Vic Sage hits the streets of Hub City to investigate corruption at the highest level of city politics, but in this game of suspicion and deadly violence, Vic’s adversaries are eager to take him down. Will he shine a light on the city’s dirty secrets, or will he be left to regret his mission? Only one way to find out…by joining this month’s DC Community Book Club as we read The Question #1-#3!
Join the DC Community Book Club, running from April 15 to May 3 as we dive into Dennis O’Neal’s iconic crime thriller! The first three issues will be free to read for all registered users, so head over to DCUI and read up! Don’t forget to come on back to this thread every Monday to join the book club discussions.
The Question #1 Discussion Questions
“That he may die is of no interest to him in these charged seconds.” What do you think, readers: good outlook to have mere moments away from a lethal fight, keeping the adrenaline up — or completely irrational to rely so heavily on the feigned indestructability of your own persona?
Given the current state of media, do you think Vic’s public call out on the news channel would have as much effect today as it did back then?
Throughout this issue, we get a taste for Vic Sage’s no-nonsense approach to his work; no room for error, no time for help, no care for opinions he didn’t ask for. Every crime-fighter tends to keep their double life a secret from those they care about, but do you think it’s wise of Vic to keep his lives so separate to the point where he refuses to back down? Or do you think he’s too caught up in what The Question feels like for him?
The countdown on Charles Victor Szasz’s death is prominent throughout the first part of this story. Besides the “reality check” he’s dealt by the end of the issue, do you think this countdown symbolizes more than just a literal death — but also the “death” of Vic’s entire perception of himself and the world around him?
The Question #2 Discussion Questions
Charles appeared to be accepting that he was dead, content to spend the next unmeasured eternity floating in the void. Why do you think his own death was ripped from him, if he himself was ready to go?
It could be said that there are several themes of “fate” being written across Charles’s circumstances. Given all that we’ve seen this far, do you believe he’s fated for a greatness beyond his own comprehension, or has everything just been a huge coincidence thus far? (Or, secret third option: Do you believe even we, as readers, aren’t meant to understand fully? Is that the true purpose of… The Question? )
Pretty bold of Charles to dive right back into the fray after months of rehabilitation, and completely solo at that. Once again, do you think this was wise of him — that he’s got a better plan now that he’s had that reality check? Aside from having a different outlook on life now, what else changed to have him feeling so confident?
And finally, the question that’s been on everyone’s mind throughout this whole issue: Why DID Shiva save Charles?
The Question #3 Discussion Questions
Why do you think Myra chose to hide the existence of her child from Vic?
The Question — who has spent the past few months coming into his true identity, Charles — staves off what may read as a small panic attack while thinking about the trauma of his past. Do you think these memories plagued him often in his adult life, or do you think he got caught up in his flashy life between Vic Sage and The Question to sort of help bury them?
Ah, to build a snowman … something you probably wouldn’t assume a grown man didn’t know how to do, or what would bring him peace. What do you make of those moments Charles spent with the children? Do you think it eased the innate loneliness in him, as a child who never got to experience companionship?
Overall, what did you think of this story? Do you have any other discussion points we didn’t cover?
As always no DC Book Club would be complete without some awesome digital perks!
The Question #1-2 is one of my all time favorite origin stories, as an 80s reimagining of The Spirit. And issue 3 provides a very sweet capper. Can’t wait to start talking about one of my favorite books next week!
Oh yeah! This specific moment was Denny and Denys calling back to a Question gimmick employed in the original Steve Ditko run on The Question from the 1960s:
Oh yeah, Vic Sage is full of self-important ego in this issue. At this point in his personal journey, The Question thinks of himself as infallible. He is about to learn otherwise.
This is a great question. Calling out the inconvenient, unpopular truth has always been a cornerstone of The Question’s MO going back to the original stories from the 60s, but even by the Reagan Era when this particular run was being written, what was true was becoming less and less relevant to how we saw the world – a disturbing reality which will continue to affect Vic through this series up to its heartbreaking conclusion.
