History: (Question I #1 (fb, BTS), 4, 14 (fb)) - A six month old baby arrived at St. Catherine's orphanage, badly burned and covered in bruises. The boy was named Charles Victor Szasz and underwent severe beatings from the nuns and his fellow students. He blocked out this trauma, and came to remember St. Catherine's fondly. He attended university, but was expelled.

(Question Annual #2 (fb)) - Charles Victor Szasz gained fame as a journalist, and changed his name to Vic Sage. At barely 21 he was a media darling, hosting exposes, and playing lover to his secretary Judy. The older reporters worried that he was arrogant and a bit of a zealot in the pursuit of truth. He ran a report damning renowned doctor Arby Twain for performing an illegal abortion that resulted in the patient's death. It turned out the negligent doctor was Arbler Twine, not Twain, and his reputation and career were at stake. He still refused to retract his story or show humility, so when his old college professor Aristotle Rodor told him he suspected Twain of criminal activity he was all ears. Rodor and Twain had co-invented pseudoderm, a skin-like substance that could bond to flesh with the use of a gas. It was meant to treat wounds, but caused blood poisoning in some patients, so Rodor abandoned the research. A similar substance had recently reached the world marker, and Rodor suspected his old colleague, but had no proof. Vic volunteered to break into Twain's house and collect evidence, and Rodor reluctantly agreed to help him. Vic used the pseudoderm to create a featureless mask, and dressed in a trench coat and fedora. Rodor said the look reminded him of old-time crimefighter the Spirit, but Vic chose the name Question for himself. He caught Twain in the act of selling pseudoderm to Central American government agents, and everyone involved was aware of the faulty and dangerous nature of pseudoderm. Question beat them up, and as Vic Sage covered their arrest and exposure. He crowed that he'd saved countless lives, but inwardly felt relief that he never had to apologize for his faulty expose on Twain.

(Question I #1, 2, Question Annual #1 (fb)) - Vic Sage arrived in his old stomping grounds, Hub City, and after being disgusted by the fact that it had become a cesspool got a job as a TV journalist. He targeted the corrupt administration of Mayor Fermin in a number of exposes, but the many feathers he ruffled were forgiven by the network because of the ratings he brought in. Vic put on his Question garb, and broke into a safehouse where the Mayor was keeping a blackmail tape. After a rough fight he got the tape, and aired it live on his next broadcast. It showed Mitchell Doohan, Commissioner of Schools snorting coke and cavorting with the girlfriend of Adam Perch, who he'd just assigned a building contract to. His lover and fellow anchor Myra Connelly told him he should have cleared the tape through legal first, but he ignored her. Vic visited Aristotle Rodor, who kept his gear in order, telling him his black mask started to slip during the fight at the safehouse. Vic had taken up smoking, and Aristotle said the mask was meant for his specific body chemistry, so the tobacco might be the culprit. Vic asked him why he stuck around even though Vic was so misanthropic, and Aristotle told him that watching him find his destiny was a fine spectator sport. Vic's informant Moe Reynolds told him about a meeting of Fermin's men at a deserted pier, and he knew it was a trap, but went there as Question anyway. Lady Shiva met him in combat and bested him, at which point Fermin's triggerman Reverend Jeremiah Hatch had his goons beat him bloody with a pipe before shooting him in the head and dumping him off the pier. With the thugs gone, Lady Shiva dove into the water and saved the Question, tending to his wounds. He muttered the name of Aristotle Rodor, and knowing he wouldn't be safe in a hospital she brought him to his friend. Question suffered some memory loss, and had fevered dreams about Batman, who he'd worked with once, prodding him to dedicate himself fully to his mission. He healed up somewhat, and Aristotle told him Shiva had chartered him a helicopter flight for a meeting. Question arrived to find not Shiva, but Richard Dragon, a legendary kung-fu master. Dragon was bound to a wheelchair, and Question was severely injured, but Dragon assured him he had to work on his mind before his body would heal. He chopped wood, subsisted on foraging and listened to Dragon's words of wisdom until Richard felt he'd learned all he could from him. Richard Dragon taught Question a lesson about pain, saying that life inevitably broke people in different ways, and it was unavoidable. Question asked if he was supposed to give up and cry, but Dragon said that would be safe but allow the pain to remain. He insisted that pain had to be accepted and embraced no matter the form it took. Shiva appeared to check on his progress, and attacked him, telling him that if he didn't defend himself she would kill him. He fended off her attacks, and she was satisfied, saying she'd saved him because she saw in him a true passion for the martial arts. Dragon still maintained that Question's passion was curiosity, not combat. Question leapt back into the fray, breaking into the mayor's mansion, confronting the Reverend, and telling him to get on his knees and pray.

(Question I #3, 4) - Question wasn't sure whether or not he was going to kill the Reverend, but his thoughts were interrupted when Myra burst into the room. Hatch took advantage of his distraction to attack him with a poker, but after a scuffle Hatch was pitched out a window. While Question was recuperating Myra had gotten married to the mayor. He lusted after her, and Hatch threatened her daughter Jackie if she didn't agree to wed him. They passed by the mayor, who was in his cups, and still had no idea how Hatch was keeping him in power. Myra told Question she trusted him because she had no choice, and warned him that Hatch planned to have a bus bombed because the bus line operators weren't cooperating with him. It was Martin Luther King, Jr. day, and there was a school holiday, so only one bus was operating, taking children to a local speech. Hatch contracted the criminal Musto family, and Question trailed them, preventing Pedro from activating the planted plastique bomb, but Junior Musto was desperate to get his father's acceptance, and had dynamite on hand. Question beat and disarmed him, and then checked in on Jackie, who was special needs and staying at St. Catherine's. Question reflected that childhood was the one respite of existence between the complete ignorance of infancy and the disillusionment of adulthood. The children asked him to build a snowman, and he basked in a moment of innocence that he never really had as a child. Police under Hatch's employ kidnapped Jackie, putting a gun to a nun's head to keep Vic Sage from interfering. Vic told Aristotle he was determined to put an end to Hatch, not because of anything he felt for Myra, but because he couldn't stand to see the innocent betrayed by authority. The mayor overheard Hatch discussing with his flunkies how he was using Fermin to own Hub City, and the drunken mayor tried to confront him, but was knocked cold by Hatch's man Jackie. When he woke he sped away in his car, but quickly crashed into a tree. Fermin told his plans to Jackie, about how he was doing the Lord's work by hastening judgment day, and was going to sacrifice Jackie. Question stole a police cruiser, and made his way to the mayor's mansion. He caught Hatch's goons trying to open his safe with a blowtorch, and made short work of them, but the torch started a massive fire. Question saved Jackie, grabbing the knife Hatch was going to sacrifice him with, sand saying he badly wanted to kill him, but would not. Jackie grabbed the knife and stabbed Hatch in the back. Hatch wandered off into the flames, burning to death, and the fire department arrived to contain the situation.

