A Peer Into The Past With The Question: The Deaths Of Vic Sage #2
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
We jump back to Hub City in 1886. We focus on a man by the name of Victor Zsasz, who sticks up for a black man named Irving Booker. This results in Booker and his wife, named Alma, being lynched by other denizens in Hub City. Victor comes to their defense and the trio run from the town with a team of killers chasing after them. Things go badly for Victor, Irving, and Alma and it isn’t until a mysterious woman comes to his rescue. However, she’s looking for a man named Charlie and Victor is punished for saying he isn’t Charlie.
The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #2 takes us back to the Old West and a previous iteration of the Question by the name of Victor Zsasz. He stands against Hub City on behalf of an African American man persecuted by the fledgling city.
The story focuses tightly upon Victor Zsasz without tying it into the Question and Vic Sage until the end of the comic. As such, it’s a fairly action-heavy comic. We are shown plenty of shootouts between Victor and Irving against their assailants.
We are given some clues as to the deeper mystery of Deaths of Vic Sage. The woman who shoots Victor Zsasz with an arrow announces some kind of destiny for “Charlie.”
That is where things get a little baffling. Victor Zsasz announces himself as “Charles Victor Zsasz,” and it seems strange that he wouldn’t have announced this sooner if that was truly his name. There is some explanation for this given the beginning of the comic, but it isn’t explicitly stated why things fall into place in this manner.
Denys Cowan and inker Bill Sienkiewicz continue to make this a visually brilliant comic. Each panel looks phenomenal and the pairing craft some wonderful shootouts. Color artist Chris Sotomayor backs them up with well-balanced and grabbing color art which greatly adds to the appeal of the comic book.
The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #2 is another engaging issue for this DC Black Label series. While it isn’t quite as absorbing as the first issue, it’s still a fun and gripping comic book. As such, it earns another recommendation. Check it out.
The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #2 comes to us from writer Jeff Lemire, artist Denys Cowan, inker Bill Sienkiewicz, color artist Chris Sotomayor, letterer Willie Schubert, cover artist Denys Cowan with Bill Sienkiewicz /and Chris Sotomayor, and variant cover artist Eduardo Risso
Final Score: 8/10