Denny O’Neil and Steve Ditko were friends, and spoke with each other often – though they could not have been more ideologically opposed. Ditko’s inflexible view on right and wrong and the importance of individuality stood in stark contrast to Denny’s more holistic philosophy that people are complicated and that our purpose on Earth is to support one another. Here in the first issue, Denny is presenting his own view of Ditko’s rigid Question before redefining the character on his own terms. If you think The Question comes off looking like a jerk in this issue, that’s exactly as intended.
You nailed it here. The countdown in this issue is, in execution, not so much a countdown to the end of The Question’s life, but the start of a new one. In a NASA sense, this is a countdown clock to liftoff.
1 - I think it can serve as both. One could use that mindset to keep up their energy in a fight and push past whatever physical pain they are feeling. But it’s also good to not indulge in that mindset for EVERY fight.
2 - Hmmmm…yes and no? There are plenty of real life news anchors who have no problem letting their opinions be known on the air and they don’t hold back that much. As for actually showing what was intended to be blackmail…I think it’s a bit dicier whether or not something like that could be pushed through in the current real world. Chances are probably but legal wouldn’t like it
3 - This is an interesting thought because…well, I don’t see any separation between Vic the news reporter and Vic the vigilante. Vic is entirely consumed by his general desire of fighting back against evil and punishing those who do wrong that his entire life is dedicated to that pursuit. You can argue so is Batman but he still puts in some effort to make public appearances as Bruce Wayne and come off as someone people don’t suspect could be Batman. That’s not the case with Vic as far as I can tell.
4 - It’s the classic metaphorical death, killing off the mindest and behavior of the past to rebuild himself into something better. A perfect way to reintroduce the character following Crisis on Infinite Earths and becoming an official part of the DCU
I think Victor Sage passed “completely irrational” a long time ago, but I imagine that people who face life-threatening situations in real life have to enter a similar mental state.
No. I personally found it profoundly UN-shocking. And I think if a tape like it got released in reality today, it would get lost in the 24-hour news cycle.
I was actually surprised by how intertwined his two personas are. Vic openly admits to whoever will listen that he and The Question are chasing down the same leads, and he doesn’t even bother changing his clothes when he puts on the mask.
Bearing in mind that I haven’t read ahead, I could see Vic abandoning his civilian life, at least temporarily, in order to throw himself fully into this case as The Question, thus symbolically killing off Charlie Szasz.
This was his first lesson. His entire life to this point, Vic has only ever believed in living life on his own terms — and, so too, his death. Forced from it here, Vic begins to learn that the world is larger than his own point of view.
Not in the sense of a grand destiny of saving the universe like your typical hero story, but as a living parable. Vic’s purpose has always been to ask questions. But up until now, he wasn’t asking the right ones.
This initial trauma of death and rebirth isn’t the end of Vic’s personal growth, but the very beginning. Rushing back into his quest where he left off can be seen as a refusal of the call, in hero’s journey terms. Change is not so easy to accept. It’s going to take the next 3 years to really take hold.
Shiva’s reputation, rightly earned, is as a creature of destruction. But the god Shiva is also about recreation — and, under her creator here, Denny O’Neil, Denny stresses that too often lost element of the character. Lady Shiva is an agent not of death, but of change.
I can’t help but read this on a meta level. I think what @HubCityQuestion said last week about O’Neil and Ditko being ideologically opposed is at play here. I think O’Neil is killing off Ditko’s version of the character and rejecting his black-and-white philosophy. Charlie being ready to die and that being taken away from him is O’Neil’s way of saying that The Question is still needed, but that he needs to change.
The acceptance of anything being a coincidence feels very anti-The Question. That being said, I’m not necessarily picking up on themes of “fate”. I think Charlie/Vic’s journey is more personal than that. I think it just took some… unlikely bits of storytelling to get him to this point.
I think knowing that lady Shiva is, if not on his side, probably not going to interfere anymore may have spurned him on. He’s also, as Richard said, highly driven by curiosity.
Charles appeared to be accepting that he was dead, content to spend the next unmeasured eternity floating in the void. Why do you think his own death was ripped from him, if he himself was ready to go?
Charles wasn’t happy or fulfilled and accepted death because he was without true purpose. Death was ripped from him because he has a purpose to fulfill. With adjustments to his life he can fulfill his purpose of combating corruption and grow as a person. I’m not sure if that aligns with Shiva’s purpose for him.
