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Post by Admin on Jan 3, 2006 21:38:27 GMT -5
Let us know what you think!
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 3, 2006 22:43:12 GMT -5
I really loved reading this! The writing style was unique and kept me interested. I also liked the way Sage's origin was presented. This Question is reminding me of a mix between the original Question and Rorschach, which I like because it isn't so extreme, but is much more life like. I can't wait to see the next issue. Keep up the excellent work!
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Dr Dread
Staff
The Odious-1
Posts: 1,547
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Post by Dr Dread on Jan 4, 2006 0:12:19 GMT -5
This Question is reminding me of a mix between the original Question and Rorschach I don't know if you realize it, but Rorschach was supposed to be the Question. The Watchmen were originally supposed to be all the Charleton characters that DC had acquired. Owl-man -> Blue Beetle Doctor Manhanttan -> Captain Atom The Comedian -> Peacemaker Ozymandias -> Thunderbolt Anyway, great story Charlie!
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Post by HoM on Jan 4, 2006 3:01:58 GMT -5
Whoa! Some quick replies to this! I had this plan to post a little introduction to the book before it got posted but someone actually replied to one of my books! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, so, without further ado, I'd like to show you something I wrote last month, which should be at the head of this little thread, but you're all too post happy : - Welcome to the first Question letter ‘column’, which I have chosen to title:
(*insert sniggers here*)
Catchy, no? Before I get to the Questions, I want to tell you another story, and it begins with this:
David Charlton, our esteemed editor, must really hate me.
I’m vague, cryptic, and always very reluctant to reveal the truth. And I guess that’s why I love The Question so much. But I’ll get back to Mr Sage in a while, first off, I want to talk to you about theDC2 and my friendship with one, David Charlton Jr.
I’ve known Idlewilder since… This time last year I guess. We met on a superhero role playing game site known as Infinity’s Hourglass, and we got on quite well. I remember that the first time we spoke was when I posted something in the main thread, and it got taken down, but Dave saw it, and he asked me what happened. I explained that this being my first RPG experience, I didn’t rightly know the rules, and I basically used every character in the story to tell a very violent battle between Aquaman and Daagoth, a bad ass Lord of Chaos. Anyway, it got taken down, and I told him why. He commented on how he liked my style and I commented on how much he enjoyed using Hawkman, which is still obvious through his The Immortal Legend of Hawkman maxi series, which starts up again this very month, you very lucky people!
Anyway, there was this moderator on the site, who was this uptight son of a gun called… Philodelikteria. I think. I refer to him now as Philodikteria because it made me laugh, as it did with Dave. He mentioned how I made him sound like a renal disorder, and we had a laugh about that too… But I digress. Dave always watched my back on the board, always looked out for me, defended my actions (I was very outspoken about things, and sometimes that lead to many, MANY awkward situations) and I returned the favour. We were invited to become moderators on this site and we had many grand plans to make it more open for other people, but before we could really begin our grand scheme of growth and rebirth, the crazy owner of the site, Philodikteria, crashed the entire thing, and if you’re still interested, his crazy final message is still up there! If you’re ever interested in seeing a grown man break down, its always a pleasure to have a look at his final post. Check it out at!: s4.invisionfree.com/Infinitys_Hourglass/index.php… And I really hope he kept that final promise, and did indeed walk in front of a bus, but yet again, I digress!
The destruction of the board resulted in my frantic posts on the DC message board, all entitled IDLEWILDER, all trying to find this dear friend who I lost because of one mans really poor personality. Eventually, through a mutual friend who I remain indebted to today, linked me up to something new, called INFINTY’S EDGE, which was a site born from the ashes of HOURGLASS by the other moderator, Failed_Hero, who is an alright guy, who loves his Micros, and loves his original creation named Dark Wolf. Here’s the link to that site, which could always use some loving support by the fantastic people here at DC2… It’s an RPG site, but instead of DC characters, it’s any you can think up… www.b8d.net/TheWatchTower/index.php?act=idx. I enjoyed it for a while, but then David created his own board, named Neverwhere, which was an entity unlike I’d ever seen. It was a fantasist board, someplace H P Lovecraft fans could post, and where you could let your imagination run free. It was a cool experiment, and it worked for a while, before we all moved on to another site, named Legends.
