The Question ongoing 1988 (issues 12-23)
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.
The Question #13
Cover Date: February 1988
Subtitle: Be All that You Can Be
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Vic got a call from the station - a bridge had collapsed. On the scene, he learned that six had died. He jumped into the river when he saw a vehicle with a boy inside go down. He got the boy out, but he died. Myra Fermin arrived on the scene and was informed by an engineer that he'd turned in a report that the bridge was about to fail.
Myra questioned the man who failed to act on the report, but she couldn't fire him due to his union credentials.
The next day, an elite armed forces team was doing a demonstration. They were all killed by a group of men dressed as ninjas. They escaped in a helicopter.
Vic began putting things together - a man on the bridge scene was a military man who had been against the public display and was pushed out of the service. His men went with him. The Question tracked him down and followed him. After putting up a fight, he was captured by DeBeck's men.
The Question #14
Cover Date: March 1988
Subtitle: Saving Face
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Vic found himself buried up to his neck near a tree stump. He was told he'd be killed when he screamed. To be honorable, DeBeck and his men said they'd dig him up if he lasted longer than he did. He succeeded, and the group turned on itself, his mask had fallen off and they knew he was a reporter. DeBeck killed himself and only one was left standing. He helped dig Vic out, then died from his wounds. br>
Myra had her first press conference as a mayoral candidate.
The Question #15
Cover Date: April 1988
Subtitle: Epitaph for a Hero
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
While Vic waited for his camera man to set up, a private investigator named Loomis McCarthy approached him. They were both working the case where some black men had been found hanged. Sage, though he disapproved of the man's hatred of non-whites, agreed to meet him for dinner and discuss the case.
After his report, the met the man, but lost his appetite after several racist comments. He did learn where the man was staying. The Question later paid a visit to the man's room. He found magazines depicting white supremacy and sexual bondage. A black man burst into the room and opened fire. The Question escaped.
Vic talked to Tot, he suspected McCarthy was behind the killings. He soon got a call that there'd been another murder. McCarthy was at the scene first. The Question followed him and overheard the true plot - McCarthy was in town checking to make sure people from his client's group weren't behind the murders. He was speaking with a Mr. Figlia, who was behind the murders. Figlia had his partner, the man who'd attacked the Question in McCarthy's motel room attacked the PI, but he was shot and killed.
Vic Sage reported on the situation that night. Figlia was on site and opened fire after the piece. McCarthy, though hated by Sage, jumped in front of him and took the bullet. The PI died.
The Question #16
Cover Date: May 1988
Subtitle: --
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
The Question once again saved Izzy O'Toole's life. It proved members of the fire department were in on the corruption. Vic Sage reported on the incident later that evening. The Question visited O'Toole after Vic heard that the national party wasn't going to sponsor Myra for mayor.
An outside interest - a duo believing they were the grandsons of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - made a move to take over Hub City. Their first step was to kill the only "good" cop, O'Toole. They failed. Vic ran another report that made O'Toole look like a hero. Izzy then recorded an endorsement for Myra's campagne.
The Question #17
Cover Date: June 1988
Subtitle: A Dream of Rorschach
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Sundance, the man who'd tried to kill O'Toole, received a visitor in jail. It was his partner. Vic was there to interview the "lawyer," but instead gave chase when the two escaped, guns a-blazin'. He grabbed onto their helicopter, but fell. He broke his fall on an old man, killing him.
Charlie tracked the "lawyer" back to Seattle and headed that direction. A man in a bar got him drunk, then fought him outside. Vic was able to win the fight and snatch the guy's ID. He paid the man a visit later and was ambushed. They took him to the woods to leave him, but Green Arrow showed up to lend a hand.
The Question #18
Cover Date: July 1988
Subtitle: Desperate Ground
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Green Arrow got his three hostages and headed in to the camp. He didn't trust the Question until they neared their destination. The pair stole two snowmobiles and crashed them into Butch and Sundance's helicopter. The good guys waited out the blizzard with their hostages.
The Question #19
Cover Date: August 1988
Subtitle: The Plastic Dilemma
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar
Storyline:
Alexander Polys visited with Myra Fermin. He offered to back her campaign with a generous donation and move a plant into Hub City - if she promised not intervention once he was in business. Vic warned her against it - Polys' plants created the plastic guns which had been recently utilized in the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid crimes.
A limo driver contacted KBEL and Vic Sage - he could connect Polys and the would-be Butch Cassidy. A gunman went after the driver, but Vic was there to save him. The Question delivered the gunman to his old cellmate and partner. Told them both to get out of town.
Myra decided not to take Polys up on his offer.
The Question #20
Cover Date: October 1988
Subtitle: Send in the Clowns
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Rick Magyar
Storyline:
A clown freaked out on tv and flashed his audience. He was taken into custody and referred to a mental health professional.
Vic Sage hosted a mayoral debate at KBEL.
Boston's Traveling Circus, a failing show, made a last-ditch effort in Hub City. They sent their clown into town to drum up some audience. A group of men thinking he was the one from tv beat and killed him.
Myra told Vic the clown's outburst was their fault. He'd been living in the motel where they'd stayed recently. He saw them.
The clown was freed and he went to the circus to join. The group who'd killed the wrong clown previously showed up to kill him. The Question intervened and stopped them, but the "living skeleton" (one of the few remaining performers) was killed in the process.
The Question spent the rest of the night defacing campaign posters of the right-wing Christian candidate who'd been behind the clown crimes.
The Question #21
Cover Date: November 1988
Subtitle: Rejects
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Dick Giordano
Storyline:
Musto, the man who'd been shot by his son had been in a coma for a year. He needed a heart. His son, still wanting the love of his father, stole one and held surgeons, etc. hostage to put it in him.
After covering his high school reunion, Vic's station manager told him about the situation and that the troubled killer had asked for the "no face man." The question went in. The father's body rejected the transplant and he died. The kid began firing, but was taken down after only one person was hit.
Note: this takes place exactly one year after issue #6 (per narration)
The Question #22
Cover Date: December 1988
Subtitle: Election Day: The Fix
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Malcolm Jones III
Storyline:
Myra stopped her husband, Mayor Fermin, from shooting himself in the head. He didn't even know he was doing it. She called a press conference to tell everyone he was an alcoholic and she'd been running the city for over a year.
Vic was meeting a contact at a bus station. The contact was attacked and killed. He was Yakuza and was killed by a Hun. The Question went out and followed some leads. He learned that candidate Dinsmore was involved with the Yakuza and the voting machines may have been tampered with. Vic made some calls to have the machines investigated. His home was attacked by a motorcycle gang.
The Question #23
Cover Date: Winter
Subtitle: Election Day
Writer(s): Dennis O'Neil
Artists(s): Denys Cowan, Malcolm Jones III
Storyline:
Dinsmore hired a group of Hun bikers to "enforce" voting. His people gave out baseball caps to anyone who was voting for him. The bikers were to take down anyone not wearing a hat. Tot was attacked. Vic took down two of the bikers, sending them to the hospital. He broadcast that the two men had taken bad drugs. The Huns turned on Dinsmore.
Bad weather and the reported violence kept the voters away. The Question felt guilty and went in to help Dinsmore against the bikers. They were both knocked out. The bikers prepared a "barbecue" and poured gasoline on them both.