(Question I #5) - The Hub City government broke down completely, with Fermin giving a rambling speech blaming the communists for burning down his mansion. Aristotle drove Question around town, and he blamed himself for the city going to Hell, but Aristotle reminded him the government was utterly corrupt before the mayor's mansion burned. They drove through a riot, and Question knew he;'d be unable to stop so many combatants by himself. He tailed corrupt police officer Izzy O'Toole, only to witness him find his conscious, arresting two criminals stealing from the body of suicide Bernie Josephson. The criminals fought back, grabbing his gun, and Question saved Izzy, who said he owed him one. Question told Tot the fire didn't start the madness, but he still felt responsible because he hadn't done enough as a reporter to uncover Hub's corruption. He would make an excuse for his absence and return to the news as Vic Sage. He and Tot agreed that truth-tellers, be they journalists, scientists or philosophers, helped keep society together.

(Question I #6, 21 (fb)) - Vic investigated the Mcvey Company's ties to terrorist activity, and Aristotle told him they were also responsible for the pollution that caused Hub's acid rain. Vic handed Finch his story about the mayor's mansion fire, and was allowed to work as a freelancer at KBEL, even though he'd been MIA for almost a year. He changed into question, and went to the Mcvey Company to find it's owner Farley Mcvey about to be shot by gangster Musto. He was supposed to supply guns bound for South America to Musto, and had failed to do so. He pleaded that his father Ian Angus, the former owner, had found out what he was up to and sabotaged him. Question saved Farley, who thanked him by stabbing him. Question fled to go to the ER, and after being patched up he found that Ian Angus lived in rural Feelyville, so he had Tot drive him there, deducing that Musto and Farley had marked him for death. Musto's son Junior arrived there first, hoping to prove himself to his father by killing Farley. He couldn't go through with it, and when Musto arrived, guns blazing, Junior shot him in the chest. Question came upon the aftermath of Musto being shot by his son Junior. Junior acted in self defense and told Question he'd do anything to win his father's love, showing him that he's scorched his face with acid to show his father he was tough. Question said he never knew his parents, but Junior was still more fortunate than him, although he didn't explain why. Question told Tot to drive him home, sick of the whole affair.

(Question I #7) - Volk, who ran Hub's illegal gambling organizations, was ready to retire and inform on his fellow criminals. Myra arranged for him to meet with Fermin, who said Volk would never give him a square deal like Teddy Roosevelt before he passed out. Volk walked out, and Myra poured the rest of Fermin's bottle over his head for blowing it. She asked Vic to get Volk's story for her, and he wondered why she was assuming responsibility for Hub City. She said she was the only person good enough and smart enough to stop Hub's slide. She admitted she still had feelings for Sage, and she'd been forced to marry Fermin, but she said she still took vows and intended to honor them. Vic found Volk, but he refused to give an interview, so he told Aristotle he was going to meet him as the Question. Tot asked him if changing his identity changed his ethics, and Vic responded that ethics were situational. Question fought alongside Volk against Volk's gambling partners, who'd found out he was turning against them. In the battle Volk was fatally injured, along with his competition. He wanted someone to know his story, and told Question that he was a Rumanian whose family fled from the Nazis. He was nearly killed, but taken in by a pack of wolves, and asked Question to visit a question mark shaped tree in Bavaria for him. Aristotle was confounded by why Question needed to follow through, and he replied that he wanted to know all of Volk's story. When he found the tree a wolf was nearby, and it had scratched a "V" under the tree.

(Question I #8) - Aristotle drove Vic to the hospital after he was stabbed, and he told Dr. Spaulding he was mugged. Spaulding advised him to go to the police, but admitted they probably wouldn't look into another stabbing. Vic's station got a tip about a man who'd been starving his children being carved to death. Investigating further Question found a number of ironic deaths for those who abused people. He asked Myra for any resources she had, and they had a good time retelling all the Hub City jokes making the comedy circuit, deciding it was better to laugh than cry at their desparate situation. Myra found that she actually missed her former lover. Question interviewed surviving victims of the Mikado, and learned that they'd all visited Central Medical Hospital before their attacks. There was a drug peddler operating out of Central Medical, and Question decided to investigate that angle. After roughing up two of the dealer's customers, he made them lead him to the pusher. The dealer was a patient named Dukus, who drew a gun on Question, but the vigilante took him out with a bed-pan. Dukus clearly wasn't the Mikado, and upon further investigation Question learned that he was Dr. Spaulding. He confronted Spaulding in his apartment, not intending to turn him in, but wishing to understand his motivations. The Mikado had slaved away saving lives to create a balance in Hub City, but felt evil was still winning, so he decided to become a vigilante to create his own balance. Mikado said his work had to continue, and after hitting Question with a tranq dart said as much as he regretted it he would have to dispose of his rival vigilante. Question made a case for the balance he was creating by his heroics in Hub City, and Mikado decided to spare his life, but took his own, overdosing on a chemical injection.

(Question I #9-11) - Question shadowed new chief of detectives Izzy O'Toole to see if he'd left his corrupt past behind. He busted two drug dealers who were trying to bribe him, and Question saved his life from a third man that got the jump on him with a gun. O'Toole admitted he hadn't brought backup because he was considering taking the bribe, and had surprised himself by not doing so. Question went to see Rodor to clear his mind, and his professor friend was working into the dead of night studying viral strains under the microscope. A gas canister crashed through the window, and the chemicals knocked out Rodor, but Question managed to hold his breathe. Two Jeet Kune Do experts entered, and pummeled Question senseless. He awoke hours later to find his friend had been abducted. He ran a news story about Rodor's kidnapping, and realized he had few leads to follow because Rodor had never mentioned any family or friends to him, and he'd never asked. Vic found himself nervous around the attractive new news secretary, and realized he was lonely and physically starved. He remembered seeing a plumber's van on Rodor's block the night of the abduction, and interviewed a neighbor woman who was convinced the van had been spying on her, and had written down the license plate. Question took the intel to O'Toole, who reluctantly admitted the results of his investigation into it. The car was registered to Dr. Chesley Hodell, head of a top-secret and supposedly defunct CIA offshoot that experimented using LSD as a mind-control device. Question broke into Hodell's compound, where the karate expert again trounced him. Question found himself hallucinating, seeing Rodor tried up to a tree crucifixion style before a whole in the ground opened up and swallowed Question whole. The hallucination ended, and Question found a flight schedule for Santa Prisca. He remembered being dosed by LSD in college by one Marty Basin, who he proceeded to beat down the next day. He looked up Basin, who said the incident turned his life around, and he now acted as a top-level DEA agent. He claimed to bear no ill-will, but convinced Vic to go a round with him in boxing. Vic allowed him to get a number of punches in while Basin told him about Rodor's background in pharmaceuticals. He's developed a tranquilizer for use during pregnancy, but the company that bought it rushed it to market, and it caused a number of birth defects, tanking the company after numerous lawsuits. The hallucinogenic agent Vic had encountered definitely originated from Santa Prisca, but Marty warned him to keep a low profile because Prisca was allied with Cuba and he didn't want to create an international incident. Vic was satisfied, and proceeded to beat Marty into unconsciousness, telling him that if his first beating ensured him turning his life around he'd appreciate this one too. He knew he'd made an enemy for life, but still enjoyed the beating. In Santa Prisca he realized he was being shadowed, and snuck out of his hotel room to El Forteleza, a military compound run by the drug kingpin El Beato. He suspected Rodor was there, but didn't have the resources to break in. In a barrio he witnessed a familial dispute, and when he intervened the young woman shot her uncle dead, telling Question he was an abusive monster. Question recognized him as a captain of the guard, and stole his uniform to gain access to El Forteleza. Beato told Rodor that he'd gone to grad school with his father, Rodrigo Gomez, a hunchback who only Tot treated kindly. Kindness and brilliance made Tot uniquely qualified to help Beato with his work on alchemy, revealing that the proto-science had much in common with quantum mechanics, and that by transmuting the base into the pure a soul could be elevated. Tot helped correct mistakes in his work, and was confident they could turn clay into gold, but was skeptical it would change Beato from murderer to saint. Question's raid on the fortress ended badly, and his battered form was presented to Beato and Rodor. Beato warned him that Question would be tortured to death if his experiment didn't succeed. The particle accelerator turned the clay into gold, and Beato became a celestial being. Question was unconscious through the event, and when he woke he found Rodor in a walking coma. Back home in the States he cared for Rodor and revealed that a mysterious man was turning Santa Prisca from a hellhole into a paradise, but wondered if the news reports were evidence of a miracle or a fairy tale. Rodor finally came to, telling Question fairy tales were not without merit.

