We’re taking a small detour from our regularly scheduled issues of “The Question” this week to read two of Denny’s other books at the time, “Detective Comics” and “Green Arrow,” in what can only be loosely called a crossover between the titles through their annuals. It’s a neat move but did it work as a story?
No, but I’m gonna talk about them anyway!
Spoilers ahead
Cover by Denys Cowan
and Bill SienkiewiczWritten by Denny O’Neil
Pencilled by Klaus Janson, Tom Artis, and Denys Cowan
Inked by Tony DeZuniga, Tom Dzon, and Rick Magyar
Colored by Adrienne Roy, Julia Laquement, and Tatjana Wood
Lettered by Todd KleinFABLES PART 3. The startling conclusion of the DETECTIVE COMICS/GREEN ARROW/QUESTION crossover. The Batman and Green Arrow guest-star with the Question as he discovers the truth behind Lady Shiva’s mission.
I’m not gonna lie, I kinda miss when comics would call Batman “The Batman.” There’s something about the singular article “The” that makes him feel more imposing and mysterious. Like The Flash or The Thing. Sure, we could call Barry “Flash” or Ben Grimm “Thing” but without the “The,” it doesn’t feel as impactful. Maybe that’s why I subconsciously twitch whenever anyone but Tom Cavanaugh says Flash in The Flash’s.
Right, right. The Fables crossover, not to be confused with the ‘The Great Fables Crossover’ between “Fables,” “Jack of Fables” and “The Literals” over at Vertigo 25 years later. Which, by the by, isn’t the strongest aspects of any of those series, and “The Literals” only ran for those three issues! I mean, I don’t love “Jack of Fables”
Where was I? Oh yes, in the fall of 1988, “Detective Comics,” “Green Arrow” and “The Question” had a crossover that ran throughout their annuals. I’m fudging it’s placement in my summer read through of “The Question” a little because I got three-quarters through the article before thinking to double check whether or not the print-pub date on ComiXology was, in fact, the right date (it’s not, putting all three annuals out in January, with “The Question” out first.) That said, I have no idea when it actually came out since cover date and on sale date often differs, especially in older comics, so maybe they did all come out in January of 1988 after issue #15! Or maybe it came out in April in between #19 and #20 or #20 and #21 or October in between the same issues. Either way, it doesn’t have a firm placement between regular issues so it can be read anytime after the initial arc, which is very useful.
You’ll also notice that I’ve been pretty light on actual discussion of the annuals thus far. That’s because these issues aren’t the most engaging reads. The central narratives are fine, if a little thin, and the art does the job without much flair, although, again, Cowyn, Magyar and Wood show up the rest of them. Of the three issues, “The Question” Annual #1 is by far and away the best. “Green Arrow” Annual #1, perhaps because I have not read any of O’Neil’s run or the then concurrent Mike Grell run, is lackluster and boring, while the “Detective Comics” issue is, again, fine, with the most interesting bit being the part concerning the larger crossover narrative.
That narrative is the story of a former Japanese Army commander who, thanks to his soldier’s itchy trigger finger during the first Sino-Japanese war, had to take the place of the slain man, essentially adopting his life and station. . .kinda. You see, that description is all prologue for his actual story, which is dispensed slowly throughout the three annuals, while the main thrust of the issues are concerned instead with a Batman, Green Arrow or The Question focused, self-contained story. The others guest star but on the whole, it’s pretty separate.
The title of the crossover, ‘Fables,’ plays out through O-Sensei, the aforementioned former army commander, telling each of the heroes a fable which helps them overcome their enemy and teach them about themselves. In Batman’s case, it’s that sometimes, you can’t do everything and that, in order to succeed, you have to be willing to let go. For Green Arrow, it’s that one must understand the nature of a battle, the aims of the opponent, and change one’s strategy depending; sometimes what you think is your shield is really the object holding you back.
Continued below
The Question (1987) Annual #1 pg. 35
For The Question, well, he doesn’t really get a fable in the same way. His main teaching moment, instead, came from Richard Dragon, and it’s about accepting pain as a natural piece of the world and not letting it bother you when you get punched repeatedly in the face. Sure, it’ll still hurt but you’ll remain zen, for lack of a better word, and it won’t be a problem in the same way. The lesson O-Sensei imparts is, at best, vague and ultimately fits the themes of rebirth, change, and iterative failure that are at the heart of “The Question.”
One reading is that, what may seem like failure in the moment can be transformed, not into a success necessarily, but not a negative. Another is that The Question’s quest, much like O-Sensei’s choice to honor his fallen prisoner by becoming him, is one that, while noble, will end in a death that seems, on the surface, to be sudden, senseless and at the worst possible moment. I am tripped up by the “some parables are silent” part.
Maybe one of you has a better answer than I.
One stray thought: Denny O’Neil’s Batman is a real asshole and Lady Shiva is a ton of fun and I love the 80s-ness of her and Vic’s haircuts.
Next time, back to our regularly scheduled issues of murder, mayhem and philosophy.
