Friday, August 15, 2008

Why I'm Happy Today: A Question Figure for the JLU Line!

Happiness is an Action Figure
Okay, you've seen the blog (else you wouldn't be here reading this) so you know I'm a fan of The Question. (That's the faceless guy in my blog's header, lovingly designed by Kat.)
Created by legendary Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics, The Question was Vic Sage, two-fisted radio journalist and investigative reporter. In his original incarnation, as written by Ditko, Sage was a relentless, rigidly moral crusader who believed that "A is always A" and that evil must be punished ruthlessly. He was an embodiment of Objectivism, a philosophy created by novelist Ayn Rand. (I won't go into the details here but the Wikipedia entry makes for interesting reading.)
This version was the inspiration for Rorschach from Watchmen by Alan Moore.
Other versions followed. Denny O'Neil reconstructed Sage from the ground up in the 1980s in his "The Question" series for DC Comics (DC had acquired the Charlton characters and this was part of an effort to make use of them). This version of Sage was more philosophically complex, casting him as a seeker of truth, including his own murky origins as an orphan prone to trouble and having boundless curiosity. This series achieved considerable success but eventually trailed off into guest appearances in other books.
(Are you sick of reading this yet?)
Anyway, the Justice League Unlimited animated series reinvented The Question once again. Voiced by the peerless Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), this Question was a conspiracy theorist and borderline nutcase (or at least, that's what his fellow heroes thought) who was willing to take the fall when he exposed a horrific plot. He also had the Huntress as a girlfriend, giving him a couple of the best JLU episodes ever.
Mattel had not made a figure of The Question--apparently there were some rights issues around him and Captain Atom, another Charlton hero who had appeared in the show. But it appears those issues are resolved.
Glory be!
The Question and Captain Atom (the latter of which is now available) are Target exclusives, now that Mattel has forged a retail pact with the bullseye retail giant, along with many more to come.
I could not be happier. I have no idea if I will ever be able to find this figure on the shelves--seems like the toys are ALWAYS gone by the time I get there--but I can always hold out hope for eBay. But if anyone from Mattel is reading this post... hey, I'll plug the toys from here till Doomsday if you send one my way!
Of interest: Wikipedia on JLU toys and The Question

2 comments:

Elisa said...

All the Target shelves are bare here in SoCal too. I'm hoping ebay will have Question soon, because damnit, he's too cool not to own!

Here's a pic of Q I took at ComicCon. :)

Drew said...

Hey Elisa!
Thanks for the pic- you rock!
I heard from an eBay contact yesterday that the Question is supposed to go on sale in October (or that's what he's heard). So there may not be anything on sale before then.
I tell ya, I'll be looking like crazy for that figure when it's out.
all best,
Drew