(Question I #12) - Myra met with Vic in an out of the way motel, revealing that she was running for mayor in the next election. She wanted one last fling with Vic, because once she dedicated herself to politics she knew she'd be under intense scrutiny. Question investigated the murders of Channing and Bolger, two prominent residents of the exclusive suburban community Parson Acres. Pete Carstairs, who built Parson Acres, was being blackmailed by them because the community had been built on top of industrial waste. Carstairs hired Baby Gun to kill them, but told Question the Acres were unpolluted, eating dirt on the lawn to prove his claim. Tot analyzed soil samples, proving it was contaminated, and Vic reached out to Mtyra to get the government involved. Fermin asked Myra if he should help, and she just told him to keep drinking. Carstairs died of poisoning, and Question found him dead in his house, with Baby Gun present eating ice cream. Carstairs knew Baby was out of control and had poisoned the dessert. He went into shock, and Question decided to attempt to get him medical treatment.

(Question I #13, 14) - Vic went through his normal intense exercises, and he and Rodor discussed the difference between discipline and fanaticism. Vic covered the collapse of the Newton Ave. Bridge, which left a number dead. He tried to save a boy whose family's car went under the water in the bridge collapse, but the child was already dead. Myra came to the scene, and city engineer Louis Hadley told her he'd reported the imminent collapse of the bridge to the mayor's office months before. Myra found the man in her department responsible for ignoring the information and fired him, even though he denied any wrongdoing, and Vic wondered if modern society bred apathy and refusal to take responsibility for anything. A paramilitary group killed the U.S. army Bravo Team during a public exhibition, and he learned that they were le dby Col. DeBeck, who assembled a craqck fighting force, but was fired when he had several disagreements with the military. Question confronted DeBeck, and gave him a beating, but he was overwhelmed by DeBeck's men. DeBeck buried Question up to his neck, exposed to the elements, telling him he'd once undergone a similar torture, and that if Question could last longer than him without screaming he could go free. Two guards, Billy and Sergeant watched him, waiting for him to break. Billy tormented him, while Sergeant was impressed with his toughness. Question went inside his own mind, remembering how he used to tough out the punishments the nuns gave him at the orphanage, and despite intense pain and mental fatigue he made it 72 hours. DeBeck told him he'd won; the Col. was tortured by the CIA and broke within 72 hours. Billy said they shouldn't let him go free because he knew of their plans to attack a naval base, and the Col. agreed. The Sergeant said he'd taught them honor, and couldn't go back on his word. Sergeant and Billy fought, with the Sergeant taking a knife before bashing in Billy's head with a shovel. DeBeck realized he'd betrayed his own sense of honor, and committed suicide. The dying Sergeant had enough strength to dig out Question.

(Question I #15) - Vic reported a series of lynchings in Hub City and the upcoming mayoral race between Myra and Royal Dinsmore, who ran on a polemic racist platform. Racist PI Loomis McCarty was investigating the lynchings, and despite Vic's immediate distaste for him, agreed to have drinks to share info. Loomis had little to tell him, but he did learn what hotel he was staying at, and as Question he broke into the hotel room. He found his address book, and learned that Loomis was working for Caleb Phillips, a prominent KKK member. A shooter burst in, and Question was forced to flee, but accessing police computer files learned his gun was registered to one Jackie Figlia. There was another lynching, and Loomis was once again there. He spouted his bigotry at Vic, and a black police officer overheard and gave Loomis a beating. Loomis asked Vic why he didn't help, and Vic replied that he detested him, and would give him a beating himself given the chance. Vic suspected Loomis of the lynchings, and shadowed him. He followed Loomis to Figlia's house, and learned that Loomis had been hired by Caleb to make sure his hate group wasn't involved in the lynchings. Figlia hated Royal Dinsmore for stealing his company, and convinced his friend Bernard Havins, the shooter from the motel, to commit the hate crimes which they intended to frame Royal for. Question busted in as Havins tried to kill Loomis, who shot him dead. Vic broke the story, and an angry Figlia came into the studio armed with a gun. He shot, but Loomis took the bullet for him. Vic hated that a man he despised gave his life for him, and reflected that maybe there were no heroes and villains, just the sick and the victimized.

