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A second origin of the Question
23. The Question #4 by Dennis O’Neil and Denys Cowan
I debated for a bit whether I would cover the O’Neil and Cowan revival of the Question at all on this blog. While he is ostensibly part of the revised DC Universe like his fellow Charlton heroes Blue Beetle and Captain Atom, this book essentially keeps away from the rest of the universe for most of its run. While it’s still a few months away at this point, it would become part of a weird moment in the proto-Vertigo era of DC, where street-level vigilante books also carried mature readers labels. Outside of a Batman cameo that may have been a dream in an earlier issue and a series of Green Arrow appearances (which will soon also be a DC mature readers title), The Question remains his own man.
For now, I’ll keep it as part of my reviews though, as so many reviews of this series focus on just how good it is. While I love a lot of O’Neil’s writing, I’ve never quite agreed with that argument. And this issue caps the reason why.
The first issue of the book essentially kills Vic Sage, only for him to be fished out of the water and nursed back to health in the next issue by Lady Shiva. He’s sent to train under Richard Dragon, as the book seems to be in danger of becoming an incestuous mix of old O’Neil creations. Dragon and Shiva soon disappear though, but not…
