History ComicBook / TheQuestion

In the beginning of Dennis O'Neil's series the Question is viciously beaten by Comicbook/LadyShiva, then shot in the head with a pellet gun and [[LeftForDead left for dead]]. Shiva, however, deeply respects him enough to rescue him, taking him to train with ComicBook/RichardDragon, who also provides him with a new Eastern philosophical outlook that gives him a more nuanced morality. When he returns to Hub City he finds his old flame Myra is now married to the drunken mayor and [[BadCopIncompetentCop the crime is worse than ever]]. O'Neil's series has mostly been collected into six trade paperbacks.[[note]]Only the quarterly issues and the annuals remain uncollected.[[/note]]

In the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', the Question was completely reinvented, appearing in the Free Comic Book Day one-shot as one of the beings on the [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Rock of Eternity]], punished along with ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger and Pandora for undisclosed sins. His punishment is that his name and face will forever be forgotten; that's not a mask any more. Funnily enough, being supernaturally driven to uncover conspiracies and questions surrounding his own identity and various other nefarious goings-on actually puts his character in practice closer to the JLU version. Renee also appeared in the ''New 52'', but her tenure as The Question was retconned and she had transferred to the Blüdhaven Police Department. Vic Sage was also introduced as a character apparently unrelated to the unnamed Question, as Amanda Waller's boss in ''Comicbook/SuicideSquad''.

* IntrepidReporter: Sage's day job; his beating at the hands of Comicbook/LadyShiva came when the subjects of his investigation were trying to lure Sage himself into a trap, and were surprised when the Question came instead. Of course, that raises [[IdiotBall serious doubts about their intelligence]], since they were unable to make the logical assumption that Sage ''was'' the Question, not even when Sage disappears the same day Question does after this attack. When the BigBad, Reverend Hatch, figured it out, everyone else was just convinced he was nuts because he also thought Sage was a ghost returned to haunt him (or a messenger sent by either God or the Devil).

* HeroesWantRedheads: Myra, Vic Sage's love interest, was a redhead, and Renee has a history with the redheaded Kate Kane, the second Batwoman.

** It’s not to say that comic book Bic Sage doesn’t dwell into conspiracy theories. He is a detective after all. But it wouldn’t be until the New 52 and Detective Comics #1000 where the status of Sage being a conspiracy theorist was made canon in the comics.

* PostmodernMagick: One issue of O'Niel's run has him meet a World War 2 era comic book artist who believes the Allies won the war because of comic books, comparing the process of making comics to the sympathetic magic performed by hunting tribes. [[spoiler:Vic asks him to redraw a page with the currently-comatose Myra instead, and right after, a sequence of events almost identical to the comic cause her to awaken from her coma.]] The 2005 miniseries depicts Vic as an "urban shaman", who uses the binary gas to enter a trance that allows him to "speak" to cities, absorbing snippets of information and energy from around him. He even explains it by saying, "As the river and the mountain speak to the native, so, over time, did the living city whisper to me."

* SwordOverHead: In one memorable scene, the Question warns a hoodlum about to drop an innocent off of a very tall building. "Drop her and you're going straight after her." The unfortunate innocent is dropped: the Question rushes the thug and leaves him hanging by his finger-tips over certain death. Question: "I told you what would happen if you dropped her, didn't I? (waves)... Bye." He then walks away, only to turn back seconds later and pull the thug to safety. However, he says as he pummels the tar out of the now tearfully-grateful thug: "Just one thing: don't THANK me. Don't EVER thank me." He then walks off, musing to himself, "I'll never be played by Chuck Norris. Or Charles Bronson."

* ThouShaltNotKill: Zig-zagged at times, and mostly averted for both Questions despite their disgust of murderous criminals. Vic was originally highly against killing, often feeling very conflicted on how far to go in enforcing justice due to his own repeated temptation to kill criminals. His mentor Professor Rodor kept him from crossing that line, until he ended up killing to save the sister of his love interest. At some point [[ItGetsEasier it got easier]], as Vic kills again in the 1991 Brave and the Bold mini-series and the 2005 Question mini-series, but was implied to have a change of heart when he strongly advocates against murder in Huntress' Cry For Blood mini-series. Montoya is agonized over the issue of killing criminals, even refusing to kill the murderer of her partner in the GCPD, but ends up killing a child suicide bomber later on and has a DespairEventHorizon after the fact.

** Averted in later stories by Dennis O'Neil, Rick Veitch, and the New 52, who gave Vic some supernatural powers from Zen Buddhism, Urban Shamanism and being CursedWithAwesome like the Phantom Stranger. ''Question Quarterly'' by O'Neil even had Vic being able to [https://imgur.com/uoS23RY communicate with a forest].

