Part 1 of The Question

The comic I'm discussing in this journal is The Blue Beetle but the character I'm interested in is The Question created by Steve Ditko for the first issue of the 1967 Blue Beetle series. The blank faced, trenchcoat wearing crime fighter was the inspiration for Rorschach from Alan Moore's Watchmen. In truth Rorschach was actually a combination of The Question and another Ditko creation called Mr. A who was essentially The Question taken to the nth degree.

The Question was written as an Objectivist hero, the FIRST Objectivist hero and Steve Ditko being an Objectivist would clearly make this character a labor of love. The Question is the alter ego of television journalist Vic Sage whose broadcasts are so provocative that they inspire protests and even his own broadcasters want him gone but advertisers love him so much that he remains on the air. Allow me to regale you with some of Vic Sage's broadcast brilliance...

"Rights can only belong to individuals! Groups BY themselves have no rights! The rights belong to the individual within the group! And no man nor group has the right to forcibly violate another man's rights! He may do so -- just as he may kill -- but by no stretch of the imagination has he the RIGHT to do so!" -- Vic Sage

This quote is taken from the story in issue 4 "Kill Vic Sage" written by Warren Savin which was the pen name for the co-creator of Hawk and Dove, Steve Skeates. However the quote is clearly Ditko speaking with the voice of Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was a product of Soviet communism so it's not surprising that she would hold a grudge against collectivism and government overreach but most readers were probably like, 'huh, wha?' It seems hard to believe advertisers or viewers would drool over this hollow rant. I don't want to get into the merits or flaws of Objectivism other than to say than in Rand's zeal to stab at Communism she took a position that was every bit as extreme.

Ditko truly believed that good and evil were black and white. The Question was only a prelude. He was created as a character meant to pass the comic code. Mr. A would be the main event and just wait until I get to him. There is an interesting story around issue four that's sort of revealing about the character of Steve Ditko. Steve Skeates tells how in the original -script The Question, speaking to the villain of the story says, "Now listen, my friend -- " prompting Ditko to write a 6 page letter to Skeates lecturing him on why The Question would never call a criminal "friend" even sarcastically. Skeates found the letter "daunting" and "scary".

For the whole story check this out....

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/10/26/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-74/

Tomorrow I will continue with issue 5 of Blue Beetle....

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