Friday, April 25, 2008

Friday Night Fights--Question Style!!

Since by Bahlactus' high command we're doing black and white this fight, we should pay tribute to one of the more film noir mainstream comics of recent decades: The Question!

Why are only the first six issues of this series in trade??Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan (with cover by Bill Sienkiewicz!) took off with the recently acquired Charlton character, creating an odd but enjoyable melange of violence, philosophy, and masked adventure...think Rorschach done noir. Hub City was a seething cesspool of corruption--think Sin City a decade early and done by DC, and you've got the idea

I always felt the series should have been done in B & W, especially as it was a "deluxe" book, and in those days it often seemed as if the colorists hadn't yet adjusted properly to the new paper/printing process, as the colors often looked muted and washed out. Well, here's our chance...

The Question has come into conflict with baddies who have hired Lady Shiva to protect their interests.

See, it really does look better in black & white!At this point in his career, Charlie is pretty much just a thug with a trick mask, not the kick-ass fighter he would become later. So, as they battle in the snowstorm, we know what to expect:

Silent but deadly
No chance whatsoever
Several cans of whoopassFinally Shiva backs off, and let's the goombas take over:

Smells like Sin City to me
Old fashioned beat-down...none of that martial arts nonsense
It's hard out here for a thug...Note how Cowan switched to white panel breaks here. Before, they were black (and effectively invisible), as Shiva's attacks were one continuous ballet of violence...with the goombas, it's a crude, formless beatdown...

Anyway, the "fight" ends with the Question being shot in the head and drowned in the river. Quite a way to end the first issue, eh?

Yup...dead...SPOILER he got better...Probably the least effective debut for any hero took place in Question #1, 1986

1 comment:

Pj Perez said...

Damn, that is hardcore. Now I kinda think I am going to have to seek that out and see what the hell the deal is!! I only have one Question comic, the first or second annual from that series, and it was pretty good. Not sure why I haven't gotten more. Hmm...