Written by: Alex Segura
Art by: Cian Tormey
Colors by: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters by: Willie Schubert
Cover art by: Cian Tormey, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: November 20, 2024
Is The Question: All Along The Watchtower #1 Good?
Writer Alex Segura takes a crack at one of Gotham's more high-profile vigilante detectives with a miniseries that relocates Renee Montoya to new digs, a fresh start, and a mystery with no easy answers. Any excuse to bring the Question back to comic shelves is a good one, but the flaw of this issue isn't the main character. It's in the setup.
The Question: All Along The Watchtower #1 begins with Renee Montoya, aka The Question, waking up after a fitful night of sleep. Rather than force herself to rest, she dresses in her Question uniform and heads into the main promenade for her first day on the job as Head of Security aboard the new Watchtower.
Alex Segura picks up where Absolute Power left off by getting inside Montoya's head while she takes in the wonder of living and working aboard an orbital space station populated with the world's greatest superheroes. Narration fills in the blanks for new readers concerning Montoya's status as a recovering alcoholic to let you know she's got baggage that colors her decisions and motivations.
Through a montage of scenes, both flashback and in the now, we learn the World's Finest asked Montoya to take the job for a specific purpose - someone or something is trying to infiltrate and weaponize the Watchtower for an unknown purpose. The League needs a world-class detective to keep the League in line and find out who or what is scratching at the defenses.
We'll talk more about the setup in a minute, but just know that tapping Montoya to be Head of Security and solve a mystery aboard a Watchtower that's barely been in operation for a month doesn't sit well in the least.
Wonder Woman gives Montoya the grand tour and introduces her to her team at various spots along the way. The Blue Beetles - Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes - provide tech and research support. Animal Man provides... animal support. The Challengers of the Unknown act as the operations team to keep the Watchtower running. And worst (best?) of all, Batwoman will be Montoya's field agent.
For readers not in the know, Montoya and Batwoman used to be a couple, so this choice presents all manner of opportunities for drama and conflict above and beyond the central mystery.
Toward the end of the tour, the Watchtower's systems scream alerts about an intruder. The longtime Superman villain known as Conduit crashes down in the main promenade, spouting orders to find and terminate Montoya. After a brief battle, Conduit is stopped, but Montoya figures out the attacker is actually a robot disguised as Conduit, and the attack is merely a distraction while a deadly attack occurs elsewhere on the station.
What's great about The Question: All Aboard The Watchtower #1?
More Question is a good thing, so even if the excuse to bring The Question to the forefront is less than ideal, we'll take it. Plus, Alex Segura's previous works tend to lean towards main characters who are alcoholic lesbians, so this title is right in his wheelhouse (see Segura's Black Ghost series).
What's not great about The Question: All Aboard The Watchtower #1?
Yeah, the setup is explained, but it doesn't make much sense. With a few probing questions, the premise falls apart.
How would someone be able to attack the newest and most advanced Watchtower ever built just a few weeks after it was created without the greatest minds on Earth knowing about it? What are the attacks the Watchtower is experiencing? It's never explained.
If Batman is the world's greatest detective, why does he need Montoya's help to solve the mystery? What about Mr. Terrific or The Atom? Surely, they could track down a malicious pattern of behavior.
When Conduit crashes through the Watchtower promenade in SPACE, how did nobody know? How could Conduit, even a robotic facsimile of Conduit, approach a space station without anyone noticing? Wonder Woman was with Montoya when "Conduit" attacked, so why didn't she jump in to help?
Why would Wonder Woman assign Montoya a whole team, including her ex-lover, without Montoya's say or input? If there's a rush, why doesn't she explain why there's a rush?
In short, Segura gets Montoya's voice and personality right but blows the setup.
How's the Art?
Cian Tormey's artwork ranges from very good to great. The Question looks as good as ever in costume. The first close-up look at the Watchtower is impressive, and the action is well done. The reason the praise isn't higher is due to little foibles like showing Star Girl flying without her power staff.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
The Question: All Along The Watchtower #1 is a perfectly serviceable reason to get Renee Montoya on the Watchtower by giving her a mystery to solve. Alex Segura nails the voice and character work for Question, and Cian Tormey's art, which gives us our first full look at the Watchtower, is very good. That said, the basic setup that explains why The Question is invited onto the Watchtower doesn't make much sense.
6.5/10
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