Customer Reviews

DC Universe: Helltown

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The trenchcoat-suit-and-fedora vigilante with faceless mask, known as The Question, also known as Vic Sage, has alternately benefitted and suffered from his low profile in the world of superhero comics. He was created for smaller publisher Charlton Comics by Objectivist comics creator Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man among other characters, and was an anomaly in the world of sixties comics - while most everyone else was a spandex selfless do-gooder, Sage/Question was a crusading journalist whose "costumed" identity wore suits and street clothes. He acted out of rational self-interest and a thirst for answers and a guarantee of rational justice for all.

When Charlton folded, The Question disappeared, save as a favorite obscure character among myriads of readers who would one day become writers. But in the eighties, after DC bought the rights, his sun started to rise. Alan Moore, comics' greatest talent, crafted "Watchmen," one of Time's greatest novels of the twentieth century. This graphic novel featured more realistic analogues of the Charlton heroes, including Rorschach, a mask-wearing trenchcoat vigilante who took The Question's moral absolutism to new heights (or depths). Rorschach has become an icon of post-modern comics, but truly was Moore's clever play on The Question character.

Yet not long after this eclipsing of The Question had begun, writer Denny O'Neil teamed up with artist Denys Cowan to create one of DC Comics' first "Mature Readers" titles - "The Question." Here, Vic Sage was the professional journalism name of one Charles Victor Szasz, an orphan turned successful journalist who traveled to the fictional Hub City (think East St. Louis meets Gotham City) to find information on his birth parents, and also explore the city of his youth. His rage at his abandonment was hinted to be the roots of his fierce personality, and his first case in the pages of the comic series had him nearly killed, revived by a Zen master, and sent to Hub City after a year of training. An Objectivist turned Zen Warrior, sent to question himself and morality as the modern-day Gomorrah of Hub City fell apart around him under the weight of crime, corruption, and acts of God.

In the nineties, writer Greg Rucka took The Question, modeled after O'Neil's version, and thrust him into Gotham City as a mentor to costumed heroine the Huntress. In the new millenium, a paranoid Question that amalgamated Ditko's version and Alan Moore's Rorschach became a break-out character on Bruce Timm's "Justice League Unlimited." An off-kilter shamanistic version of The Question by Rich Veitch appeared in a mini-series, and after the company-wide crossover "Infinite Crisis," The Question became a star of the year-long series "52."

With "Helltown," O'Neil returned to the character to write a novel set tenuously in the same world as the other DC Universe novels. No mention of anyone but non-powered heroes, however, makes this fall in line with O'Neil run on "The Question," which featured Green Arrow and Batman, but never had anyone with x-ray vision or magic alien rings turn the stories into sci-fi.

But is "Helltown" a good contribution to the mythos of The Question? No. The problem? O'Neil truncates his masterful three-year comic series into a poorly-executed story that drastically departs from who Vic Sage is. It's a very interesting story, but is uninspired in terms of prose, and falls far short of the epic story that O'Neil crafted in the comic.

The thing about The Question is that it's hard to be a typical comic book "fanboy" about the character since so many versions exist. But each writer has built the character around a basic framework while taking him in new directions. Ditko created him as a Randian crusader. O'Neil made him a curious Zen warrior. Moore made him, via Rorschach, a living moral compass pointing to a dark pole. Rucka made him a bemused sleuth and Good Samaritan. Veitch made him a vicious but enlightened urban shaman. Timm made him into a conspiracy theorist and master detective.

