Comic Review: The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #1

The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #1

DC Comics

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artists: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz, Chris Sotomayer

There hasn’t been a Question comic in over ten years. Now, the all-star creative team of Jeff Lemire, Denys Cowan, and Bill Sienkiewicz finally bring us the book fans want. It’s the first Black Label book that interests me and it’s great to see the line producing books of this style and quality.

Bringing back the Denys Cowan for this book is a stroke of genius. His aesthetic defined The Question, and it’s his pencils that make this new book feel so timeless. Throw Sienkiewicz into the mix and it changes everything. That gritty, scratchy look that the old book has? It’s enhanced. At its core, it’s still clearly Cowan, but Sienkiewicz’s contributions are immediately noticeable and push the work over the top. It doesn’t look like anything else right now, and were it not for the more Chris Sotomayer’s more modern colors this could easily be mistaken for a book from the ’80s. 

That’s not just due to the art, either. Lemire is a writer I attribute to minimalism. At least in terms of dialogue and panels per page. Less is more with him, and to see how much dialogue was in this book threw me for a loop. After a few pages, it began to sink in. This doesn’t feel like Lemire, and that’s intentional. The book reads as if it’s of another era, almost like a lost issue of the O’Neil run. The writing is wordy and flowery in exactly the way that Lemire tends to avoid, and I respect his dedication to making the book feel authentic in that way.

This shift in style doesn’t only work in the way of a throwback, it also works in favor of the format. Black Label books are always longer than average, and the density of text in this makes it a fairly hefty read. It’s dense and the pace is deliberately slower than most 20 page issues of today.  It allows for the team to dig into the meat of scenes they otherwise wouldn’t. It’s a bit difficult to retrain my brain for the pacing adjustment given that I read so many single issues, but in the end, I appreciate the change. I had to work for it and dig into a story with deliberately slow pacing that doesn’t end as quickly as it begins. It’s more rewarding than I tend to expect from singles.

As for the story itself, it’s perfect for the character. It’s not a groundbreaking idea, in fact, it’s fairly average, but it works so well within this book’s atmosphere. It lends itself to all the aspects you want out of a Question story. There’s detective stuff for Vic to do, corruption to expose as a newscaster, and scumbags to punch in the beef.

Despite that familiar setup, it actually takes a pretty strange turn in the end. It’s a hard left and presumably will lead to an entirely different kind of book in issue 2. This is not a problem, but it does concern me. The cliffhanger itself is fine, but so far the clues lead me to believe it’s heading towards a trope that I hate. I won’t say exactly what due to spoilers, but Lemire is no stranger to touching this idea in his superhero works in the past. If it goes that direction, I’ll be disappointed. If he pulls another fast one on me, I’ll be the first to admit how wrong I am. 

There ‘s also a pretty strange character choice at the start of the issue. I’m not enough of a Question buff to know if it’s a poor choice or not, but it’s a weird misogynistic take that I’m unsure about. However, Lemire is a good enough writer that I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s pulling this from somewhere. 

Overall, The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #1 is a timeless comic. It doesn’t rely strongly on any continuity, and as a result, it stands strongly on its own. While I have concerns regarding the direction it seems to be going in,  it doesn’t change the fact that this issue is absolutely stellar on its own. Incredibly refreshing art and stylish prose make this one of the best #1’s of the year.