Question (DC)
The Question is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Vic Sage
He came to be a hard-hitting newscaster for World Wide Broadcasting co. (W.W.B.). (Blue Beetle v5 #1)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Charles Victor Szasz was a male human who was noted to had been born an orphan. (Question Annual v1 #2)
It was noted that he had attended the same journalism school as Lois Lane but was a year or two behind her. (Question v2 #1) Whilst at university, he was said to had attended some classes headed by Aristotle Rodor. Later on, he came to be barely 21 years old when he was serving as Hub City's youngest newscaster. (Question Annual v1 #2)
As he gained fame as a journalist, he came to change his name to Vic Sage. At barely 21, he was a media darling, hosting exposes, and playing lover to his secretary Judy. The older reporters worried that he was arrogant and a bit of a zealot in the pursuit of truth. He ran a report damning renowned doctor Arby Twain for performing an illegal abortion that resulted in the patient's death. It turned out the negligent doctor was Arbler Twine, not Twain, and his reputation and career were at stake. He still refused to retract his story or show humility, so when his old college professor Aristotle Rodor told him he suspected Twain of criminal activity he was all ears. Rodor and Twain had co-invented pseudoderm, a skin-like substance that could bond to flesh with the use of a gas. It was meant to treat wounds, but caused blood poisoning in some patients, so Rodor abandoned the research. A similar substance had recently reached the world marker, and Rodor suspected his old colleague, but had no proof. Vic volunteered to break into Twain's house and collect evidence, and Rodor reluctantly agreed to help him. Vic used the pseudoderm to create a featureless mask, and dressed in a trench coat and fedora. Rodor said the look reminded him of old-time crimefighter the Spirit, but Vic chose the name Question for himself. He caught Twain in the act of selling pseudoderm to Central American government agents, and everyone involved was aware of the faulty and dangerous nature of pseudoderm. Question beat them up, and as Vic Sage covered their arrest and exposure. He crowed that he'd saved countless lives, but inwardly felt relief that he never had to apologize for his faulty expose on Twain. (Question Annual v1 #2)
The Hub City government broke down completely, with Fermin giving a rambling speech blaming the communists for burning down his mansion. Aristotle drove Question around town, and he blamed himself for the city going to Hell, but Aristotle reminded him the government was utterly corrupt before the mayor's mansion burned. They drove through a riot, and Question knew he;'d be unable to stop so many combatants by himself. He tailed corrupt police officer Izzy O'Toole, only to witness him find his conscious, arresting two criminals stealing from the body of suicide Bernie Josephson. The criminals fought back, grabbing his gun, and Question saved Izzy, who said he owed him one. Question told Tot the fire didn't start the madness, but he still felt responsible because he hadn't done enough as a reporter to uncover Hub's corruption. He would make an excuse for his absence and return to the news as Vic Sage. He and Tot agreed that truth-tellers, be they journalists, scientists or philosophers, helped keep society together. (Question v1 #5)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Victor Sage operated as the vigilante the Question in Hub City, developing a reputation as a paranoid thrill-seeker. Returning to Gotham City after a prior encounter, the Question worked with Gotham's protector Batman to investigate Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist and Batman's secret identity, in a ploy to confirm his suspicions that they were one and the same. Having discovered the financial maneuvers used by Wayne to finance Batman's operations, the Question disguised himself as a Waynetech security guard and infiltrated a distribution center to gain access to the corporation's files. Though his investigation was clandestinely blocked by Batman and he was attacked by Waynetech personnel, the Question uncovered exploitation of Wayne's loopholes by corrupt guards to steal inventory. After revealing his identity to Sage and re-evaluating his judgment of the other vigilante, Batman joined the Question in raiding and capturing the thieving guards. (Batman: Urban Legends v1 #14)
