15 May 2019
Denys Cowan is a fine illustrator and storyteller and I do not hold him responsible for the execrable abomination that was Dennis O’Neil’s “Question.” Even as parody Alan Moore’s Rorschach is closer and kinder to Ditko’s vision than Denny’s pusilanimation.
update 210627: correspondent LW confesses that “[a]lthough [he] understood nothing of his morality the Vic Sage character the Question was [his] second favorite of the Charlton characters.”
The Question takes my top spot, both among Ditko creations and “Charlton properties” overall.
I also find it curious that I prefer both Steve Ditko‘s and Ayn Rand‘s “prototypes” to their grand opi (The Question vs Mr A and Fountainhead vs Atlas Shrugged). They both got it just about perfect, then felt the need to overdo it.
But I get that, too; to a committed zealot, any point worth making
is worth hammering into the ground.
(Hey! I come not to condemn zeal, but to embrace it!)
update 210628: correspondent BR “loved O’Neil’s Question,” but found “Ditko’s [and] Rand’s stuff… a bit childish and idealistic and way too trusting of capitalism.” He points out that “O’Neil was evolving the character and it worked.”
I love Denny O’Neil despite our differences in re his treatment of The Question. To his credit, of course, his treatment DID work, internally. That wasn’t my beef. His masterwork has to be his Batman, and I’m sorry he didn’t enjoy doing Superman, because that stuff was also brilliant. He thought that Superman was too powerful, and therefore too challenging for a writer to creditably challenge the character. It didn’t seem to me that Den actually disliked Superman, just he was lazy, and I respect that. Nevertheless, he did do a better job in the gritty alleyways of Gotham than the sparkling boulevards of Metropolis. O’Neil was best on Bats, but even his “Question” was good. It just wasn’t The Question.
update 230615: correspondent GH “explained it once as Mr. A is The Question before his morning coffee while sitting in traffic, and Rorschach is The Question on LSD coming down after a three day bender.”
That’s too apt to contest. In other views…
update 210629: correspondent BA points out that “the plural of opus is opera” and while I am grateful for the datum, and will take it under advisement, I’m not keen on it. Language evolves in many ways, mostly through (mis)use by the masses, but also occasionally by stubborn pricks like me and Will Shakespeare who seek new ways to bedazzle our readers. Like “hysteria” and “cool”, some words move away from their nascence and embrace new meanings. Be that as it may, I’m still not ready to say that “the media is” or “the united States is” and I’ll probably never give up the simple two syllable word for “data points” nor surrender to the debasement of “privilege.” More to BA‘s point, I think that “opera” should yield to the weight of connotation and confine itself to musical theatre. I’m pushing forward on “opi.”
illustrations by Steve Ditko and Denys Cowan.
The Question™ is the creation of Steve Ditko and is held de jure by
Detective Comics® and Warner Communications®.
Used without permission.