(Question I #16-18) - Question checked in on Izzy after he busted some corrupt cops he formally worked with, and prevented crooked fireman from burning down his apartment before airing an exposé about the corrupt public service workers in his next broadcast. Myra approached him, and said the national committee of her party was hesitant to endorse her because of Wesley's bad reputation, and asked Vic to find someone to endorse her in Hub City. Question talked to Izzy, and he approved of Myra's work, so Question told him to keep up the good work and not get killed. Out of town crooks Butch Cassidy, supposedly the descendant of the wild west outlaw, and his lackey Sundance, planned on moving operatives to the almost thoroughly corrupt Hub City. The only obstacle was Izzy, so Sundance learned where he lived and hit his apartment with surface-to-air missiles. Izzy was in the basement and survived, so Question found a janitor that worked in Izzy's building, and beat him until he admitted to be feeding Sundance information. He'd informed Sundance that Izzy was staying at the Savoy Motel, so Question made his way there. He had to rough up Izzy's police escort, who were not as friendly with the vigilante as Izzy, and saved Izzy by taking out Sundance. The next day Vic aired an interview with Izzy in which he endorsed Myra for mayor in a terse, but honest, statement. Butch Cassidy broke Sundance out of jail and loaded him onto a helicopter. Question leapt on the helicopter, shook him loose, and he took a long fall, landing on a senior citizen and killing him. He told Aristotle what happened, and even though the senior was terminally ill he was still seeing red, wanting vengeance on Butch and Sundance. Tot said he sounded more like his old self, full of anger and self-righteousness. Vic learned that Butch and Sundance operated out of Seattle, and took a flight to find them. On the way over he read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen comic, and was in deep admiration of the character Rorschach, a brutal vigilante, and had a dream where he was Rorschach. In Seattle he started asking questions about Butch, and a man named Eddie said he'd talk to him if they drank together. Vic had never drank before, and intoxication hit him hard. Eddie attacked him, hoping for a reward from Butch for taking out a troublemaker, and nearly beat him in his inebriated state. Vic staggered back to his hotel to recuperate, and as Question paid a visit to Eddie's house. His partner Skinny got the drop on him, knocked him out and tied him up. Butch gave the ok for them to kill Question, and they drove him up to the snowy mountains to finish him off as he reflected that he made stupid mistakes when he let his anger control him. He was saved at the last minute by Green Arrow. GA initially refused to untie Question, not knowing if he was one of the good guys, but after Eddie and Skinny briefly broke free they teamed up to take them down again, and Question explained why he was in Seattle. GA had been after Butch and Sundance too, because they sold guns to terrorists, and he drove to the duo's hunting lodge on the mountain. They managed to sneak in and found they had something in common, they were both men of violence seeking a path to tranquility. Question tried out several of Sun Tzu's strategies to make their way through the compound and take out Butch's men. Butch and Sundance tried to flee in a helicopter, but the heroes tied down the brakes of two snowmobiles, struck the helicopter and grounded it. Forced into a confrontation Sundance drew his gun but was outdrawn by GA, and the heroes took them in.

(Question I #19) - Vic Sage reported on the robbery of an armored truck company where the perpetrator used a plastic gun manufactured by the Polys Corporation to evade a metal detector, and noted that Butch Cassidy had also used a Polys gun to break his partner out of custody. Myra’s political adviser introduced her to Alexander Polys, who wanted to open up a factory in Hub City. She was unnerved by the way he talked about plastic as the pinnacle of man’s creation, but was interested in his offer of bringing jobs into the city and contributing $500,000 to her campaign. Myra told Cobb she was unsure of Polys, and wanted to try to dig up some dirt on Dinsmore first to see if that tactic could swing votes her way. She enlisted Vic, who, as the Qyuestion, tailed Dinsmore and heard him bragging to his bodyguards that once he was elected he’d start rounding up minorities and putting them in prison, because he racistly viewed them as undesirables. The Question couldn’t control his rage, knowing that if Dinsmore won the city would be a powderkeg waiting to explode, and revealed himself, brutalizing Dinsmore’s bodyguards. Vic contacted Myra to tell her Dinsmore was as bad as they suspected, but he couldn’t prove anything. Wesley drunkenly stumbled into Myra’s bedroom, insisting she drink with him and getting furious when she refused. Myra sighed and called Cobb, telling him she’d back Polys. Vic was dismayed, and brought up the use of Polys guns in Hub City to dissuade Myra, but she wouldn’t listen. Vic said he was sure there was something dirty about Polys, but she told him to stay out of it. Vic asked Aristotle to prove his intuition correct, and after some hacking Aristotle told him there were irregularities in the company’s finances but he couldn’t tie him to illegal arms shipments without months of research and a team of accountants. Vic got a call from taxi driver August Lumberg, who’d given a ride to Polys and witnessed him doing business with Butch Cassidy. Polys knew Lumberg was a witness, and informed Cobb, who dispatched Fred Dolbert, a hitman, to take care of him. Lumberg had lost his wife years ago, and took to keeping a love doll in his apartment that he pretended was his wife. Dolbert tormented him by shooting the doll, but then Question appeared and gave him a beating until he confessed who sent him. Question thanked Lumberg, patched up his love doll, and visited Cobb. He told Cobb to send a note apologizing to Myra for dirtying her campaign and leave town or Question would turn him and Dolbert over to the police. Vic visited Myra, but before he could tell her what he’d discovered, she said she’d decided not to bring on Polys as a financial backer because she found his business immoral.

(Question Annual #1) - Question dreamed of looking into the mirror and seeing no reflection, so he did research to find his origins. The hospital where derelicts were sent the year he was born had burned down a decade previously, so he conceded that he'd never find out who his mother was. He told his woes to Rodor, who said he couldn't help him in his personal quest, but had improved the gas he used to affix his mask, which would activate faster and be much harder to pull off. Rodor also told Question he no longer had a reason to keep using a secret identity, but his friend ignored him. Jake, a flunky of Reverend Jeremiah Hatch had been informed of Question's identity and location by one of his fellow criminals, who was a bit of a sleuth. When the mayor's mansion burned down Question interrupted him while he was opening a safe that contained one of Hatch's skim funds. He was convinced that Question ahd taken the money, and after he and fellow thug Looey beat up Question, and threatened Rodor with a gun after roughing him up. Question insisted that he didn't have the money, but accompanied them to the old burned mansion and located Hatch's charred corpse and the remains of the safe. Jake still planned on killing them both, but Lady Shiva arrived, and easily defeated them, snapping Jake's neck because he once tried to touch her when they were with Hatch. Rodor balked at going to the hospital, so Shiva used her powers to heal him. She told Question that her master O-Sensei prepared to die, and had vowed his remains would rest with those of his wife. Question owed her a debt, and would repay it by helping her, alongside Batman and Green Arrow, who both owed debt to O-Sensei. Sensei's father-in-law disapproved of his refusal to return to his family once he went on his quest for truth, but Sensei killed every gangster his father-in-law sent against him. They disappeared in fear of him, and Batman used his contacts to lacate them and the family crypt in Malaya, off the coast of Java. Question was feeling completely useless, and asked Batman to stay behind, so he could provide the muscle. Batman agreed, and said that if he had something to prove he'd better do it. On the flight to Java Shiva asked Sensei if he had a parable to change Question's life in the way he'd done for GA and Batman, but he remained silent, and Question assumed he wasn't worth the effort. On the trip by boat to Malaya storms swelled, the boat sank, and Question was unable to save Sensei from drowning. On Malaya they found the family gone, and the crypt missing the remains of Sensei's wife. Question returned home, feeling like a failure, but Shiva learned that Sensei's wife's remains fell overboard when the families crypt was transported to Malaya, so he did indeed rest with his wife. Question remembered that before he drowned O-Sensei said that there were no failures, and if he continued to live he would change.

