Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An underrated title and character finally get the spotlight, October 13, 2007
After being re-established in the pages of 52, The Question's classic series from Denny O'Neil is now in TPB form, and be glad it is. Investigative reporter Vic "Charlie" Sage, AKA the enigmatic, arrogant, faceless would-be superhero known as The Question, finds himself in a bit of a predicament. When he stumbles upon a deadly plot involving crooked politicians in his hometown of Hub City, The Question is defeated in combat with Lady Shiva and thrown into the river for dead. After he is rescued, he begins being re-trained in body and mind by Richard Dragon, and soon enough, he's back on the prowl looking to set things right, and maybe get a little bit of revenge on the way. Classic superhero writer O'Neil really captures what The Question is all about with Zen and Violence; the first in the TPB collection of the series which originally debuted in 1986. After reading this initial collection, you'll get the feeling that 52 authors Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Greg Rucka in particular, really nailed the character down and paid wonderful homage to O'Neil's work. The artwork from Denys Cowan and Rock Magyar is solid enough, and really starts to come together in the last issue which finds the creation of a new, scarred foe for Charlie to contend with. All in all, Zen and Violence is an excellent introduction for new fans to one of the most underrated heroes in DC's stable, and worth picking up for old fans as well.
|
|
|
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ask The Question, Get an Answer: What TPBS Are Made For: Seriously Tough and Thought-Provoking Comics, February 13, 2008
Whether you see Denny O'Neil's zen interpretation of The Question as a departure from Steve Ditko's (the artist / writer who created the character to be an adherent of Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophies), there is little doubt that this new line of DC publications is exactly what comic-industry trade paperbacks are made for: bringing back an incomparable run of stories to current readers who missed (like me) or weren't around for (like my children) the original series. Everyone benefits from the reason upsurge of interest in The Question's appearance in 52 and its aftermath, as well as his highly-touted appearances in the Justice League Unlimited cartoons. This tpb collects issues 1-6 of stories written from 1986-1987 by Denny O'Neil, drawn by Deny Cowan, and inked by Rick Magyar. Something also needs to be said for colorist Tatjana Wood who is able to dip out of the 1980s era palette dominated by bright pinks, blues, oranges, greens types of hues. (One of my favorite color-divergences, for instance, is in issue #2 when The Questions body is floating up from the water and looks very surreal because it is rendered completely in various shades of black and white.) If you like lots of action with a sharply-honed intellectual edge, you'll appreciate The Question. These stories are centered around the deterioration and corruption of The Question's hometown, Hub City. Another moment of reinvention here is the newly-created origin of the character as an orphaned child who grew up in a Catholic orphanage and becomes a television journalist named Vic Sage, aka Charles Victor Szasz, aka The Question. This becomes all the more meaningful when a young girl is being used as a potential religious cult's sacrifice as well as a hostage for bribery and blackmail. It truly irks The Question. Although he can deal with horrible ethics and immorality, it doesn't mean he's going to let a child be the plaything of them. There's lots of things like that to like here. You get to see Vic make fun of the police; when asked by one of the big blue, "If yer so smart, why don't you join the force," he cooly responds -- while holding up a criminal that he had to go catch for them --, "They wouldn't let me. I passed the IQ test." You get to see Batman dress The Question down after he, for all intents and purposes actually dies, for being an "obscenely lucky," "arrogant dilettante" who simply doesn't understand that his life is so extremely valuable it shouldn't be risked unwisely. You get to see scenes of utmost violence drawn as accurately as textbooks for martial artists as well as being illustrated as beautifully as choreographed dances. And although there is a lot of violence here, it is not violence for violence's sake. The violence is taken seriously, and it is used as a cautionary device. O'Neil's Question is different from Ditko's Question and Mr. A in that, in these tales, he only commits acts of violence when he is left no other choice and only after he is aggressed upon. In a telling scene, after being nearly knifed and holding his aggressor in a position that could cause him serious problems, The Question asks him if he wants his arms broken; the man responds in the negative, and he is told to "then collect your buddies and go." `And, heck, O'Neil kills The Question off in the very first issue. I mean, the villains have got the upper hand from page one! Some of the themes investigated are loss and recovery, childhood and innocence, lack of family and children abused by parents, betrayal and revenge, corruption and righting wrongs, destruction of the environment, and, in two particularly sad threads, the way in which we never see how tragic other's suffering is when they are simply allowed to die alone, forgotten, uncared for. I think these stories and issues are extremely timely and, well, timeless. Earlier, I talked about saving your original issues. If you buy this tpb and like it, I would highly encourage you to collect the originals. There are 36 issues, each of which has O'Neil's recommended reading list as well as probably the most intellectually stimulating series of letters-columns discussions that I've ever read. The readership of The Question was one of a kind, from the creators all the way down to the fans. No one pulled punches. The editors allowed both letters of praise as well as letters of severe criticism as well as letters of serious, intellectual dispute to be printed there. But, if you can't get those, these tpbs serve brilliantly as your beginning to the world of The Question.
|
|
|
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping, gritty late 1980s DC series, October 16, 2007
One of the highlights of DC's recent '52' series, The Question was originally created in 1967 by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics. DC Comics obtained the rights to the character and published this series starting in February 1987. This trade paperback collects the first six issues, each 28 pages long with a 1987 cover price of $1.50.
Vic Sage is an KEBL-TV investigative reporter in 1980s Hub City where 'the social contract is a shambles and the city's in chaos'. He uses the guise of 'The Question' by applying an artificial skin that bonds to his face but allows for normal breathing and speaking. Lacking faith in the law enforcement and judicial systems, Sage uses both identities to pursue horribly corrupt Hub City politicians and criminals.
The first story arc focuses on a sinister cabal that has hijacked the Hub City government from a pathetic, drunken mayor. After an initial setback (beaten and left for dead on a river bottom at the end of issue 1) Sage trains in martial arts and Eastern philosophy and returns to Hub City to resume his battles with thugs and demagogues. Writer O'Neil explores moral and philosophical issues through the violent but introspective plot.
The series lasted for 36 issues (plus annuals and a separate quarterly series) so I'm hoping to see future volumes. I've read praise for the original letters columns (some even featured reading recommendations from O'Neil) but unfortunately they are not reprinted herein. One suggestion for DC: include these in Volume 2.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Dennis O'Neil
by Dennis O'Neil
by Greg Rucka
by Alan Moore
by Geoff Johns