The Question also operated within a team of heroes that included the Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, Judomaster, and Nightshade. (Suicide Squad v7 #2) He saved the life of former Gotham City Police Department detective Renee Montoya. They struck up a deep friendship, together encountering Black Adam of Kahndaq, before Sage succumbed to disease and cold and died in Montoya's arms. With his death, she took on his legacy as the new Question. He was later revived, and memory of his life was warped and altered. (Lois Lane v2 #4)
Vic Sage was named the head of the Suicide Squad, working directly above Amanda Waller after her perceived failure in foreseeing and preventing the Trinity War and the villain uprising. (New Suicide Squad v1 #1)
After Superman was framed and rendered comatose, Question joined the group of heroes heading towards Mars to confront their mysterious enemy. The heroes met and engaged Doctor Manhattan, but they were easily defeated. (Doomsday Clock v1 #9) The Question was a member of the Guild of Detection, a secret society of detectives dedicated to the unsolved mysteries of the world, and participated in Batman's career-long induction rite. (Detective Comics v #1000) He also came to be a patient at the Sanctuary, a superhero mental health facility. (Heroes in Crisis v1 #9) Alongside other mystery-oriented heroes, he worked to locate the Hall of Doom on behalf of the Justice League. (Justice League v4 #26)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Some claimed that he had kind features on his face. (Question v2 #1)
When he was younger, some called him a raw arrogant bastard though Rodor thought he was simply young. Vic had said that he had carried a lot of rage in him. (Question Annual v1 #2)
It was said that he was a loner type where some claimed he was somewhat creepy and had a weird stare. (Question v2 #1)
As a vigilante, he came to operate under the name of the Question. (Blue Beetle v5 #1) He was said to had served truth and justice. (Question v2 #4)
He felt no need to save the lives of villains and was shown to leave them to die. (Blue Beetle v5 #4)
Charlie Szasz was (Question Annual v1 #2)
Powers and abilities
Vic Sage was born an ordinary human being with no special powers. (Blue Beetle v5 #1) He was noted to had attended journalism school. (Question v2 #1)
He demonstrated great physical prowess and considerable determination. (Question v1 #14)
One of his martial arts trainers were shown to had been Richard Dragon. (Richard Dragon v1 #7)
It was the genius of Professor Rodor that helped create a a mask one could see, breath and speak through yet still be solid. The release of a special gas adhered it to his face. (Blue Beetle v5 #1) It was composed of pseudoderm that was made to serve as a kind of bandage. (Question Annual v1 #2) The lining of the mask was coated with lead that helped hide his identity from people with X-Ray vision. (Question v2 #4)
Among his talents was for disguise where he could adopt many different faces. (52 v1 #9)
He left his calling card that was a white card where certain chemicals could be triggered leaving a '?' symbol on it. (Blue Beetle v5 #1)
Sage was known to had engaged in shamanic practices that involved ritual use of psychotropic plants to enter non-ordinary states of awareness. These powerful psychoactive substances made his pulse erratic but let him walk in two worlds. This allowed him to communicate with cities where he could hear their calls for aid leading to him responding to their calls for help. (Question v2 #4)
Notes
- The Question was created by Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Charlton Comics Blue Beetle v5 #1 (June, 1967).
- During The New 52, a radically altered version of the Question appeared in The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1 #1 (2012) with this one being a member of the Trinity of Sin that consisted of three of the biggest criminals in history who were cursed for their crimes by the Council of Eternity. This Question was shown to had been someone that had raised an army against the world and vowed to do so against leading to his curse being that no one would know his name whilst his face lost any form of expression to hide his identity even from himself. In an interview with Geoff Johns, he revealed that the planned identity of this version of the Question was to be Narcissus from Greek Mythology.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, the Question appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Jeffrey Combs.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the Question appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Nicholas Guest.
Films
- In DC Showcase: Blue Beetle, the Question appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor David Kaye.
Video games
Appearances
- Blue Beetle v5: (1967)
- Question v1:
- Question v2:
- 52 v1:
- Event Leviathan v1: (2019)
- Lois Lane v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