(Question I #20) - Mikey the Cartoon Clown had a mental breakdown live on his show, telling children that if their parents were divorced it was because they hated them, saying women were only interested in one thing, and exposing himself to the camera. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital, and Myra felt bad because they used to work on the same station together, and she had chocolate delivered to him in the hospital. Vic Sage hosted a debate among Fremin, Dinsmore and newly announced Jazzlett. Dinsmore said he wanted pure upstanding Christian policemen, and he’d order them to take the law into their own hands, saying the only way to remove the criminal element from Hub City was to start killing criminals. Jazzlett asked why they couldn’t all get along, and Myra retorted that Hub City had the worst crime in the country because of unemployment, poverty and a government that had been utterly corrupt for decades. After the debate Myra confided in Vic, saying she believed they were responsible for Mike “the Cartoon Clown” Rappaport’s breakdown. He’d always had a crush on her and viewed her as an angel, but he’d seen her and Vic having their final night together at Manny’s Motel. Vic said he was clearly unstable, and if that hadn’t been what drove him over the edge something else would have. He told Myra to stop demonizing herself for being a woman with needs. Boston’s Traveling Circus came to town, and when Bobo the Clown tried to drum up interest in the city he was dragged into an alley and brutally beaten to death by three men who’d mistaken him for Mikey. They were inspired by Dinsmore’s encouragement for people to take the law into their own hands, and when they learned of their mistake they didn’t feel guilty, but were determined to hunt down Mikey and kill him. Vic sensed a connection between Mikey, who’d just been released from care be cause of overcrowding, and Bobo’s death, so he told Tot he was headed to the circus. Tot waxed poetic about clowns inspiring fear because they outwardly acted like incompetent fools and madmen, which all men, deep inside, knew themselves to be, and the audience only laughed as a defense against recognition of their own madness. Vic said he just wanted to solve a crime. Mikey went to Boston’s Circus and was immediately taken in because the troupe recognized him as a born carnie. The men who’d killed Bobo, ran over Beany, the human skeleton, killing him, and assaulted Boston before hitting Mikey with bats. Question appeared and beat down the thugs. He told the fat lady to get Mikey to the hospital, and was pleased to realize she’d formed an instant connection with the broken clown. Question turned on the news only to hear Dinsmore spewing more hate. Question was in a rage, but unable to harm Dinsmore physically he spent all night defacing his campaign posters, portraying him as a clown.

(Question I #21) - Finch told Vic he had to soften his image, and was to cover his high school reunion even though Vic said he hated high school and despised his classmates. Vic's new coworker invited him over for dinner, and he was embarrassed when he misread her signals and thought she was interested in romance. Vic griped to himself that Mike Hammer from Spillane's novels never got rejected. He was bored by his reunion, but found his former classmates to be friendly, unlike the cliquey nature he remembered in high school. Any good feelings he had were shot when he overheard two of them call him obnoxious and a monster. Izzy let Question know that Junior had stolen an organ donor heart, and was forcing surgeons to save his father Musto's life at gunpoint. Question told Junior he was lucky because he knew why he was screwed up, and it was entirely the fault of his father, while Question didn't know where his dark thoughts came from. Musto died on the operating table, and Junior prepared to open fire, but Question stopped him. He told Izzy to make sure Junior was treated kindly, because there was nothing sadder than a monster, and he empathized with him.

(Question I #22) - Question got a call from a contact in Japan saying a man was coming to meet him at the airport with some important information. Question waited at the airport, but as soon as the man got off his flight he was gunned down by a biker. Question pursued the thug, who, in a panic, ended up getting hit by a bus. Question’s informant turned out to be a member of the Yakuza, and Question told Tot he suspected Dinsmore’s campaign was connected to him. Vic covered Myra’s press conference, where she completely disavowed her husband and revealed that after he fell deep into alcoholism she’d been the one running the city behind the scenes. Question learned that the man who killed the Yakuza was a member of the Savage Huns biker gang, and paid a visit to their social club. He couldn’t beat much information out of them, but pieced together the evidence that the Yakuza had manufactured the voting machines set to arrive in Hub city, and they were pre-loaded with votes for Dinsmore. Dinsmore and the Yakuza had some sort of falling out, and the informant was trying to expose him. Tot was able to gather evidence about Dinsmore’s connection to the Japanese voting machine company, and Vic called Judge Lewis Rockland, asking him to draw up a court order preventing the use of the machines. Rockland was in Dinsmore’s back pocket, and immediately called him. Dinsmore sent the Huns to Vic’s house to kill him, but as the Question he managed to beat them all off. Dinsmore was furious to learn Vic was still alive and called in backup, having a virtual army of bikers ride into Hub City.

(Question I #23, 24) - On election day Vic uncovered that the new voting machines came pre-loaded with votes, and they were disallowed. Vic drove Aristotle to the local polling station, and noted that Royal was pressing the skid row bums into registering and voting for him. He was also uncomfortable with the bikers and thugs surrounding the polls, but Aristotle assured him he'd be fine. News of violence at the polls broke, and Aristotle was listed as one of the injured. Vic visited him in the hospital, and the doctor said he had a 50 / 50 chance of pulling through after the beating he got. Vic said he wished Tot was awake to council him, because he was always a voice of reason. Vic wondered if he should take the fight to Royal Dinsmore or if he should keep covering the story and let events play out. Tot regained consciousness for a moment and asked him to think what life would be like if Royal and his cronies were the ones left standing after the election. Question beat up two of the bikers, breaking a number of their bones and sending them to the hospital. Vic Sage reported that the polls were safe, and that the bikers were hospitalized due to taking bad drugs. The bikers thought Royal had screwed them, so they roughed him up, brought him to a farmhouse, and poured gasoline on him. Before they could set him on fire the Question arrived, but they gave him a beat down and proceeded to douse him in gasoline as well. The biker’s leader Billy lit his cigar to set them ablaze when the storm hit, tearing apart the bar and trapping Billy under a motorcycle. Dinsmore grabbed a gun, and began shooting at the bikers, with the survivors riding their bikes into the storm to their doom. Question helped Billy free himself, unwilling to leave him to his death. The storm seemed to pass, and Billy tried to strangle Question, but the hero put him down, knowing it would be in Billy’s nature to show no gratitude for saving his life. The storm returned and Question flew through the air before grabbing a lampost and hanging on as tight as he could while being battered by the tornado. Question weathered the rest of the storm and as the sun broke through the clouds he smiled and laughed louder than he had in years, thinking that despite all the wreckage the storm left behind Hub City looked beautiful. Aristotle Rodor, who’d recovered, patched up Question, who was eager to learn who won the election. Vic Sage learned from Finch that Dinsmore won by a single vote, although he was currently missing. Vic went to see Myra to offer her condolences but Maurice told him Myra really needed to be alone at the moment. Vic covered an accident at the riverfront, where a car that had driven intoi the water during the storm was being dredged up. Inside the car was Dinsmore, who’d drowned. Vic broadcast the story, and because of Hub City laws, if an elected official died before being sworn into office the runner-up would be considered the winner, and Vic congratulated Myra. Vic spoke to Myra, who was having second thoughts. She felt obligated to help Hub City, but wished she could just focus on being a mother and starting up her journalism career again. She wondered what difference it would make in a hundred years who won the election anyway. Vic replied that all they could do was live in the moment and make the most out of the time they had. Myra gave him a kiss goodbye, and said in the future she’d be interested in giving their relationship another go. Myra gave her acceptance speech while Wesley drunkenly told the press that JFK and Martin Luther King had gone too far in their politics, and best served history be being made examples of. Myra talked about ending corruption and rebuilding the city when Wesley pulled his gun and shot her.

