but ultimately, it still looks unattractive. Well, this may be the end of the core run, but it isn’t yet time to summarise my thoughts on the run as a whole. There are still some stories to go and the next of those stories will be in The Question: Quarterly, also by O’Neil and Cowan…
Stories: 9/10
Art: 5/10
Next Week: Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby (Devil Dinosaur 1-9). Written and pencilled by Jack Kirby with inks by Mike Royer. Expected by 29/11/2020.
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