Customer Reviews

The Question: The Five Books of Blood SC

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In the aftermath of 52, the legacy of Vic "Charlie" Sage, AKA The Question, was passed on to burned out cop Renee Montoya, and the Crime Bible was introduced to readers as well. Five Books of Blood collects the five issue mini-series from Greg Rucka (Checkmate, OMAC Project, 52) and a host of artists, where Renee treks after a Monk of the Dark Faith who is spreading evil in his wake. Through these Five Lessons of Blood, Renee and many others are tested, tempted, and even converted over to this Religion of Crime. These lessons lead to many confrontations, from a crooked colonel, to the Penguin, to even a showdown with Batwoman. Without a doubt, Five Books of Blood is a dark and gritty tale that features Rucka's skills at his near best. Most of all, this mini is reminiscent of Denny O'Neil's Question series from the 80's; something which Rucka manages to pay great homage to as well as draw from. The five segments each consist of a different artist, including Tom Mandrake, Jesus Saiz, Matthew Clark, Diego Olmos, and Manuel Garcia; all of which turn in great work. The only real problem with Five Books of Blood is that it's just too short. The story really gets going early on, and it's over before you know it. That aside, if you're a fan of The Question, Rucka, or just enjoyed the Question-starring segments of 52, you should definitely check out Five Books of Blood. It's innovative delivery and Rucka's storytelling techniques make it quite the worthwhile trip.

Renee Montoya, fresh off of her co-starring role in "52", stars in the "Five Books of Blood" mini-series. Greg Rucka has always had a great handle on the character--he created her, after all, for the Batman books. As the new Question, Montoya now operates outside of the Batman universe (save for Batwoman, who guest stars here). Montoya is a complex character. In "Five Books of Blood," she struggles with, and possibly succumbs to, her dark side.

A note for collectors: The story was, inexplicably, first marketed as "The Crime Bible" when it was released in comic book form. DC stepped up the marketing and re-titled the book for this collected edition. If you already own the original mini-series, the only additional material here is a reproduction of a faux-journal that Rucka created for Montoya.

A new incarnation of the Question (the hero Rorschach is based on in 'Watchmen'!) finds herself fighting a cult of crime and murder - but for some reason, they don't seem to be fighting back.

This is a very interesting storyline from DC Comics, and a challenging one. It is poses the idea of a 'religion of crime' based on the life of Cain, rather than on Jesus. The 'Five Books' are an inversion of the Pentateuch of the Bible (the first five books of the Old Testament). They form the core of the 'Crime Bible' - guidelines and prophecies based on cruelty, bloodshed and selfishness. There have been enough real religions like this in the world (the Thuggee in India, the cult of Huitzilopochtli in ancient Mexico) to make the idea truly chilling.

The story collected here was part of a much larger arc. so it doesn't really stand up well on its own. Still, it is definitely involving, thought-provoking and well worth reading.

I strongly recommend BuyMyCollectibles - my experience ordering this used book from them was top-notch. The condition was as good, or maybe better, than they advertised; it was very reasonably priced, well-packed, and delivered promptly.

I'm not entirely sure what is happening in the whole of the DC universe right now, but this comic definitely wasn't special. It was great to see The Question II in action, but this story could have been told with Batman and have been mostly the same story. The ending was purely a Question moment, but that was about it.

This novel publication of this series is worth getting for the interesting notes that are compiled in the back if you've not read the story already.

The Question is not a familiar superhero to most. This is Renee Montoya, ex-cop, previously featured here and there in Gotham's Finest working under Commisioner Gordon etc.She now dons a superhero costume known as the Question, presumably a nylon stocking pulled over her face. There are also no eyeholes. The rest of the costume is a sleuth hat and coat.

this may be a revival hero from another source but without doubt, there are great similarities to the Watchmen's Rorscharch character.

Here, she goes up against an evil cult spouting various evil themes issued as books. Along the way, there is some exploration of Montoya's own convictions but I am unclear as to where this all leads to.

The drawings are also not that great as to warrant further interest.