(Question Annual #2 (fb)) - Rodor and Arby 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, and Rodor was proud of the possibility that his work could save lives, but also didn't mind the idea of getting rich. After some trials it turned out that pseudoderm 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. He approached his former student Vic Sage, now an arrogant young crusading reporter, and asked him to find proof of his suspicions. 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. Rodor and Vic agreed to keep working together for the greater good

(Question I #1, 2) - Rodor fancied himself a philosopher, quoting intellectual giants and devouring knowledge. Question continued his crimefighting crusade in Hub City, and Aristotle followed him, keeping his gear in order. Question told him his mask started to slip during a fight, and Aristotle reminded him that the mask was meant for his specific body chemistry, so the cigarettes he'd started smoking 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 was ambushed by thugs that worked as the target of his crusade, the corrupt Mayor Wesley Fermin. Hired gun Lady Shiva bested him in combat, and Fermin's thugs beat him with a pipe, shot him, and dumped him off a pier. Lady Shiva was inspired by his passion for combat, and dived in to save him. He muttered the name of Aristotle Rodor, and knowing he wouldn't be safe in a hospital she brought him to his friend. Aristotle said she'd set up a helicopter ride for him, and after healing for a few days he was flown to the home of kung-fu master Richard Dragon to learn for him.

(Question I #3) - Question dropped by Aristotle's, telling him that Fermin was a clueless alcoholic, and the Reverend Jeremiah Hutch was pulling his strings. Aristotle noted that his time with Dragon had left him more focused, and more at peace with the demons of his past.

(Question I #4) - Police under Hatch's employ kidnapped Myra's son  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. As Question he saved Jackie, and Hatch perished in a fire at the mayor's mansion.

(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. The culprit was Dr. Spaulding, who operated as the vigilante the Mikado, and when confronted by Question he committed suicide.

(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. 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 deduced that Rodor was being held in El Forteleza, but didn't have a way inside until he acquired the uniform of the deceased captain of the guard. Drug kingpin El Beato ran the fortress, and had indeed kidnapped Rodor. He tried for pleasantries, but Rodor was in no mood. He showed Rodor his state of the art particle accelerator, bragging that he'd invested one billion dollars into scientific research, and still Rodor was unimpressed. He led Rodor to the basement and a dungeon, where he tortured a man to death. He told Rodor killing filled him with feelings of ecstasy, and he could not control himself, so he wanted Rodor to fix him. 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 Myra 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) - Vic went through his normal intense exercises, and he and Rodor discussed the difference between discipline and fanaticism.

(Question I #15) - Question investigated a series of lynchings in Hub City, and Aristotle knew he'd never be satisfied until he had all the answers, his blessing and his curse.

(Question I #17) - 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.

(Question I #19) - On the advice of her political advisor Cobb, Myra Fermin welcomed Alexander Polys, head of the Polys corporation, as a financial backer. Vic couldn’t stand to see her take his money because the Polys Corporations plastic guns had been used in two high-profile crimes in Hub City, and he wanted to prove to her that he was dirty. 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 took the matter into his own hands, and located August Lumberg, a taxi driver who’d given a ride to Polys and Butch Cassidy who witnessed Polys selling him the plastic gun he’d used to break out the Sundance Kid.

(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 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) - Question complained to Rodor that KBEL was making him cover his high school reunion. He mentioned that he used to have a crush on a girl named Joanie Tweakly, and Rodor told him to focus on her so the rest of the experience wouldn't be so bad.

(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 turned the bikers against Dinsmore, and during a fight between the bikers, Question and Dinsmore the storm that was brewing hit Hub City. Question survived the devastation, and Dinsmore drove off into the storm. Aristotle, 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 into 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) - 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 xould 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) - 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.

(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 lives that always seemed on the edge of ruin.

(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 to Fermin’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) - Mayor Fermin had a nightmare about being torment by demons in Hell, and awoke exhausted. She realized she still felt immense guilt about her own perceived moral failings and her role in Reverend Hatch’s death. Fermin desperately needed someone to talk to and rang up Vic. Aristotle answered the phone, not thrilled to have been woken up, and told her Vic was out on one of his nighttime excursions.

(Question I #35) - Richard Dragon came to Hub City after learning how it was descending into chaos. He visited Mayor Fermin and told her 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. Vic Sage was in a car accident, and Melly Warder, one of the thugs who rolled him afterwards, 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.

(Question I #37) - Aristotle Rodor and Renee Montoya learned that the dead were rising as the Black Lantern Corps. Rodor wondered if it was possible Vic Sage could come back from the dead and plucked some hairs from Question’s old hat. Lady Shiva arrived at Rodor’s lighthouse saying she’d come to test Renee in her prowess of the martial arts as she’d challenged her predecessor as the Question. Aristotle asked them to fight outside, and although Renee wasn’t thrilled with the idea Lady Shiva said she’d kill her if she didn’t fight. They found themselves evenly matched, and while they were fighting a Black Lantern ring appeared, raising Question from the dead as a Black Lantern. Question attacked Renee and Shiva, both of whom realized that although he looked like their friend there was nothing of Vic Sage inside him. Question intended to kill them, but Rodor interrupted the fight by shooting Shiva in the arm. Rodor desperately wanted Question to tell him the mysteries of life and death, seeing it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to understand the meaning of life. Question told him to beg, and Rodor realized Question meant to kill him as well. Shiva realized the Black Lantern Question saw tthrough the emotional spectrum, so she allowed herself to feel nothing, making her invisible to him. After some prompting from Shiva, Rodor and Renee were able to do the same, and the Question, frustrated, left. Renee changed into the Question, saying she couldn’t let him remain on the loose.

Aristotle Rodor received a profile in Question Annual #2.

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