It could be said that there are several themes of “fate” being written across Charles’s circumstances. Given all that we’ve seen this far, do you believe he’s fated for a greatness beyond his own comprehension, or has everything just been a huge coincidence thus far? (Or, secret third option: Do you believe even we, as readers, aren’t meant to understand fully? Is that the true purpose of… The Question? )
Being completely new to the character I don’t think the reader is supposed to fully understand his fate or where it may lead him but circumstance, at least, is setting him up for great work.
Pretty bold of Charles to dive right back into the fray after months of rehabilitation, and completely solo at that. Once again, do you think this was wise of him — that he’s got a better plan now that he’s had that reality check? Aside from having a different outlook on life now, what else changed to have him feeling so confident?
Certainly bold, but he is a new person that has been humbled by his past hubris. In the last fight he knowingly went into a trap, while this time he is surprising a foe that believes he is dead. His training has removed his pride, so I would assume he has prepared for this fight more than his last encounter.
And finally, the question that’s been on everyone’s mind throughout this whole issue: Why DID Shiva save Charles?
I suspect she has some bigger plan that involves Charles and the mayor, but I’m not sure if she is a good guy or bad guy.
“That he may die is of no interest to him in these charged seconds.” What do you think, readers: good outlook to have mere moments away from a lethal fight, keeping the adrenaline up — or completely irrational to rely so heavily on the feigned indestructability of your own persona?
Ultimately depends of the fight. But here it definitely an adrenaline boost but maybe even an ego boost wich could hurt more than help.
Given the current state of media, do you think Vic’s public call out on the news channel would have as much effect today as it did back then?
Not sure. It could would probably trend but the impact ultimately depends on the reach it would get. So I think it would have an effect but for the size of it unsure.
Throughout this issue, we get a taste for Vic Sage’s no-nonsense approach to his work; no room for error, no time for help, no care for opinions he didn’t ask for. Every crime-fighter tends to keep their double life a secret from those they care about, but do you think it’s wise of Vic to keep his lives so separate to the point where he refuses to back down? Or do you think he’s too caught up in what The Question feels like for him?
At this point it looks like he still figuring out who Vic and the Question are supposed to be. He’s blurring line for himself yet keeping them apart for others which doesn’t seem to be working in his favor.
The countdown on Charles Victor Szasz’s death is prominent throughout the first part of this story. Besides the “reality check” he’s dealt by the end of the issue, do you think this countdown symbolizes more than just a literal death — but also the “death” of Vic’s entire perception of himself and the world around him?
A classy “death” rebirth scenario. This Vic died but a new to be reborn.
Charles appeared to be accepting that he was dead, content to spend the next unmeasured eternity floating in the void. Why do you think his own death was ripped from him, if he himself was ready to go?
You can’t always get what you want in life. Things won’t always go your way. The first lesson he needs to learn on this new journey.
It could be said that there are several themes of “fate” being written across Charles’s circumstances. Given all that we’ve seen this far, do you believe he’s fated for a greatness beyond his own comprehension, or has everything just been a huge coincidence thus far? (Or, secret third option: Do you believe even we, as readers, aren’t meant to understand fully? Is that the true purpose of… The Question? )
That is the what questions what is the pint him. Some big destiny or goal or something but who knows. That’s something to find out as we go but ultimately for the question his purpose I think is simply to ask the questions the need to be asked and maybe even find those answers.
Pretty bold of Charles to dive right back into the fray after months of rehabilitation, and completely solo at that. Once again, do you think this was wise of him — that he’s got a better plan now that he’s had that reality check? Aside from having a different outlook on life now, what else changed to have him feeling so confident?
Well surviving death can boost confidence especially with how he was acting before. The change is difficult so going to something familiar can help that change along in a sense.
And finally, the question that’s been on everyone’s mind throughout this whole issue: Why DID Shiva save Charles?
Who knows? Maybe she has plans for him in her goal. Maybe she cares for him. Maybe she sees the hood he can do. Maybe it was a laps in her judgment. Maybe she just felt like it. In the end the deed is done and Vic is here to stay.
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