(Question I #25) - Wesley said Myra was a bad wife and and godless to boot. KBEL reporter Jerry Thatcher tried to grab him, but Wesley fatally shot him in the head before fleeing in the confusion. Myra was still clinging to life and was rushed to the hospital. Riots broke out across the city and Vic met with Izzy, who said his men were stretched thin. He was currently dealing with a hostage situation where two men who’d robbed a liquor store and shot a cop were holed up in a tenement where they were holding two elderly sisters at gunpoint. Back at home Rodor said he noticed Vic was brooding and seething, which didn’t solve anything. Vic felt guilty about Thatcher’s death because he was supposed to be the one covering Myra’s acceptance speech, but he bowed out because subconscious he was hoping Myra wouldn’t win the election and they’d end up together again. Vic smashed a table in a rage and Tot said he was going to have to pay to replace it. Vic said he needed to be righteous and he needed someone to fight. He changed into the Question and said he was going to hunt Wesley Fermin down, and refused to answer Tot when he asked what he’d do when he found him. Question pulled a list of Wesley’s biggest campaign donators and focused on liquor distributor Willy Sundert. Question fell asleep in the park, dreaming of a monstrous Skell who lived in the hearts of every Hub City resident and had grown to enormous size by feeding off the city. Question woke and snapped, severely beating a number of rioters before getting in a confrontation with police officers and taking a bullet to the leg. KBEL did a report stating that under Hub City’s by-laws after a mayor died or was left incapable of serving the previous incumbent became mayor, meaning Wesley was technically still the boss of Hub city. Question saw Sundert load Wesley into a limo, but was too wounded to stop him. Wesley showed up at Izzy’s hostage situation, saying he was in charge and grabbing an officer’s gun before he started firing at the tenement. The officers were forced to fire when the suspects started shooting back. The suspects were fatally shot, as was Wesley, with some considering him a hero.

(Question I #26) - Question busted a mall Santa selling drugs from Toyland, and Izzy appreciated that he was keeping the peace while Izzy was de facto mayor. Vic visited Myra in the hospital, and the doctor told him her condition hadn't improved, and she was still comatose so she didn't know her husband was dead. The doctor opined how unfair it was that one of Hub City's only good citizens was at death's door. Tot chided Vic for going out looking for trouble every night, and pointed out that he kept ripping open the bullet wound in his leg. Tot dragged Vic into his car, and when he awoke Rodor reminded him that there some problems he couldn't punch away. Rodor was driving to the Hampshire's where he said they'd commune with nature until he got his focus back, but Rodor forgot to fill the gas tank and the car stopped. They hitched a ride with a bus, but the bus was held up by the Riddler and his new bloodthirsty friend Sphinx Scromuliski. She shot anyone who couldn't answer Riddler's riddles, and Vic admitted he was in no shape to charge them, so he'd have to take them off guard. He changed into the Question, and got Riddler's interest by reciting John Donne's "Song," and berated Riddler for using puerile puns as riddles. He asked metaphysical questions, such as why a benevolent God allowed suffering, if God existed, and if he didn't why religion was ingrained in every major culture. Question snagged Sphinx's gun, and she fled the bus, falling into a freezing river and drowning. Riddler, Question and Tot huddled around a barrel fire, and Riddler admitted he told riddles because the questions that plagued the Question drove him to near madness as well. In the Christmas spirit the Question said he'd let the Riddler go before the police arrived if he could answer the Question's riddle, and the Riddler was game.

(Question I #27) - Vic found Tot’s entire run of the wartime comic book Captain Stars & Sergeant Stripes and was surprised that a philosopher had an interest in funny books. Vic said the nuns never let him read comics when he was growing up, fearing they’d corrupt him. Tot said he had a fond nostalgia of Stars & Stripes because they were created by his cousin Alvin, a child prodigy, when he was twelve. Alvin vanished off the face of the Earth, and Tot hadn’t heard from him until yesterday, when Alvin sent him a letter informing him that he’d been traveling the world for 43 years, but was ready to come home to Hub City. Vic visited Myra night after night, and while her bullet wounds were healing the doctors saw no signs of her coming out of her coma. Vic pleaded, telling her the city was falling apart without her and she had to get better. Vic changed into the Question, once again taking his rage out on criminals. Robbers were hanging a man over the edge of a building because he didn’t know how to open his office’s safe. Question promised them that if he fell, they’d follow. They dropped the man to his death and question beat them after a short brutal fight. He broke one man’s arm, and the man stumbled, holding on to the edge of the building with one hand. He pleaded for his life, and Question said he warned him about dropping the man. Question began to walk away, but couldn’t go through with it and pulled the criminal to safety before decking him. Alvin met with tot, saying that during his world travels he fell in with a shaman in the Congo who trained him in magic, and convinced him that his comic books, alongside those like Captain America, were what won the war. The shaman’s tribe practiced sympathetic magic, drawing pictures of game animals and throwing spears at them to ensure a successful hunt, and Alvin came to the conclusion he’d pulled off similar magic by making comics about America defeating the Axis. Vic was fascinated by his story, and pointed to a page in Stars & Stripes where their sidekick Betsey Ross had been turned into a zombie by the Nazi Baron Von Hunn, until Captain stars restored her to normal with an antidote. He gave Alvin a picture of Myra Connelly and asked if he’d redraw the page, swapping out Betsey Ross’ image with Myra’s. Izzy asked if he’d gone mad, and Vic responded that the city was in shambles, and Myra needed to recover, so he was willing to try anything. Alvin drew the comic page, and Vic went to the hospital, climbing to the rooftop and meditating on the picture all night long. The next day the doctors gave Myra another shot of adrenaline and she miraculously woke up.