Legends was cool. It’s still up, still alright, but it’s lost something, which is only DC2’s gain… I met two other fantastic people over there, well three, but he’s another story, and I think we’ve all heard enough about Ramon Villalobos. I met Scott Kruger (Ha! Got your name right this time, K-Dawg!), who playfully refers to me as Chuck, even though I’ve never been called Chuck before. It was an interesting experience. He’s the writer of Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, and you could compare his style of story telling to Darwyn Cookes. He truly loves the real Silver Age (between the 60s/70s ‘relaunches’ of Superman and Batman and the original JSA…) like David Charlton loves the Golden Age. He has a real love of all those characters that died out when Superman and Batman arrived in true earnest. He’s using King Faraday in his book! How cool is that? There’s also Rick Flagg turning up, and come on, with an appreciation of the past comparable to Mr Charlton’s, how can you go wrong? You can’t. Read his books!
The second man I met is none other than the architect of art on this board, the Art Director himself it’s Brandon Herren! He’s a nice guy that. Have you seen his art? It’s everywhere! His dedication to this board, and his amazing art, which covered the covers of every book in month one set the standard for everything you see here today. His Aquaman reads like it was written by a pro, even though he has never written a story before (to my knowledge…). All I can say is that without those three people, you wouldn’t have this board.
I’ll continue the history of the DC2 (and how I got Dave to speak in pirate, how I’m able to irritate him with the utmost of ease, and how I was able to persuade him I had no legs and no ears. I kid you not...) in The Seven Soldiers of Victory #1, which should be out eventually too. I’m having a big problem meeting headlines right now due to examinations and my constant one on ones with illness, but I am trying…
But back to The Question.
My first exposure to the character was in Crisis of Infinite Earths, in that one panel with Blue Beetle. It didn’t stick with me, but I remember that was the first place I ever read about him. In one panel, and that’s all I ever thought about him until… About three to five years ago…when my father and I went on holiday to a small book village in Wales. It’s a lovely place, and they have masses of back issues in particular shops, and on one of these excursions, I picked up the strangest comic I’d ever read. It was The Question #27, which has him pursuing a comic book artist to draw a panel of art to awaken a close friend from a coma. Seriously. This was not the best way to grab me as a reader, but once again, this stuck with me, and whenever I saw an issue of The Question I picked it up. My next exposure to Vic was in the Huntress miniseries where he had a thing with ol’ Huntress herself. That was alright, but it too relied on the newer characterisation of Sage. The eastern philosophies… Richard Dragon… Nah, it didn’t do much for me.
I mean, I liked the character, but not as much as I loved his original characterisation in Steve Ditko’s original run! He was awesome! He pushed a man off a building (even though, due to Editorial pressure, the villain, named The Banshee, had to shout “Aaahhhh! The wind has caught my cape! Help!”, even though the art clearly shows Vic Sage giving him a straight punch that sends him flying…) and left criminals to drown when they got themselves in wet situations! Now don’t get the wrong idea. Vic wasn’t a murderer. But if an evil man fell into a storm drain, he wasn’t going to help him out in a hurry! He was an arrogant bastard who didn’t care what other people thought! How cool is that?
I recently picked up the latest The Question mini series. I’m not going to talk about it. It didn’t have anything to do with the Ditko version, and it leaned to an extreme of where O’Neil was trying to take him. I mean… Talking to cities? Taking him to Metropolis? Hmm. From Brandon and my friend Karl, I’ve heard of the JLU character that is the best of all the parts of Mr Sage. He’s cool. He’s paranoid. He’d do anything for his teammates and he does so. But Y’know, I don’t have access to that channel on the television, so I don’t dwell on it.
