A comiXologist recommends:
Convergence: The Question #2

by: Harris Smith

Who, or what, is the Question?  This faceless, enigmatic detective has been poking around the edges of the comics world since the mid-60’s.  Created by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics, the Question was originally Vic Sage, an investigative reporter and proponent of Ditko’s own objectivist philosophies.  In the 80’s, DC acquired Charlton’s superhero line.  Originally, the characters were intended to be the protagonists of Watchmen, but ultimately, they were absorbed into the mainstream DC Universe, with Watchmen’s Rorschach serving as a Question analogue.  Of the Charlton Sentinels, Blue Beetle became a member of the JLI.  Nightshade traveled with the Suicide Squad.  Captain Atom, another Ditko creation, joined Justice League Europe.  The Question, meanwhile, got a character-redefining run at the hands of Denny O’Neil and Denys Cowan.  The objectivism was jettisoned in favor of Eastern mysticism, martial arts and a more Zen-like philosophy.  

O’Neil’s take became the character’s defining thrust up until DC’s 52 miniseries, in which Vic Sage passed the Question mantle onto GCPD detective Renee Montoya, one of the main characters in Gotham Central.  In a handful of miniseries and Detective Comics backup stories, writer Greg Rucka fashioned this new iteration of the Question in a noir-inflected milieu while still retaining some of the mystical elements of O’Neil’s vision.  

The Montoya Question disappeared with the advent of DC’s New 52, leaving, perhaps appropriately, a lot of questions unanswered.  Fortunately, with the dawn of DC’s Convergence and the return of many of their classics, pre-New 52 characters, she’s back and, better yet, once again being written by Rucka.  Back is the hardboiled crime aesthetic, back is the conflicted relationship with Montoya’s former lover Batwoman, back is the even more conflicted relationship between Montoya and her family, back is everything that made this character great.  

Though Convergence: The Question is only a two issue miniseries, concluding this week, it holds a lot of promise for what DC has in store post-Convergence.  Though there’s no ongoing Question series in the first round of new DC books, debuting in June, her return to existence is a promising suggestion that we will soon be seeing many favorite characters make their return.  The only question now is when are we going to see more of the Question?

[Check out Convergence: The Question #2 on comiXology]

Harris Smith is a Brooklyn-based comics and media professional. In addition to his role as a Senior Production Coordinator at comiXology, he edits several comics anthologies, including Jeans and Felony Comics, under the banner of Negative Pleasure Publications. He’s also the host of the weekly radio show Neagtive Pleasure on Newtown Radio.