(Question Annual #2) - Question returned home after a night of brutally fighting vice and crime, and told Tot he thought the world would be better off without people. He suggested bees should inherit the Earth, and Rodor reminded him there would be no art or philosophy, but Question replied that he'd trade pure instinct for a highly-evolved brain anytime. They reflected on how they first got together, taking down Rodor's former partner Dr. Arby Twain. Question decided to go back into the night, and admitted he liked working out his anger issues through violence as much as he liked helping victims. While he was out he met his old Flame Judy, now working as a prostitute, and invited her back to his place to clean up and talk. Question found Tot and Green Arrow waiting for him. Rodor said there was a serious situation, and he brewed up some coffee, his solution to every problem. GA said that Dr. Twain was operating out of Santa Prisca, which was a haven for competing criminal and government organizations since Question freed the country from the drug cartel running it. Twain knew GA was investigating him, and dispatched two assassins dressed as the Question after him. The assassins followed GA to Hub City, and the archer shot arrows through both of them. Question contacted Batman through a computer bulletin board, and he allowed them to stow away on a Wayne Foundation cargo ship to deal with the problem on Santa Prisca. GA and Question entered the cartel's Spanish fort and overheard Twain talking to Juarez. He'd created a neurotoxin from the bonding agent for pseudoderm, and assured Juarez his own men would be immune if they wore pseudoderm masks. To prove his weapons effectiveness, and to get back at the Question he'd dispatched agents to gas Hub City. Those who didn't die would be lobotomized, incapable of doing harm, and Question struggled with the idea that it might be a panacea for the darkness of Hub. GA show Juarez with an arrow and his men opened fire, releasing some of Twain's gas. GA escaped the fort, and deciding he couldn't wait for Question, decided to find a way off the island to save Hub City. Twain got the drop on Question with a gun, and said he'd dreamed of his death, but he drifted in and out of reason, the gas having affected his brain. Question wanted to compare their ideas on how to end human suffering, but saw that Twain's solution had freed him from pain.

(Question I #28-30) - Mayor Fermin’s absence plunged Hub City into chaos, with the Huns and their rival biker gang the Grinning Ghosts fighting for control of the city. Supplies were no longer reaching Hub, and food was scare everywhere. Vic told Aristotle he was going to do something about it, and Aristotle told him beating people up in the streets was helping no one. He told vic he was getting off on violence more and more lately and needed to return to his job as a reporter, but Vic left the house without responding to him. Vic and Myra talked about the sad shape of the city, and she was determined to restore the rule of law. They went for a drive through the city when a group of men hurled a cinderblock at their car, demanding food. Vic was ready for a fight, but Myra said she understood the concerns of her constituents and wanted to talk to them. She sent Vic on an errand, and as Question he snuck into the Huns headquarters and kidnapped their leader Loosh O’Fry, saying Myra wanted a sitdown with him. Lady Shiva, who’d traveled to Hub City because it’s state of lawlessness made it the perfect place to hone her craft, ran into them. She offered her services to Loosh, who said he’d gladly pay her to take out Question. Shiva told Question she hoped he’d been honing his martial arts, otherwise the next few seconds were going to be boring for her. Shiva found Question to be no match for her, saying he’d lost his flow and seemed to have forgotten everything Richard Dragon had taught him. She told him that if he didn’t fight harder she was going to kill him, but the Huns caught up with their leader and Loosh told them to kill Question and Shiva. Shiva agreed to team up with Question, saying he was no longer a worthy opponent and she still needed stimulation. They easily prevailed and Question delivered Loosh to Myra at Harry’s Pizza. Shiva contemplated fighting him again, but he told her he had obligations to attend to. He had to get Benjy Floper of the Grinning Ghosts to join Myra’s sitdown. Floper had hijacked a KBEL children’s show to talk up his gang, and Question realized he had a hunger for fame. He told Shiva he was going to resolve the situation without violence as Vic Sage, and Shiva was intrigued. Shiva said she’d be his backup, but would interfere if she didn’t like the plan Vic came up with. Vic schmoozed Floper, saying he had star potential and promising him a meeting with Hollywood executives. He got him to Myra’s sitdown, and Myra proposed that the gangs work for her as Hub City’s police. Loosh and Floper initially refused to work with each other, but considered dividing their turf between Hub’s north and south sides. They said they needed to hammer out some details, and Vic and Myra went on a walk to give them some privacy. Vic thought Myra was crazy, but acknowledged that she didn’t have many options and vigilante justice was better than no justice. They returned to the sitdown to find Floper gone and Loosh stabbed. They took him in their car to the hospital, but were surrounded by angry Huns on their bikes. Myra and Vic tried to flee into the sewers, but the Huns soon caught them. They insisted that Floper had stabbed their boss, not them, and the Huns weren’t sure if they believed them, but agreed they could sort things out after they got Loosh to the hospital. After they reached the hospital the Huns decided to keep Myra captive and told Vic it was up to him to bring Floper to the hospital so they could deal out their brand of justice if Floper really stabbed their boss. Vic realized he was running low on options and time. Loosh had died on the ride over to the hospital, and he knew it wouldn’t be long until the Huns figured that out. Vic called out into the night for Lady Shiva, admitting his nonviolent approach had failed and begging her for help. Vic changed into Question and approached the Grinning Ghost headquarters, but was soon overwhelmed by the bikers. Shiva saved him, saying he reminded her of when she was still unfocused and taking pity on him. Question found Floper, who said he and Loosh had agreed on terms and had no idea who stabbed him. Shiva knew he wasn’t lying and Question said he couldn’t hand Floper over to the Huns if he was innocent. Shiva reminded him that that would mean Myra’s life would be forfeit and told him morals made life overly complicated. They took Floper to the hospital, with Question saying he’d figure out what to do when they arrived. The threat had been defused by Myra, who told the Huns she was going to get them high and then giving them ether rags. The hospital sent out Loosh’s body as a John Doe and gave Myra a cover story, that Loosh had recovered, stole some drugs, and left the hospital. Vic confronted Harry, saying he knew he’d killed Loosh during the sitdown at his pizza joint because Loosh and his gang had raped his sister. Vic said he wasn’t going to turn Harry in, telling Harry it was up to him to determine how guilty he felt and what punishment, if any, he deserved.

(Question I #31) - Mayor Fermin called a city council meeting, with Vic Sage reporting on the event. The governor responded to Fermin’s request for help and dispatched the National Guard to supplement the Hub City police, and Fermin decided to demolish Hell’s Acres. The public housing units had long been abandoned by law-abiding citizens and had become a haven of crime and drug use. Vic questioned why she was being proactive instead of leaving Hell’s Acres to rot, and she responded that keeping it going cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and it was emblematic of the Hellhole Hub City had become. Vic briefly lived in Hell’s Acres as an adolescent, and wanted to discuss the issue more with Fermin and Aristotle over coffee. Aristotle was firmly on Fermin’s side, saying Hell’s Acres symbolized a lot of what was wrong with modern American cities, throwing money at a problem without thinking about it. The next day Vic watched as construction workers backed by armed guardsmen evacuated Hell’s Acres and prepared it to blow. An addict named Hooley Slavyert came out with a gun to protect his turf and was fatally shot. Izzy O’Toole, still saddled with the position of acting police chief, asked Vic if he’d been in contact with the Mayor, saying she’d been missing for hours. Fermin had been kidnapped and shot up with heroin by drug dealers who hoped that would keep the National Guard from detonating the building. Unfortunately the man they sent to inform the Guard was Hooley Slavyert. Vic went to check the building on a hunch as the Question, and Fermin managed to escape her captors, though in her drugged state she couldn’t find her way out of Hell’s Acres. Question found her minutes before the slated demolition, and took her to an abandoned section of water pipes, allowing them to survive the blast. They were exhilarated to still be alive, and passionately kissed, finding a moment of tenderness in their lifves that always seemed on the edge of ruin.