In O'Neil's "Helltown," he removes a major part of who Vic is, a part of the character that each writer (including, previously, O'Neil) has respected in his own way. In his pre-"Helltown" forms, Vic Sage is a man who worked his way from nothing. For Ditko and most of the DC writers, this meant being a self-made man, with the DC writers adding the wrinkle that he overcame the status of being a disenfranchised orphan. Even Moore's off-kilter Rorschach overcomes personal adversity to be the last remaining superhero at the story's start. But in "Helltown," Vic is a manual laborer and brawler with no purpose or direction. It's an interesting character, but it's harder to admire and it's harder to be impressed when he claws up from adversity since the character as we first meet him has spent years resigned to his fate - he seemed to be lucky to achieve, not driven. He has never, before the story, achieved anything. While it's not a horrible idea for a main character, it doesn't fit the self-made persona of The Question. One wonders if O'Neil couldn't have crafted new characters from scratch and told the same story without sullying his own classic work.

O'Neil's writing style is suited for scripting comics, if this novel is any indication. There's little by way of the subtle, things move too quickly, and the characters beyond Vic are barely explored, and are almost written as if the reader is supposed to already admire Lady Shiva, Richard Dragon, the Batman, etc. Vic himself gets so side-tracked by his major vigilante investigation that the questions of identity raised at the beginning are left hanging, without even the twist that Vic has decided questions are better than answers.

The villains are barely explored, making the resolution uninvolving. Many plot threads are left hanging, and there's not enough on the villains to make the reader truly hate, fear, or pity them. Hub City as a city is also flat, presented in such a way at first that it feels claustrophobic, as if the city is so bad it doesn't make sense why it still has forty thousand residents. Where these residents are hiding isn't clear - the local economy and population seem non-existent save for a few bikers, an evil factory, and a few bums. O'Neil spends little time fleshing out the city, and the story suffers for it.

The Question himself barely appears, with Sage out of costume often, making the few moments where he declares the mask to be his true self ring false, since he rarely retreats in his true self enough to make us believe that declaration.

There are occasional bright spots, like the dialogue between Batman and his butler Alfred, or some one-liners from Vic, but most of the book is straight-forward narration, few deft turns of language, abrupt flashbacks or scene shifts, etc. In other words, the prose is weak, weak, weak.

Fans of The Question should give it a look, perhaps buy a copy in order to encourage DC Comics to utilize this character more. But most fans of The Question will have read the late eighties series or are (inspired by his recent televised and comic book appearances) collecting the back issues, and they'll notice how O'Neil is giving us a weak retread of his original story, which is one of the greatest comic series ever done. Many of the events of "Helltown" are taken straight from the comic series, and the contrast doesn't reflect well on them - O'Neil's done these ideas before, and done them much better. The only thing he does better is spend some time on Aristotle Rodor, a great character who manages to shine a bit in this book when he holds his own in conversations with the Batman and Alfred Pennyworth.

So, unless you're already in love with the character of The Question, save yourself the money for this book, and first buy Alan Moore's "Watchmen." If you love Rorschach and want to encounter a more sympathetic version of the character, relive your childhood by heading to an area comic shop (or an online shop) and begin obtaining the original O'Neil/Cowan series. You'll find a story much more ambitious, thought-out, and well executed than the disappointing affair that is "Helltown."