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Zig-zagged between Vic and Franchise/{{Batman}}. Batman has the title of the "World's Greatest Detective", but on several occasions, Vic has been argued as having better deductive and investigative skills than the Caped Crusader. It can be argued that Batman qualifies for have far greater resources at his disposal, thus enabling him to achieve much more, but Vic can hold his own in the sleuthing department without any of that stuff. So, this comes down to DependingOnTheWriter.

Also, the character of Rorschach in ''{{ComicBook/Watchmen}}'' started out simply being The Question, until DC vetoed the use of existing characters and Creator/AlanMoore was forced to create an original Objectivist conspiracy theorist instead. As a ShoutOut, one issue of the Denny O'Neil run has the Question reading ''Watchmen'' and commenting on Rorschach's methods--then trying them and getting his ass kicked, ultimately concluding, "[[TakeThatMe Rorschach sucks]]."

* NiceHat: Various, but especially the fedora.

* BadassNormal: Vic Sage from Charleton Comics (and also in his appeareance in the ''Blue Beetle'' miniseries by Len Wein) did not have any superhuman powers or even gadgets, his sole technological gimmick being [[TheBlank their mask]]. Still, they manage to face off[[labelnote:*]][[StealthPun Heh.]][[/labelnote]] against monsters, mutants and aliens with advanced technology on a semi-regular basis.
** Averted in later stories by Dennis O'Neil, Rick Veitch, and the New 52, who gave Vic some supernatural powers such as Zen, Urban Shamanism and being CUrsedWithAwesome like the Phantom Stranger. Question Quarterly by O'Neil even had Vic being able to [https://imgur.com/uoS23RY communicate with a forest].

* DependingOnTheWriter: Sage's characterization depends a lot on the writer. Steve Ditko wrote him as an abrasive Objectivist vigilante, Denny O'Neil had him mellow into a Zen-like investigator, Rick Veitch depicted the Question has an urban shaman with a warrior's ethos., in "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" Frank Miller wrote him as a libertarian anti-government conspiracy theorist, while in "52" he was enigmatic and fatalistic, but not particularly committed to any philosophy.

* BadassNormal: Neither Vic Sage nor Renee Montoya have any superhuman powers or even gadgets, their sole technological gimmick being [[TheBlank their mask]]. Still, they manage to face off[[labelnote:*]][[StealthPun Heh.]][[/labelnote]] against monsters, mutants and aliens with advanced technology on a semi-regular basis. Averted with the N52 Question, who is CursedWithAwesome.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Sage's characterization depends a lot on the writer. Steve Ditko wrote him as an abrasive Objectivist vigilante. Denny O'Neil had him mellow into a Zen-like investigator. In "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" Frank Miller wrote him as a libertarian anti-government conspiracy theorist, while in "52" he was enigmatic and fatalistic, but not particularly committed to any philosophy.

--> “If anyone’s going to stand with me, he’s going to have to give me a good reason why! I won’t accept the lame reasons about my being the underdog, every misfit can claim that! Or that I need help, I’m not a charity case! I’ll accept only a reason why you personally want to make the stand and on your behalf, not mine!” [[note]] Sage is trying to prove his case that a well-loved businessman is corrupt, and won't accept the idea of his staff sticking by him out of loyalty to him.[[/note]]

The Vic Sage incarnation of the Question made his post-[[ComicBook/{{DCRebirth}} Rebirth]] debut in ComicBook/ActionComics #1005, and has appeared several times since. And, as of ''ComicBook/LoisLane2019'' #1, so has the Renee Montoya incarnation of the Question (though she made earlier appearances during this era).

* HonorBeforeReason: One Charlton story has the Question observe a well-known respectable businessman colluding with a well-known crook, and is determined to find out whatever dirty business they're conducting. The next day said businessman shows up at the station offering to be the sponsor for Sage's show. Rather than using this as an opportunity for his investigation he refuses the man's sponsorship on the basis that a "source" told him the man was crooked, without offering any definite proof. RealityEnsues that Sage nearly loses his job over such an accusation both because it ruins his credibility as a reporter and could make the station unpopular with other sponsors and advertisers.

* LifeWillKillYou: Vic Sage was a heavy smoker and, even though he ditches the habit early in O'Neil's run, when he appears in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' he has developed advanced lung cancer. There is no miracle cure, there is no alien healing technology, he just [[RealityEnsues slowly wastes away physically and mentally before dying]] in the snow outside Nanda Parbat.

[[caption-width-right:350:Good Question.[[note]]Left:The Question I (Charles Victor Szasz[=/=]Vic Sage) Right:The Question II (Renee Montoya)[[/note]]]]

* {{Catchphrase}}: During the O'Neill run, someone would ask the Question who he is, and his response was some variation of:
--> '''The Question''': Good question.

