Title: The Question
Writer/Artist: Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan.
Publisher: DC comics
Genre: Crime, philosophy, suggested for mature readers.
Summary: Charles Victor Szazs is an orphan. He never knew his parents, and his name was given to him by the nuns of the orphanige. Vic Sage is a rude, arrogant, trouble making crusading reporter for KBEL news. Think if Hunter S. Thompson had Bill O'Riley's job. What's the connectio between the two? Well, they do have alot of things in common. The biggest of which is that they're the same person. And, neither of them are this individual's true identity. What is his true identity? Well, that's the question, isn't it?
In 1986, Denny O'Neil took the reigns of The Question and gave him his own solo series. The Question, along with the rest of the Charlton Action Heroes, had been purchased by DC a few years earlier and integrated into the DCU by the Crisis on Infinite Earths. O'Neil took the character, who was already rather innovative for his time, and expanded upon him greatly. He gave hikm a backstory, a larger supporting cast, and a good deal more depth. With The Question, O'Neil crafted a brilliant series that comprises of, in equal parts, philisophical battles of will and words and well crafted crime noir. The series is heavily serialized, introducing concepts in issues five and six that are resolved in issue 23.
Most interesting of all is the character's motivation. He's not motivated by vengence or the need to uphold a greater good or a devotion to a higher power. He's motivated by curiosity. Curiosity, both in the truth behind mysteries, and in himself. He doesn't know his birth name or his parents. In essence, he doesn't really know who he is. Putting on the mask, solving crimes, beating the holy hell out of people, that's the closest he comes to finding himself. And, since he doesn't know his real name, he simply uses the only answer he's able to give whenever someone asks who he ius. "That's a good question."
Format: 36 issues, four anuals, five quarterlies.
Amazon.com listing: They ain't got it.