Wow.
After reading this book, I decided it was appropriate to write a positive review but then I came here and saw what other people said. The weird thing is, I kinda agree with many of the other readers' comments ... but I still think this book deserves a strong thumbs up.
The superhero novel is a strange beast, IMO, and rarely done well. A superhero like The Question in particular seems out of place here. As others have pointed out, this is, in many ways, a pretty standard adventure/mystery story and the sole "comic book" element (outside of the "guest stars," which is a strange way to describe characters in a novel...) is The Question's appearance. He doesn't have super powers or even odd gadgets like Batarangs or boxing glove arrows.
The issue becomes, I think, is this still a "comic book" novel? I suspect O'Neil's response was, "It doesn't *have* to be..." So he kept the striking appearance of the character but made it more of a quirk, more Columbo's raincoat than Captain America's shield. The end result is a book that many may buy thinking they're going to get the character from the comic book when in fact, this story is much more in line with an ongoing paperback adventure series like "The Destroyer."
As a comic book reader, I've read many of these kinds of novels and many are just awful for reasons ranging from rampant "Mary Sue-ism" to the fact that a description of Spider-Man fighting Doctor Octopus over New York City without some accompanying illustration just doesn't convey the proper spectacle. Comic books are a visual medium and I think the characters (at least the superheroes or other extreme adventure characters) just work better when they can be seen as in comic books, cartoons or film.
But "Helltown" was a good, enjoyable read. I think the open minded comic book fan will enjoy this but, even more, I think the non-fan would like this as well.
I think some of the other readers may have made some mistaken assumptions about O'Neil's approach. I think O'Neil decided to take the approach of adapting a work from one medium to another. I think he chose not to simply re-write what he had already accomplished when he wrote the comic book series but to take the basic premise and take it along parallel lines like a musician who creates a Reggae version of a Beatles song.
I think O'Neil does *not* see this as the only novel in the series and left some unanswered questions deliberately. I actually could see The Question succeed as a sort-of brainy "men's adventure" series because the character has those distinguishing quirks but not to the extreme that it might alientate the non-comic book fan.
I will admit that someone who buys the book based on the cover expecting strong participation by Batman would be disappointed. I think even those expecting a straight prose translation of O'Neil and Denys Cowan's comic book series will be disappointed.
But for the casual fan or those who can enjoy the sort of "Vertigo" re-invention of well-established characters, I think "Helltown" will prove to be a rewarding read.

I was a huge fan of O'Neil's 1980s Question series, and when I read he was going to do a novel a few years ago I was really excited. I expected to see some questions answered, and see a more "pure" version of what he wanted to do.
This, however, isn't quite what happened. The novel is good, and the action flows, so in that it's a decent adventure novel. However, as a novel, O'Neil had so much more room to do things with the characters, and he just didn't. He made changes, and the introducing page tells us this is a "correction" of the comic series, so I assume it IS more of his own story, but it's not as well done as the comics.
There's no more depth that any other comic novel I've seen, and this is a story that needs it. Sage has no childhood, doesn't know who he is, and his NEED for answers is what drives the comic series. That's almost absent here. His character is far more shallow here, and far less interesting. Watching him work out his life just doesn't carry anything powerful, as it did before.
It isn't just in comparison that this novel suffers, it's as a novel and piece of fiction. One of the complaints I have is that you don't find out anything about Sage's search for his roots. I know a lot of people enjoy fiction with no resolution, but I'm not one of them. Many people will tell you that's how life is, but if I want real life, I'll read non-fiction. What I want is quality fiction, and this suffers for it. It seems O'Neil thought making Sage an orphan was a good plot point, and used it to drive the character, but it becomes nothing more than convenient, and doesn't really give you a sense of the character here.
There won't be a follow-up novel, I think that's obvious, so I think that the mysteries should have been resolved here, and not doing so takes away from the book.
Overall, this is worth reading, but it does have flaws. Not the least of which is bad editing here and there (one character's name changes twice in the space of two pages, and is spelled differently both times) and there is a distinct lack of fleshing out who the people all are.

dont count this book out. people might say bad thing about this book but dont listen. it reads well, no slow parts, very descrptive and half the time you forget its a superhero book. The Question is an interesting character and does have and interesting origin.

Ever wonder about the origins of the comic book character, The Question? Then, look no further than the pages of HELLTOWN for some answers and for more questions as well....

It all starts with his decision to revisit Hub City, where Charles Victor Szasz believes he was born. Renaming himself as Vic Sage to accommodate the local prejudices inherent to Hub City, Vic stumbles upon corruption and almost ends up dead. His reawakening as The Question is the crux of the storyline as he enters the DC Universe.