* CharacterFilibuster: In the Charlton Era, it wasn't uncommon for Vic to go on Mr.A-like rants that spewed Objectivist morality.

* CoatHatMask: Montoya usually does not even have the coat; she just wears the mask and hat over whatever she was wearing that day. Covers and such usually depict her in the blue suit, though. In the Denny O'Neil series Vic Sage had a tendency to do that, too; in one particular issue he sported a leather jacket and a cap. In another issue he ore a wife-beater, jeans, and a baseball cap.

* CoatHatMask: Montoya usually does not even have the coat; she just wears the mask and hat over whatever she was wearing that day. Covers and such usually depict her in the blue suit, though. In the Denny O'Neil series Vic Sage had a tendency to do that, too; in one particular issue he sported a leather jacket and a cap. In another issue he ore a wife0-beater, jeans, and a baseball cap.

* CoatHatMask: Montoya usually does not even have the coat; she just wears the mask and hat over whatever she was wearing that day. Covers and such usually depict her in the blue suit, though. In the Denny O'Neil series Vic Sage had a tendency to do that, too; in one particular issue he sported a leather jacket and a cap.

* DespairEventHorizon: This is what prompted Charlie to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave]] [[WretchedHive Hub City]] in the finale of his solo series and to wander until he became a regular in ''52''. In the latter series, Vic Sage dies of cancer [[TearJerker in a truly godawful manner]], groaning in a haunting fashion, and leaves Renee alone just outside the gates of Nanda Parbat. She ''seems'' okay, but without Charlie she is so lost and alone that she does not even know who she ''is.''

* LegacyCharacter: Why he started is a mystery known only to him, but Vic Sage helped bring Renee Montoya back from alcoholism and despair and trained her in his ways of combat and thought. When he [[TearJerker succumbed to lung cancer]], she assumed the mantle of the Question and has returned to Hub City to continue his fight.

* AdaptationDistillation / AdaptationDisplacement: Even though [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague JLU's]] Question is far different from the regular DC Question, fans still love him. However, the flip side is some fans expect the comic Question to be identical to his animated appearance and are confused by his different personality points.

* SmokingIsCool: [[AvertedTrope No]]. [[TearJerker No it is not]].

Eventually, after a few years he decides to leave Hub City. He reappeared in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' as the mentor to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Renee]] [[ComicBook/GothamCentral Montoya]] before revealing that he was dying of lung cancer. He died in issue #38 (March, 2007). Renee assumed the mantle of the Question in issue #48 (June, 2007), with the help of Tot and Richard Dragon. She continued the mission he had been working on before his death: Investigating the [[ReligionOfEvil Religion of Crime]] and Intergang. She appeared in two limited series, ''The Question: Five Books of Blood'' and ''[[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Final Crisis: Revelations]]'', and eventually became the second feature in Creator/GregRucka's ''Detective Comics''. While combating ComicBook/VandalSavage in the ''Detective Comics'' feature Renee was forced to take from him the "[[MarkOfShame Mark of Cain]]," supposedly the mark placed by {{God}} on [[CainAndAbel Cain]] to forever label him as a murderer and an eternal subject of ridicule and scorn. The 2010 ''Detective Comics'' annual edition revealed that she had indeed been marked. She now bears a scarred cross on her face and is viewed with shock and distrust by all she meets, but she has refused the offered means of removing the Mark, either giving it to another or committing suicide, as her tenure as the Question has given her maturity, outlook and philosophy to handle the Mark.

In the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', the Question was completely reinvented, appearing in the Free Comic Book Day one-shot as one of the beings on the [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Rock of Eternity]], punished along with ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger and Pandora for undisclosed sins. His punishment is that his name and face will forever be forgotten; that's not a mask any more. Funnily enough, being supernaturally driven to uncover conspiracies and questions surrounding his own identity and various other nefarious goings-on actually puts his character in practice closer to the JLU version. Renee also appeared in the ''New 52,'' but her tenure as The Question was retconned and she had transferred to the Blüdhaven Police Department. Vic Sage was also introduced as a character apparently unrelated to the unnamed Question, as Amanda Waller's boss in ''Comicbook/SuicideSquad''.

The Vic Sage Question also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' voiced by Creator/JeffreyCombs in which he was a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]]. Indeed, while Question had been around for decades before JLU, it was his appearances there that skyrocketed his popularity amongst comics fans. He also appeared as minor character in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' voiced by Nicholas Guest but had a larger role in the spinoff film, ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', where he was again voiced by Combs.

* LawEnforcementInc: At one stage Myra was considering sacking Hub City's notoriously corrupt police force and hiring biker gangs to enforce the law.