Azrael Plus the Question #1 : The Angel, the Terror and the Question
Writer : Dennis O'Neil
Penciller : Vince Giarrano
Inker : Vince Giarrano
Colourist : Demetrius Bassoukos
Seperations : Prismacolor
Letterer : Ken Bruzenak
Assistant Editor : Chuck Kim
Editor : Archie Goodwin

Synopsis :

Vic Sage AKA the Question is playing poker when a couple of men burst in and shoot one of the men he's playing with. After the two men are dealt with, the plying partner reveals himself to be a politician who is opposing an arms factory and asks Vic Sage to protect his daughter. Jean-Paul Valley in a quest for answers to his uncertainty about his future decides to see a play about angels which the politician's daughter, Rita Chablis is starring in. Meanwhile the Musto group - a terrorist organisation - have been hired to kill Rita Chablis but plan to blow up the boat on which the play is being staged. During a rehersal the bomb that was planted in Rita's piano goes of prematurely and The Question and Azrael invstigate. Azrael deals with the terrorists while The Question takes Rita to saftey.

Review :

Giarrano's figures and faces are more angular than Barry Kitson's and his inking is markedly differant from differant from James Pascoe's work which is generally smooth with cross hatching indicating darker areas Vince's work uses shorter lines and so the inking is less smooth and lines are much rougher, and in place of cross hatching his uses lots of little lines.

Although this is very much a Question story Denny has chosen to parrallel the villain with Azrael, both are looking for acceptance from their fathers and forgiveness for some wrong that they have done. Denny also uses the play to expand on the thoughts of the characters. For Vic and Rita it's artsy garbage for Jean-Paul it had depth and meaning. It gives the impression that Jean-Paul is so desperate for meaning to his life he'll find it any where, of course this is mitigated by the fact that some passages literally translate as part of his life. Vic is also an interesting character in all this. He decided that his primary interest was in getting Rita to safty rather than helping the rest of the passengers.

Rant :

I found Vic Sages faceless crack to be a little out of place, I never read his initial appearances so I don't know what sense of humour he has. This is a pretty obscure Azrael book, and if you don't have a price guide which indicates all Azrael comics you might have missed it. It is worth getting a hold of because despite the sometimes choppy art it's a pretty good story.

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