Dennis O'Neil attempts to bring to life a relatively unknown comic book character in DC UNIVERSE: HELLTOWN. This reviewer was actually unaware of The Question prior to reading this novel but it appears that Vic Sage is more of an introspective character than most of the other well-known superheroes. This innate Zen-like quality is difficult to translate into the written word, particularly regarding Vic's search for his beginnings. The constant "whatever happens will happen" and almost indifferent attitude makes it hard to sympathize with Vic's struggles. The reader aches for him to get mad or seek revenge at least once. Instead, Vic, in the guise of The Question, seems to amble along and occasionally seek out a sense of justice on issues that seem overshadowed by Vic's lack of passion.

Vic's companion, Aristotle "Tot" Rodor is a fascinating character. In fact, his grizzly but caring attitude would have been the perfect foil to Vic if Vic had just a bit more direction. The inclusion of Batman and his butler, Alfred, will appeal to fans of the Caped Crusader but does nothing to truly enhance the story. In fact, Batman is actually more of a hero than Vic and the relationship between the two offers more questions than answers.

DC UNIVERSE: HELLTOWN will perhaps appeal more to those who are very familiar with the character of The Question. There is a great deal of action that keeps the plot flowing. However, the purposeless wandering of Vic Sage and the lack of resolution on some key issues make this book a frustrating read for the casual fan of comic book superheroes.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

First off, yes, this is a book for comics fans, but not your standard capes and spandex variety. Some background: Steve Ditko, best known for being the original Spiderman artist, created "Mr. A" in the 60s, a character who expounded on the obscure philosophy of Ayn Rand. (Dikto himself is quirky; a guy once flew over from Paris to interview him at his New York apartment, but Dikto would only talk to him over the building's intercom.) But while "Mr. A" was for a fanzine, he later made The Question -- essentially the same character --for Charleston comics. The company folded and DC comics bought some of the characters, including The Question. Anyone who knows comics knows about the Watchmen, or at least they should. The Watchman character "Rorshack" was based on the Question. DC also made some comics using the Question as himself, including a mini-series in the 1980s, written by Denny O'Neil. This novel is based on that story and O'Neil wrote this, too.
There was an issue of the Avengers (215 or 216) in which the Silver Surfer says that, since he had such power, he had a responsibility to
use it to help people. An Avenger said to him that it seemed like, even if the Surfer were just an ordinary guy, he'd probably be out there
trying to improve the world. That's kind of like the Question.
The Question defies most superhero categorization. He has no superpowers nor super weapons. While he's far from stupid, he's certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer either, nor does he have much formal education. He doesn't even have have a superb mastery of weaponry, like Hawkeye or Green Arrow, and he's not out for "justice", since, as he mentions at one point, he's not even sure what "justice" is. He doesn't have some kind of haunting, driving motivation like Batman of Spiderman.
So what's up?
When tough guy Charles Victor Szasz blows into town at the even tougher Midwestern "Hub City", the Helltown of the title (which is what -- Detroit? Pittsburgh? O'Neil says its a composite), he's got nothing. His ratty old car dies almost immediately, he's got no job, no money to speak of, no family, and even his name is taken from the priest who showed him some kindness at the orphanage where he grew up (which has since burned to the ground). He somehow manages to score a job at a small local radio station doing broadcast news, largely by impressing the hell out of the station manager by taking on two armed bikers who attack them -- and winning, although sustaining some injuries. The station manager gives him a more radio friendly name: Vic Sage, and directs him to an eccentric, rich old man who'll who let Vic live on the property without charging much rent.
Later, on a story, Vic is beat within an inch of his life, but again impresses the hell out of someone: a quirky martial artist known as Lady Shiva. The impressive part was that he paradoxically kept getting up after he wasn't able to get up, as she put it. She brings him to another world class martial artist who nurse him back to health and trains him.
Back at Hub City, his benefactor, the old man --"Tot" -- was brutalized by thugs looking for Vic, and so is now willing to back him with resources, such as his the "faceless" face mask, and helps him arrive at the name, The Question. He also gets similarly expensive help from comics' original millionaire superhero, Bruce Wayne.
This reminds me a little of the premise of the old "Magnum, P.I." tv series. Due to his association with a wealthy man, the protagonist gets the fancy car, house and other expensive resources, and thereby
partakes of a millionaire's trappings but still retains his "working class hero" status -- thereby presumably not alienating readers/viewers
who are contemptuous of the rich. In short, having it both ways.
For me, though, the story kind of goes down hill after all this.
Sure, the newly formed Question goes on to accomplish his goals, but
the much more interesting story is the becoming, the origin. He never even really investigates his roots, and while there's a certain logic to leaving the matter unresolved -- he is, after all, The Question, and hence a mysterious past makes sense -- it's still sort of unsatisfying.
There are also a few interesting lines philosophically. When Vic asks his martial arts instructor, what does he think about hunters coming into the mountains to kill animals, I half expected him to be against
it, but he says he has no opinion, it really has nothing t do with him.
A Zen response, basically. When Vic later talks to Tot he says he's afraid that talking might prevent him from doing -- a concept sometimes used in modern magic. Some say that in talking about a plan, you lose some vital energy, maybe even enough to prevent you from acting accordingly.
So, an uncommon origin for an uncommon hero, and some interesting
philosophical ideas (mentioned but not explored). I'd recommend the book for these reasons, and maybe others will find the more conventional
latter part of the book more interesting than I did.

