History Comicbook / TheQuestion

* 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 conspirator, while in "52" he was enigmatic, fatalistic, but not particularly committed to any philosophy.
* {{Fanservice}}: Myra in particular has quite a few moments of this--since the very beginning of the O'Neill run.
** For the ladies, Vic has some nice shirtless moments when he's working out, himself.

* 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, Frank Miller wrote him as a libertarian, anti-government conspirator, while in "52" he was enigmatic, fatalistic, but not particularly committed to any philosophy.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Sage's characterization depends a lot on the writer. Steve Ditko wrote him as an abrasive Objectivist vigilante, Denny O'Neil and him mellow into a Zen-like investigator, Frank Miller wrote him as a libertarian, anti-government conspirator, while in "52" he was enigmatic, fatalistic, but particularly committed to any philosophy.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: In the Charlton Era, Sage is ''not'' popular at his TV station. His coworkers (outside his own incredibly loyal personal production staff) find him insufferable, while audiences find his dismissive feelings towards civil rights horrifying, and his self-righteous preaching grating. However the station's president likes his uncompromising attitude and will not fire him.

* 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.

* {{Jerkass}}: In the Charlton era, the Question may have been a hero, but he was extremely self-righteous and abrasive and saw criminals as sub-humans who deserved to die rather than be brought to the courts. And as Vic Sage the idea of ''everyone'' having basic civil rights appalled him, which he made quite clear on his TV show.

* CharacterFilibuster: In the Charlton Era, it wasn't uncommon for Sage to go on Mr. A-esque Objectivist rants about morality.
--> '''Vic Sage''' You owe me nothing!

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: In the Charlton Era, Sage is ''not'' popular at his TV station. His coworkers (outside his own incredibly loyal personal production staff) find him insufferable, while audiences find his dismissive feelings towards civil rights horrifying, and his self-righteous preaching grating. However the station's president likes his uncompromising attitude and will not fire him.

* 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 any definite proof.

* {{Jerkass}}: In the Charlton era, the Question may have been a hero, but he was extremely self-righteous and abrasive and saw criminals as sub-humans who deserved to die rather than be brought to the courts. And as Vic Sage the idea of ''everyone'' having basic civil rights appalled him.

* RealityEnsues: 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 slowly wastes away physically and mentally before dying in the snow outside Nanda Parbat.

* CarFu: How Vic deals with some Parademons during Darkseid's invasion in JLU.
* CatchPhrase: 'Obvious, in hindsight'. At least, for the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' version of the character.
* ConspiracyTheorist: JLU Question. The full extent of his theories have not been revealed, but he believes in [[TheConspiracy a single, all-encompassing cabal]] of powerful individuals [[AncientConspiracy who have ruled the earth since]] AncientEgypt, currently connected to such diverse phenomena as CropCircles and boy bands. He hasn't figured out how it all ties together, but he's convinced that it does. There is also a hidden background to the plastic tip on the end of shoelaces, [[WhatTheHeckIsAnAglet aglets]], [[MemeticMutation whose true purpose is]] ''[[MemeticMutation sinister]].''
-->'''Question:''' Topically applied fluoride doesn't prevent tooth decay. It does render teeth detectable by spy satellite.

* {{Expy}}: His JLU incarnation was really more like a kid-friendly Rorschach than The Question. This is ironic, since Rorschach was an expy of The Question to begin with.

* ThePowerOfTrust: One JLU comic book had a story where the paranoid Question tries to find which member of the League had planted a bomb. He refuses help from the other heroes since he distrusts all of them. It turned out to have been done by himself, under a villain's mind control. Obviously AnAesop about the fact that sometimes you just ''have'' to trust others. Extra points for having The Question rescued by ComicBook/MartianManhunter, his prime suspect.

* RealMenWearPink: In [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague some adaptations]], Vic shows an unusual fondness for pop music, specifically the type favored by middle-school girls. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny He starts singing it to himself while breaking into a building]]. In several of the Ditko and early Cowan stories, the gas turns the Question's shirt salmon.

* WhatTheHeckIsAnAglet: The famous line from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'': "The tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is ''sinister''."
* WhoShotJFK: "There ''was'' a magic bullet. It was forged by Illuminati mystics to prevent us from learning ''the truth''!"

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 ''Creator/DetectiveComics''. 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.

* AuthorAppeal: Creator/GregRucka, the predominant writer for the Question storyline in ''52'' and the author for her three subsequent appearances (''The Question: Five Books of Blood'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Revelations'' and the second-feature in ''Creator/DetectiveComics'') was the author to originally [[CharacterDevelopment develop]] the Montoya character in ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' and has a history of writing [[ComicBook/{{Whiteout}} strong]] [[ComicBook/QueenAndCountry female]] characters.

