Comics Review: “Green Arrow: Quiver”

In my effort to continue my comics education, I’ve decided to take a break from The Question and take a look at one of my other favorite characters from JLU, Green Arrow. And so what better place to start, I thought, then Kevin Smith’s run from 2001. Well, it isn’t the most insular of runs, with its many cameos and references to DC continuity, but it has a good reputation and I like Kevin Smith so it seems like a logical place for me to start.

Let me start off by saying that while I do like Kevin Smith, I’m not a super fan. In fact, I’ve only seen two of his movies (Mallrats and Dogma) along with all three “An Evening with Kevin Smith” DVDs. Actually, I’m probably more of a fan of those DVDs than I am of the movies. I think he’s a great storyteller on stage and he has such an everyman approach to the film making process that makes the behind-the-scenes stories that he tells very interesting. Plus, he’s funny. So while I’m a fan, I’m not going to bow down to the alter of the cult of Kevin Smith and immediately gush over anything that has his name on it. On the other hand, he has a bit of a negative reputation in comics for a variety of reasons, but since I’m not a regular comics reader I’m not going to be influenced by that either. These ten issues may have taken eight months to come out back in 2001, but I read them all over the course of a few days, so my experience with them is probably significantly different from someone who read them when they first came out. Take from that what you will.

Quiver tells the story of Oliver Queen’s mysterious return from the dead, and his return as Star City’s favorite emerald archer, the Green Arrow. With a ten year gap in his memory, and no idea why everyone keeps insisting that he’s dead, Ollie tries to go back to business as usual. But a few run-ins with the Justice League convince him to get to the bottom of the mystery of his return. One of the things I liked most about this book was all of the appearances by the other Justice Leaguers. Rather than detract from the main story, I felt like it was an organic way to establish setting and back story, not to mention a lot of great character moments. Batman especially has a great role in this, guiding Ollie along on his quest for answers. Ollie does eventually get the answers he’s seeking, and reunites with his son along the way.

The book reads more like a graphic novel than a trade paperback, because the issues flow together so seamlessly. The art by Phil Hester is very well done, with great splash pages and intricate character work that manages to convey real emotion. It’s a story about second chances, about reclaiming what’s been lost. It was a great read and it’s inspired me to pick up more Arrow books in the future.

Comics Review: “The Question, Vol. 2: Poisoned Ground”

“Poisoned Ground” is the second trade paperback to collect the adventures of the Question from the critically acclaimed 80’s run. It starts off with a couple of stand alone issues. The first involves a crime boss who bears a resemblance to a certain mutant from a certain other comics company, with a certain healing factor and certain adamantium claws (subtle, right?). And the second involves a serial killer who takes inspiration from Gilbert and Sullivan. Both are good stories, but they end in cliff-hangers that aren’t resolved in the next issues. The art seems to be getting better, they’ve even managed to change Question’s hair color when he uses the bonding gas on his mask.

The middle three issues focus on the kidnapping of The Question’s friend and mentor, Dr. Aristotle “Tot” Rodor. Question mounts a rescue plan to find his friend. And along the way, his interactions with Myra, his old flame and the mayor’s wife, are becoming strained. They both still have feelings for each other, but Myra feels bound to her marriage vows, even though the marriage is a sham, and duty bound to Hub City as its defacto mayor.

Somewhere around issue 9, Question’s hair starts getting longer, until he’s sporting a mullet. There’s something vaguely disconcerting about this image change. It’s like my gritty pulp hero/detective/Eastern philosopher was suddenly replaced with Patrick Swayze from Roadhouse. Also, it seems like somewhere along the way, Question’s Zen philosophy became an excuse for lazy writing. The Question no longer chases down clues and makes connections, he just sort of goes with the flow and ends up where he needs to be purely by accident. In the end, he doesn’t rescue Tot so much as gets captured right before Tot was getting ready to escape himself. The two then end up on a plane back home without knowing much about how they got there.

In the last issue, The Question gets a haircut, while Tot looks like Robinson Crusoe after 30 years on his island. Question tracks down one of the men who ‘killed’ him from the first issue, uncovering a environmental disaster and a murder for hire plot along the way. The last issue does seem to get back on track for me, but still, it’s clear that this is a very different character then the one I knew from JLU. Some of the elements that first attracted me to the character are here, but a lot of them aren’t. I’m sticking with it though, I’m not giving up on my favorite faceless vigilante just yet.

