#renee lovers and vic lovers are brothers in arms

[fungi-maestro]

Mr. Seal, I have seen people talking about The Death of Vic Sage lately. I don't know what this is. What is it and is it good? I am very new to The Question and my favorite is Renee. I wanted to ask due to it being a hot topic in the tag for these characters.

The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage is a DC Black Label series that came out in 2019-ish. It follows Vic as he uncovers a conspiracy concerning a shapeshifting devil and cowboy reincarnation, all while under the influence of some serious hallucinogens. It also includes discussion of racism, both historical and current.

Some of the strongest criticism I've seen of this series is about the depiction of racism (combined with Vic being the only person in the world that can stop racism, apparently.) I would definitely say this is valid criticism. It's not a super great way for the narrative to frame it. They put a spin on it toward the end to talk about how Vic feels like he's the only good person in the world & seems to think he's the only one ever that can fix anything and how this isn't actually true, which felt like they wanted to talk about the white savior trope thing, but it seemed like the writing just shrugged at it. And then the story ended. Overall it felt like kind of a weak message. It deserves criticism for that, which I have seen people discuss recently and I agree with.

As far as whether it's "good" or not, this is something you'd have to decide for yourself. I liked some things, like the tie-in with plots and characters from the 80s run, the idea of The Question verses a monster that takes a million different faces & what that thing is supposed to represent in the human experience (bigotry and hatred that any person is capable of if they refuse to look at themselves and see it), and the entire thing with the hallucinating (a staple of the Question) and how it gives the comic a kind of dreamy atmosphere. Also, we get to see the amazing handiwork of Denys Cowan again, which feels right.

I obviously don't like the way they handled the Question's savior complex. I see what they were trying to do, but I felt like having him.... I shouldn't spoil it, should I? It made me facepalm when I saw him doing it. I wouldn't deprive you of that experience. But anyway some of the things he does in the comic seem antithetical to the point of the faceless, nameless Question in their mission to work behind the scenes. Maybe that's the idea, though. Vic is unreal levels of proud and arrogant in this comic. Way more so than usual. Slipping into Ditko territory, to be honest, and yet still within the realm of bizarre but standard Vic behavior. As Tot says, "Vic... You bastard."

Speaking of Tot, I am not a huge fan of him in this comic. He's fine, I guess, but he feels like he's only there to shake his head sadly at everything Vic says and does. Not very helpful. This isn't the old man I know and love. It isn't really the most important thing with the comic, though, so I guess I'll let it slide for now.

Anyway, my final verdict is that it's... Complicated. I think that would be the best way to describe it. It isn't super great, but it might be worth a read if you can approach it with a mind that is prepared to think critically about some of the themes and messages it presents. It's DC Black Label, so it isn't technically canon to anything, and I wouldn't consider it compliant to canon regardless. It has some good internal monologues for those that love them (I like them), and it has a section where it plays with The Question as a subset of a private investigator type character (which I appreciate as a detective connoisseur), but the clumsy and, in my opinion, tasteless attempt to tie it into current events combined with the portrayal of Vic with such a strange personality (definitely one of his oddball arcs) means this isn't a series that I would recommend if someone wanted an idea of what the character is. It's in the same category as PAX and that Frank Miller comic to me. Interesting, but not necessary to the character's story or personality building, and not for everyone.

TLDR; It's a hit and miss series. The artwork is good, some of the writing is good, but the parts where it is bad can easily outweigh the good. Read it for yourself if you want, but be warned for violent racism (I'm serious, please be warned for this. Do not go in without preparing yourself), and a weird characterization for basically everyone (I feel a little uncomfortable putting this here because of how not a big deal it is compared to the other warning. Still.)

#seal.txt #ask #anon #book club #the question #vic sage #the question: the deaths of vic sage #it's one that gives you a lot to chew on as far as the main plot goes. but if you arent paying attention you might bite something sour #not ''might'' really. you will most likely. theres a few parts that are hard to read. #this is not a mindless reading kind of comic. not that you should be reading comics mindlessly anyway. but you get the idea. #anyway i appreciate the formality. i laughed when i saw the ask preview ''mr. seal''. #it makes me feel like an English teacher instead of some guy from the internet that likes comics #welcome to the world of the question! renee rules and she is a good choice for a favorite 👍 #renee lovers and vic lovers are brothers in arms #go to the tag for the comic above if you want to see my comic caps and tag commentary from immediately after i read it