I picked this book up for five bucks at a bookstore expecting an average comic book hero story. Not only is it not an average comic book hero story, it has become my favorite book of all time, i have read it five times, and three of those times were in the same year i bought it.
So what im saying is-
Its a good book,
Get it,
And read it,
Preferably more than once.

Helltown is a book all fans of The Question have been in a panic for, thinking we'd die before we'd see it. But here it finally is, and it's Denny O'Neil's way of rendering in prose form what he created in comic form with lots of interesting updates thrown in (he borrows largely from issues 1-4 and 14 of the 1986 series but updates the plot and main characters involved). First I'll talk about what I think is great about this book, and then, because I feel morally compelled to, I'll talk about the mistakes, problems, and huge gaffs in the book. That being said, even with its frankly embarrassing amount of mistakes, I'll take this novel any day against some others. WARNING: SPOILERS HEREAFTER. The novel centers around Charles Victor Szasz's / Vic Sage's return to Hub City after a ten year self-exile and his desire to find out who his parents are. He runs afoul of Mayor Fermin (an alcoholic puppet political figurehead who beats women because he's so easily controlled by his addiction and anyone with an IQ of a four-year-old or so), Reverend Hatch (a paranoiac and demented preacher who wants to bring Christ to Earth by beginning Armageddon himself), and former USM Colonel Thaddeus McFeeley, aka Crate (a vicious, capable warrior who wants to bring back his family's prestige by raking in millions of dollars worth of profit by outfitted folks for the end times). The allies pitted against the evil axis are Lady Shiva (who nearly kills Sage but comes to revere him), Aristotle Rodor (former prodigy, now adult genius who's been shafted in business but creates his own venerable, peaceful life in spite of it all), Richard Dragon (martial arts master extraordinaire), Myra Connelly (a martyr for her child and love interest of Sage), and Batman and Alfred (enough said). Without completely ruining the plot, this story involves threats on the lives of children, high tech weaponry, religious zealots, and the entire misuse of the best qualities of humanity. What I especially appreciated about this story is the addition of The Dream (I'll say no more so that you can experience it completely new, too) to The Question's origin. The story itself is intriguing, thoughtful , well-paced, action-packed, essentially the quintessential Question story. Awesome stuff. Now the problems. O'Neil wants to update the story, but after referencing Kris Kristofferson, Deanna Durbin, and Bob Dylan, he creates anachronisms by using words like "prolly," references Jackie Chan and Jessica Alba, has his characters use GPU (GPS?) technology; this creates a nearness of the 70s past but confuses us in a light speed jump to 2000 and beyond. Weird. Then there are the typos ("he turned onto a barren street without knowing way" p. 28; "Vic hiked up and path until he stood . . ." p. 46; the word "collegues" p. 50; "Vic throught he heard someone" p. 75; I could go on and on, but we'll leave it there). But the biggest mistake is, within a paragraph (p. 242) Jackie Connelly, Myra's daughter, is alternately called "Jackie" and "Ashely"! There are lots of problems with characterization. Batman gives The Question a serious warning about maiming and killing, and that if he does, Batman tells him he'll hunt him down and bring him to harsh justice; but somehow Batman works side by side with Lady Shiva who kills for fun? There are several more, but this review is getting long. Anyway, if you can enjoy the story in spite of its gaffs, this is a great one. And it stands on its own without needing to necessarily read and/or know what happens in the comics. It's ironic that O'Neil lauds Chris Cerasi as a great editor. I'm not trying to be mean, but he did a horrible job. Even so, O'Neil's and The Question's story stands out as one not to be missed.