Comics Review: “The Question, Vol. 1: Zen and Violence”

A while ago on this blog I listed my favorite characters from Justice League Unlimited, and at the top of that list was The Question. Jeffrey Combs’ portrayal of the faceless vigilante captured my attention from his first appearance on the show. The depiction of the character on JLU was that of a detail-oriented, conspiracy obsessed, seeker of truth. Dismissed by his colleagues as crazy or paranoid, The Question’s observations were almost always proven correct in the end. And when it came down to it, he was willing to put everything on the line for what he believed in. Visually speaking, the idea of a man without a face intrigued me. You couldn’t read his facial expressions, so you couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He was an enigma. I promised myself that I would go back to the comics to read about this character and learn more about him, and I’ve finally done exactly that.

The Question was created in 1967 by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics. In 1983 Charlton was acquired by DC, The Question was then revamped by Dennis O’Neil (writer) and Denys Cowan (artist). “Zen and Violence” collects the first six issues of the acclaimed DC series that ran from 1986 to 1990.

The Question is Vic Sage, investigative reporter for KBEL in Hub City. When we’re first introduced to our hero, he’s taking apart a room full of thugs, looking for a video tape. He gets what he’s after and leaves, while the mysterious Lady Shiva stands by and watches, doing nothing. The tape contains evidence of corruption in the city government, leading all the way up to the mayor himself. He plays it on the evening news that night, where it catches the attention of Reverend Jeremiah Hatch, the mayor’s ‘pet sky pilot’ as Vic calls him. Hatch is the one who is really running the show, and his agenda is far more twisted then anyone knows.

Vic is a bulldog, fighting the tide of crime and corruption that has taken over Hub City with no regard for his own personal safety. As both Vic Sage and The Question, he’s searching for the same thing, the truth. He’s fearless and dogged in his pursuit of it. But his determination has made him over-confident, reckless. He shows up at a meeting that he knows is a trap, and he pays the ultimate price. He’s severely beaten by Lady Shiva, then shot in the head Hatch’s goons and dumped in the river, left for dead.

When Vic wakes up, he doesn’t remember much, but he knows that he should be dead. He learns that Lady Shiva pulled him out of the water and saved his life, but why? He receives a visit from Batman, who admonishes him for risking his life so foolishly. He tells him “You can’t half do what you were doing. It has to be full time. It has to be who you are.” Shiva leaves instructions for Vic, which lead him to the doorstep of Richard Dragon, who agrees to train him. Vic spends a year with Dragon, training his mind and body both. At the end of his training, Shiva shows up again. She tells Vic that he has a warrior’s passion, but her motives for saving his life are still a mystery.

Vic returns to Hub City as The Question and goes after Hatch. But things have become more complicated in his absence, and he finds an old flame involved with the mayor. Her and her daughter’s lives are at risk. Hub City is descending into chaos, and The Question is the only one who can stem the tide.

It’s hard to read The Question and not think about Rorschach from Watchmen. Alan Moore originally wanted to use the Charlton Comics characters for his book but was unable to, so he patterned the characters after them. Rorschach was based on Question, and subsequent portrayals of Question have been influenced by Rorschach, so the two characters have been intertwined. The Question even makes mention of his Watchmen equivalent in a later issue of this very series, and even attempts to emulate him. There’s a determination and a moral absolutism in the character, which Rorschach of course takes to the extreme, but it’s in this book as well. The Question comes to embrace a Zen philosophy from his training with Richard Dragon, and he seems to take Batman’s advice to heart. In the beginning of this book, The Question was just a mask that Vic Sage wore to further his own agenda. But by the end, The Question becomes who he is, and Vic Sage becomes the mask.

There is one small nit that I’d like to pick however. The gas that the Question uses to bond his mask to his face is also supposed to change the color of his clothes (and in some versions of the character, his hair as well) to further his disguise. The idea being that Vic Sage is a public figure and would be easily recognized on the street. But early in this book, his clothes don’t change at all. In the beginning of the story he goes right from beating up thugs to on the air wearing the exact same suit, with the exact same hair, and yet no one ever figures out that he’s The Question. Later in the book his clothes do change color slightly, so maybe this was just a coloring mistake in the early issues.

Most of the elements that first attracted me to the character on JLU are here as well, this visual look of the character of course as well as his tenacity and determination. So I think I’ll be picking up volume two soon enough to see where this goes, so look for more reviews in the future. Same Question time, same Question channel!