The Question: Poisoned Ground
The Question #7
Cover Date: August 1987
Subtitle: Survivor
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
A man named Volk arrived in town and was met by a would-be assassin. He quickly dispatched him and went on his way. He met with the Mayor about a deal, but didn't give him a chance after seeing he was a drunk. He also would not talk to his wife, Myra.
Myra went to Vic Sage and asked him to talk with Volk about what kind of deal he was interested in.
More assassins were hired for the Volk job.
The mysterious man continually denied an interview, so the Question visited him. Volk realized he was honorable and told him about his past. The assassins entered. All were either killed by volk or disarmed by the Question, but the last got in a kill shot. As he died, Volk told the Question of a tree shaped like a question mark in Bavaria.
Vic turned down a news assignment and headed to find this tree. There, he was greeted by a wold who had a scar over his right eye just like Volk.
The Question #8
Cover Date: September 1987
Subtitle: Mikado
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
After remembering a random conversation from when he was getting a wound dressed months previous, Charlie began investigating a series of crimes where the victim had been accused of doing the same to another. After some interviews with survivors, he learned the attacked wore a Japanese mask and quoted the Mikado.
His first choice, a drug dealer, had been in the hospital with hepatitis for the last month. The second, a physician, was his man. The Question got to him and was almost killed by him. The Mikado then let the drug wear off and gave him the slip.
The Question #9
Cover Date: October 1987
Subtitle: Watchers
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
The Question watched as the once dirty cop, Izzy O'Toole, turned down a bribe and arrested some drug runners. He acted in his defence once again. He then went home to Tot. Gas grenades came through the window. When Charlie awakened, Tot was gone. He ran a piece on the news.
After remembering a strange plumbing van nearby, he got the plates and had O'Toole run them. Turned out to be an old classified government branch in the suburbs. The Question went in and appeared to be gassed again once he got close to Tot.
The Question #10
Cover Date: November 1987
Subtitle: Santa Prisca
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
The Question awakened face down in some grass. He thought he'd been falling, but it was a hallucination. While out, the thought of a boy he went to college with who'd once drugged him. He looked the man up (Basin) and found out he'd gone straight and joined a federal drug organization.
Basin found out stuff about Aristotle Rodor - he'd gotten a PHD at age 23 and was a millionaire soon after selling a tranquilizer that went untested and caused a pharmaceutical firm to go bankrupt. Charlie followed a lead to Santa Prisca.
Once there, he felt he was being followed, so he went out as the Question. Rodor was there and was introduced to the man who'd had him detained - Hector Gomez, "el Beato." The man wanted Rodor's help - he wanted to no longer be a murderous monster.
The Question intervened in a domestic dispute. The woman killed her uncle. Charlie "borrowed" his uniform.
The Question #11
Cover Date: December 1987
Subtitle: Transformation
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Using the woman and the uniform, the Question got to his destination and found Tot. He had another hallucination.
Rodor was shown some of this captor's work - actually his father's work. The two men had gone to graduate school together. El Beato was into alchemy and wanted to transcend himself into a saint. Tot worked out some of the mistakes in their equations and seemed to perfect it. During the first run, el Beato began to glow, then disappeared. Charlie got the mesmerized Tot to safety and back home.
Tot, after time enough to grow a beard a long hair, came out of his shock-coma.
The Question #12
Cover Date: January 1988
Subtitle: Poisoned Ground
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
A man (Pete Carstairs) was killed in his home by a fat kid with a small gun. The kid then went in and had some ice cream.
Vic met Myra in a motel outside of town. She wanted a final night with him before announcing she was running for mayor. Vic heard about the murder on his drive home and stopped by to check the scene.
A second murder occurred identical to the first, this time it was Jerry Bolger. Vic reported on the killings. They appeared to be connected to a subdivision. He checked it out and found that it had been built on an industrial waste site. It was contaminated with dioxin. The developer had the two men killed who were planning on going public with the information.
Vic reported on the poisoning. The Question then found the killer, who was already dying from poisoned ice cream after killing his third.