* WhatTheHeckIsAnAglet: The famous line from ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'': "The tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is ''sinister''."

* AuthorAppeal: Creator/GregRucka, the predominant writer for the Question storyline in ''52'' and the author for her three subsequent appearances (''The Question: Five Books of Blood'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Revelations'' and the second-feature in ''DetectiveComics'') was the author to originally [[CharacterDevelopment develop]] the Montoya character in ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' and has a history of writing [[ComicBook/{{Whiteout}} strong]] [[ComicBook/QueenAndCountry female]] characters.

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 ''DetectiveComics''. 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.

* RedHeadedHero: Vic, although the gas that bonds the pseudoderm also changes his hair color to black and his clothes to blue.

Renee has appeared in the ''Injustice'' comic line, and was the main character in a ''Convergence'' mini series.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Myra, Vic Sage's love interest, was a redhead, and even Montoya has a history with the new redheaded ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}.

* NameOfCain: The new ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, Katherine "Kate" Kane, was introduced in the Renee Montoya/Question storyline of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', and it took several weeks for anybody (Even Renee) to make even the ''slightest'' connection between Kane and Cain.

* WhatTheHellHero: Tot is ''furious'' when Renee and the Huntree buy off an assassin to give them information they need.

Most early stories tended to show the Question mainly as a mouthpiece for Ditko's [[{{UsefulNotes/Objectivism}} Objectivist]] philosophy, similar to his ComicBook/MrA stories, but blunted a bit for more commercial appeal. For instance, The Question once knocked some crooks into a fast moving sewer flow and refused to pull them out as they were clinging for dear life, but left to call the police to go and get them out.[[note]] This was considered highly controversial at the time, during TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks.[[/note]] Like most Charlton comics, it folded when the company went under and was bought by DC. When DC decided to reboot some of the characters it had acquired from Charlton it was decided that the Question was to get a whole new image for his next series, which debuted in 1987.

* AdaptationalSexuality: The comics' character is a lesbian, whereas mentioned below, she was originally intended to have had a dead husband in ''B: TAS''.

As of the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', the Question seems to have been completely reinvented, appearing in the Free Comic Book Day oneshot 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 has also appeared in the ''New 52,'' but her tenure as The Question has been retconned and she's back in the GCPD.

-->-- '''The Question I (Victor Sage)''', ''TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain''

* CanonInvasion: The Question was originally owned by Creator/CharltonComics before said company was bought out by DC. The character was introduced to the main [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] PostCrisis.

* TokenMinority: After some [[InternetBackdraft complaints]] about the [[MonochromeCasting complete lack of minorities]] in the ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', author Creator/GailSimone has confirmed that she will be using Renee as a guest star in an upcoming storyline.
* WhatTheHellHero: "You have purchased that with ''blood money''. You've let a killer go free in exchange. You should ''both'' be ashamed of yourselves. And if he were here right now... '''Charlie''' would be, too."

* DrivingQuestion: No pun intended, but the {{New 52}} version is cursed to have this constantly as his part in the Trinity of Sin, with various questions he will never be able to answer.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Right off the bat, we know he did somthing to earn a part in The Trinity of Sin. Also, during the creation of the trinity, he was the only member to act defiantly, vowing to rise up and take revenge on the wizards. As The Question, he has done some pretty questionable things, mostly involving backstabing the other members of the trinity, but also some unambiguously good things, such as saving a kidnapped child.

* MasterOfDisguise: He has shown the ability to alter his appearnce and look like anyone at will. Weather this is a power afforded to him by his curse or a talent he picked up over time is unknown.

* CursedWithAwesome: Though he was cursed to lose sis sense of identity, not to mention his actual face, The Question did gain immortality and is strong enough to stand on the same cosmic scale with that of The Phantom Stranger and Pandora.

* GrandFinale: Renee's ''Convergence'' arc mostly serves as this, giving her a ([[BittersweetEnding mostly) happy ending where she gets to kiss the girl and redeem Two Face.

* AmbiguousGender and Race: Sort of. Though the readers know he was born a white man, The Question has no clue who he was before he was cursed. He has taken on the identities of multiple genders and races throughout is long lifetime.

* CursedWithAwesome: Though he was cursed to loose is sense of identity, not to mention his actual face, The Question did gain immortality and is strong enough to stand on the same cosmic scale with that of The Phantom Stranger and Pandora.