This story has been planned since July of earlier this year. It was a difficult task to write, as it had to go through constant rewrites because of violence and swearing… Stuff like that. The plot was originally very flimsy. In one scenario, Vic was abducted by aliens! Then Hub City was abducted by aliens! But that was in a different genre to The Question, so the story had to be gritty. Noirish. A truly classic thriller in the vein of those films from the 50s that were full of fog and mystery. Everything you read here is important, a style of story telling inspired by the fantastic Sandman by Neil Gaiman, and the truly original Starman run by James Robinson. In all my books, be it The Seven Soldiers of Victory, Batman, The Flash, Action Comics or the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps one shot I did, every little detail is important. You can read the arcs separately, and it’s an ok read, but, for example, if you read my entire Batman run when its done and over, you’ll see things that make the reading experience more satisfying (I hope that is… If not, well I was mistaken!).
Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed The Question issue one [of two], and I hope you enjoyed it enough for me to get round to writing the conclusion!
CHUCKS TRIVIA OF THE MONTH: Did you know that The Question was the most overexposed character of the DC2? Originally planned to cameo in many issues of Batman and to be the seventh Soldier of Victory, we dropped all those ideas because they sucked. Nice, eh?
All the best, Charlie “Chuck” HoM.
Currently in a coma due to exhaustion.PS: - Also some thanks to my best friend Naomi who's put up with my constant moaning about this issue... PSS: - Thanks to David for that lovely introduction... Brought a tear to my eye... PSS: - I apoligise for the longness of this post, but what's done is done is done...
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 4, 2006 4:21:51 GMT -5
It was nice reading some of the back story of how this story was developed and how you came to be a member of this board. When I read the last post of Hourglass I couldn't stop laughing. It really is nice seeing some backstory to the storyitself and I appreciate it.
And yes I did realize who Alan Moore's characters in Watchmen were based off of, but Moore's Rorschach is still very different from DC's The Question and I felt this character was a nice median.
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Post by HoM on Jan 4, 2006 5:27:30 GMT -5
I'm glad you liked him
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Post by starlord on Jan 4, 2006 7:26:57 GMT -5
This is obviously a true labor of love. It is apparent in both the story and your history lesson following. Never having read anything about The Question, I went into reading this with no pre-conceived notions. I'm glad, because I finished reading this with not only a new found respect for a character I was never interested in, but even more respect then I already had for it's writer. You've got amazing talent. Thanks for a great read.
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Post by soulfly823 on Jan 4, 2006 10:12:38 GMT -5
You can really tell that the author really loves the character. Charles did a superb job of getting inside The Questions head and letting the readers grasp this complex character. I can’t wait for the second issue to come out. Thanks for the great story.
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Post by HoM on Jan 4, 2006 12:34:48 GMT -5
And also, now thanks to all your enthusiasm... I have a plan on how to finish this first arc and begin another...
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 4, 2006 16:43:41 GMT -5
And also, now thanks to all your enthusiasm... I have a plan on how to finish this first arc and begin another... That's awesome! I was kind of dissapointed when I heard that there would only be one more issue.
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Post by HoM on Jan 4, 2006 17:04:09 GMT -5
Ah, but there now maybe more, if I can keep up the quality...
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Post by HoM on Jan 4, 2006 17:04:28 GMT -5
To me, for this book, quality is my number one regard.
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Post by HoM on Jan 5, 2006 7:58:55 GMT -5
Also, props to the editor and cover artist who all contributed to make this a thrilling ride! Woop... Love that cover!
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Post by brigante133 on Jan 5, 2006 12:53:15 GMT -5
AARGH i turn to page three to find THAT! you slimy cretins you....
it was good though. i liked it anyways, but i always have had a thing for loose stippers and bars named after prolific artists...
and whats with those contacts in vegas metropolis and gotham i wonder.... the plot thickens like simmering gravy....