(Question I #32) - Vic interviewed Mayor Fermin about her neighborhood watch initiative, and before they went on the record she told him she appreciated having an intimate moment with him, and hinted that she might consider rekindling their relationship after she’d served her term as mayor. Fermin told vic that her only concern with the neighborhood watch was that some of them were armed, and things were too chaotic to gather crime statistics, but Izzy O’Toole said he had a gut feeling they were helping. Myra said Question had been hovering around her life for years and she had a feeling Vic could get her in touch with him. Vic wondered if she realized he was the Question, and told her he’d consider contacting him. Question patrolled the streets and busted up a drug den. One man claimed he wasn’t an addict, but was there for his fourteen year old brother to bring him home. Question let him go, but the moment he turned his back the man tried to stab him. Question disarmed him, and put the knife up to his throat. He was consumed with anger and considered what it would feel like to take a human life, but calmed himself down and knocked the man out with a punch. Question realized this was the second incident in recent memory that he’d been tempted to kill, and wondered if he was getting too close to the edge. The neighborhood watch pressed Vietnam vet William Palmer into joing, and when they approached a drug den they were fired upon. Palmer’s PTSD kicked in and he entered the den, gun ablaze, shooting an innocent boy to death before committing suicide.

(Question I #33) - Question learned from Izzy O’Toole that Cathy Fergosi, a murderer who’d killed a cab driver with a tire iron, had been released by Judge Whelperson on his own recognizance. He told Aristotle he smelled something fishy because Mayor Fermin, after learning Whelperson had been on the take for years, demanded he resign or have his crimes exposed. Question feared Whelperson was going to use Cathy to eliminate Myra. He went to Whelperson’s house and overheard the judge giving Cathy instructions to go after Myra, but his presence was discovered. Cathy gave him a savage beating and Whelperson told him to get a move on with killing Fermin. Whelperosn thought Question was dead, when in fact he was only concussed. Question recovered enough to take a car toFermin’s office. Mayor Fermin was driving around with her daughter Jackie when her car broke down. Harold, a brilliant hunchback who’d run away from home, offered his assistance and fixed her car. Fermin needed to stop by her office and was shocked to find her security guard dead with his head caved in. Harold helped Myra avoid Cathy, leading to a cat-and-mouse game in the office until Harold managed to trap Cathy in the building’s elevator. Question, slowed down by his injury, finally arrived, saying he’d come to save her but she told him he was too late. Jackie gave Harold a medal she’d gotten in school, and he gladly accepted her gift before returning to the road.

(Question I #34, 35) - Question saved a woman from attackers on his nighttime patrol, and he was irritated when she told him he should mind his own business. Question drove home, and was reminded of a Yeats line about fighting those you didn’t hate to guard those you didn’t love. Question thought he heard someone talking to him from the backseat and got in a car accident. He dreamed about being a child and his mother feeding him, saying he had to grow up to be big and strong to escape Hub City. He turned into an infant in his dream, wailing after his mother dropped him off at a church, abandoning him. He woke in tears and found some thugs had mugged him and taken his clothes while he was unconscious. Richard Dragon learned that Hub City was sliding further and further into chaos, and flew into Hub City, offering Myra Fermin his services to save the city. Richard Dragon told Fermin he needed to find Vic, and described his time training him. Dragon said he tried to help Vic move past the rage and chaos in his life to find his true self, but feared he’d failed. He hoped to help Vic reach the next stage in his life, which Dragon said would help him move on to the next stage of his own life as well. The visited Rodor, who said he hadn’t seen Vic in days. He admitted Vic went out on nights on citizen patrol, and while he claimed to be maintaining order in the city tot knew he was getting off on committing violence. Myra and Dragon drove around looking for Vic and found the scene of his car accident. Melly Warder, one of the thugs who rolled Vic after his car accident, found his Question gear and donned it. As “Question” he shot the owner of a Christmas tree farm. He shot up a bodega before breaking into Rodor’s house and robbing him. Lt. Izzy O’Toole caught up with him and shot him in the chest. Melly managed to flee, but soon died of his injuries. Izzy took off his mask and was incredulous that the man who’d set him on the straight and narrow turned to crime. He was ready to cry, both for being betrayed and believing he’d killed Question. Dragon and Myra found the badly injured Vic hiding in the church where his mother had abandoned him as a child. He said he had a vision of his mother, and she’d told him the way to solve his crisis in life was to leave behind Hub City for good.

(Question I #36) - Myra wanted to drive Vic home, but her car had been destroyed by vandals. A man approached them swaddling an infant begging for money. Myra noticed the child was dead and the man said he’d hoped they wouldn’t notice before dumping the little body in a trashcan. The incident catalyzed how rotten Hub City had become for them. Richard Dragon rose from his wheelchair and seated the still delirious Vic. Richard explained that when Vic sought training from him his nature would have seen Richard Dragon as a threat and someone to be defeated if he was at his peak. His mental control over his body allowed him to remain handicapped from a time until he no longer needed to be. Fermin found someone had set her office on fire, and the fire department was no longer operating so she decided they should return to Aristotle's house. They came across Izzy O’Toole, still sitting by the body of the fake Question. He’d realized that the imposter was in jail when the cowboy bounty hunters came to town to fight Question, so he realized he was a fake. At Aristotle’s Izzy put Vic into bed and said he realized that if Melly robbed Vic it meant he was the Question, and asked why he’d chosen to become a vigilante. Vic said putting on the mask let him act the way he felt on the inside and admitted that in recent days he questioned more and more who he really was. Izzy said he wanted to go bust some heads and left to patrol. Myra told Vic she loved him, which she realized neither of them had ever said to the other, even in the heat of passion. Everyone woke the next day and Vic and Myra celebrated Christmas by playing in the snow. Vic reiterated that they had to leave, telling Fermin there was nothing she, he or anyone else could do for Hub because it was beyond helping. They picked up Myra’s daughter Jackie, and the nun at her school begged Myra to take some of the orphans at her school away from Hub City, but Myra said they didn’t have room. Richard Dragon arranged for a helicopter to pick them up, and Lady Shiva was aboard. She told Vic she wanted to test herself against the anarchy of Hub City and would be taking his place. Myra had a change of heart and told Vic she had to stay and asked him to watch over Jackie. She said she had a responsibility and duty to help her constituents even if it was hopeless. She told Vic she loved him again before leaving.

(Green Arrow III #16 (fb)) - Question attended Oliver Queen's funeral in his civilian identity.

(Batman: Gotham Knights #38, 39) - Question learned that Huntress had been kidnapped by Checkmate, and he passed this info onto Nightwing, telling him to get Batman involved and save her. After Huntress escaped Checkmate custody Question found her, and told her that although he was running interference on Checkmate's attempts to catch her again, there was little else he could do for her.