Let me answer some questions...
-Should non-DC fans read this book? Probably not. It does have good action scenes and keeps a decent pace, but it is by no means a mystery novel and the appearances of guest super heroes, even if they are ones without super powers, will come off as silly to people who don't read comics.

-Should DC fans read this book who aren't familiar with the Question? This is probably the prime demographic. The novel incorporates a lot of elements from O'Neil's gritty and wonderful run on the character's comic book series. That said, the comic books did a better job. Even the introspection of Question's psyche was better there, which is surprising considering O'Neil could have had even more space in this novel to put Sage's thoughts into text.

-Should Question fans read this novel? If you're a fan of the Ditko original, then absolutely not. More than anything this is what I missed from the novel - Vic Sage's hardlined objectivist beliefs earlier in life. Regardless of whether you prefer the Question as he was created by Ditko or altered by O'Neil, when O'Neil began his comic series with the character the Question had to rethink his objectivist beliefs. Instead of a metamorphoses from one breed of man into another, you get a schmoe turning into the Question thanks to the machinations of other prominent DC characters. An interesting take for maybe another hero, but I think Ditko's intentions for the Question has to be there somewhere, otherwise he's just a guy in a mask.
While this is an "origin" story for the Question, don't be misled into thinking this novel is a good primer for what the character is about.

Pros
-Basically a modern-day pulp novel. Plenty of action at a good pace.
-Moderate fun if you're a DC fanatic. Even then, the DC guest heroes are nothing to write home about.

Cons
-Not the best if you're a genuine Question fan.
-Many of the protagonists have interchangeable personalities, possessing the same wit and sense of humour.
-The villains in the story and the problems plaguing Hub City are so overt it's more silly than sinister. To showcase how corrupt the local government is there's nightly parties with pool tables, cards, hookers and booze held inside city hall itself.

This is the origin of The Question. Charles Victor Szasz is a drifter, who does not know where he came from. His story begins in Hub City, and that is where he is going back to. Showing some grit, he lands a job at the local podunk radio station, because no-one else wants it. Drops the name as too foreign, and his boss suggests Sage, so Vic Sage it is.

He rapidly gets into trouble, and severely injured. Blame Lady Shiva the unpredictable for part of it, but she rescues him, and takes him to Richard Dragon for recovery and training. He meets Bruce there, who decides to himself he will offer him advice and aid. A retired local scientists outfits him after he too suffers violence.

An arms maker is operating in Hub City, using coercion via children, a mercenary band, and a crazy reverend to keep it quiet.

An interesting aside between Batman and Alfred :

"I wish I knew someone I could trust to send to Hub City."

"How about the fellow who advised you? The one with the laugh"

"Alfred, he's ninety-five, and besides, he's a bit too bloodthirsty for me"

After The Question does some legwork, and is captured, but manages to signal a friend, Batman takes an interest, and Shiva owes him a favor.

O'Neill has produced a fine book.