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Post by Lantern Lad on Jan 5, 2006 19:07:52 GMT -5
Ok…
I have a Question…
Does it have to be Quarterly? This was a ton of fun! From Davids witty foreward… to Chucks odd style of writing. This worked! From beginning… OK, maybe from page 2, on I was hooked.
Did I read the first hints of the IXE???
AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Quarterly? Seriously?
Little bastard.
Anyway, thank you very much for the post in this thread & your nice comments... I read the last thread on that other site... And was actually at a loss of words. It was simple and to the point... what happened there to make him react like that?
Peace! K-Dawg (that's embarrassing)
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Post by brigante133 on Jan 5, 2006 20:52:44 GMT -5
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Post by HoM on Jan 6, 2006 3:07:35 GMT -5
Anyway, thank you very much for the post in this thread & your nice comments... I read the last thread on that other site... And was actually at a loss of words. It was simple and to the point... what happened there to make him react like that? Peace! K-Dawg (that's embarrassing) S'ok, K-Diddy... What react like what?
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Post by brigante133 on Jan 6, 2006 5:34:42 GMT -5
something like, you all suck, might as well walk in front of a bus.
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Post by HoM on Jan 6, 2006 5:36:26 GMT -5
Oh that? He thought we were plotting against him. Simple as that...
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Post by Lantern Lad on Jan 6, 2006 9:47:52 GMT -5
whatta looser.
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Post by HoM on Jan 6, 2006 9:49:26 GMT -5
I know!
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 6, 2006 18:56:42 GMT -5
Plotting against him how? It sounds to me like somebody needed to get off the pipe, cripes.
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Post by HoM on Jan 7, 2006 6:53:28 GMT -5
Ha! Exactly...
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 8, 2006 13:23:05 GMT -5
I don't know what's better, the book or the lettercol. ;D Not a Question fan, but read it to see what the Chuckster's up to. Congratulations, you've created a book that fits your style perfectly! I'm sorry as well that you're only planning 2 issues, but who knows, maybe Vic will break into your place, hover over your bed some night, and force you to write a 100-issue epic linking together Elvis sightings, alien abductions, the Lindberg baby, the secret ingredient in Coca-Cola, the Hope diamond, Illuminati, and Goobers peanut butter (y'know, the with the stripes of jelly ). Thanks for the "secret origin of DC2" in your intro -- I think all our lettercols should have intros, it's fun. Loved the Ditko name-drop, showed me you're hardcore about the guy. And I know what it's like to be hardcore about a character!
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Post by HoM on Jan 8, 2006 13:43:26 GMT -5
Who do you like that much Mrs Hilwig?
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Post by dragonbat on Jan 22, 2006 16:49:28 GMT -5
Ok, Charley! Finally read it, and I liked it a lot! Like I said before, I'm not really into the Question, and I don't know how likely I am to change, but if I WERE into him, I'd LOVE this as opposes to merely LIKING it! Your storytelling style and pacing are A-1, and the supporting cast works perfectly. Good work!
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Post by HoM on Jan 22, 2006 17:01:11 GMT -5
Thank you Ellen, it means a lot coming from our most prolific Fan Fic writer. Can't wait for NiGHTWiNG, can't wait for Wednesday! (NO and NW are on my hitlist!)
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Post by dragonbat on Jan 22, 2006 18:35:39 GMT -5
LOL! Appreciate the vote of confidence. Hope it doesn't disappoint!
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 23, 2006 0:37:16 GMT -5
Who do you like that much Mrs Hilwig? You mean besides Mr. Hillwig? Heck, I dunno...put me on the spot, why don't you? Well, there is this scar-faced skunk that holds a gun to my head and demands that I write lengthy fics in his honor, but other than that...feh, Ambush Bug? ;D Y'know, in some fantasyland, Dick, Vic, and Jonah are sitting in a bar laughing their asses off at how nutters we get over them.
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Post by HoM on Jan 23, 2006 2:58:56 GMT -5
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