Victor Sage (Prime Earth)

Vic Sage is the Question, a conspiracy-minded vigilante based primarily in Hub City of renowned investigative and hand-to-hand combat skill.

In the wake of the timeline-warping Flashpoint, Sage was briefly head of the Suicide Squad, while the immortal Narcissus carried the name of the Question.^[1] Sage has since returned to his old identity, sharing the mantle with his friend and successor Renee Montoya, and is a member of the Checkmate organization.

History

Early Years

Victor Sage operated as the vigilante the Question in Hub City, developing a reputation as a paranoid thrill-seeker. Returning to Gotham City after a prior encounter, the Question worked with Gotham's protector Batman to investigate Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist and Batman's secret identity, in a ploy to confirm his suspicions that they were one and the same. Having discovered the financial maneuvers used by Wayne to finance Batman's operations, the Question disguised himself as a Waynetech security guard and infiltrated a distribution center to gain access to the corporation's files. Though his investigation was clandestinely blocked by Batman and he was attacked by Waynetech personnel, the Question uncovered exploitation of Wayne's loopholes by corrupt guards to steal inventory. After revealing his identity to Sage and reevaluating his judgment of the other vigilante, Batman joined the Question in raiding and capturing the thieving guards.^[2]

The Question partnered with inventor Aristotle "Tot" Rodor,^[3] and also operated within a team of heroes that included the Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, Judomaster, and Nightshade,^[4] and he saved the life of former Gotham City Police Department detective Renee Montoya. They struck up a deep friendship, together encountering Black Adam of Kahndaq, before Sage succumbed to disease and cold and died in Montoya's arms. With his death, she took on his legacy as the new Question. He was later revived, and memory of his life was warped and altered,^[5] following the erasure of ten years of history.^[6]

The New 52

 Main article: New Suicide Squad Vol 1

In this altered timeline, Vic Sage was a successful treasury agent for the United States Government. He was named the head of the Suicide Squad, a team of supervillains based at Belle Reve Penitentiary and made to serve US interests, working directly above Amanda Waller after her perceived failure in foreseeing and preventing the Trinity War and the villain uprising. Sage altered the composition of his team, recruiting Deathstroke and the Joker's Daughter in hopes of repeating the Squad's success with similar members Deadshot and Harley Quinn, and dismissed Squad member Captain Boomerang while retaining Black Manta.^[7]

Three months after his appointment, the Squad was tasked with investigating a Russian defense project in Moscow.^[7] While Deathstroke betrayed the team to the Russians and the Joker's Daughter was beaten by Quinn, Sage bickered with Waller over mission objectives, pushing the Squad to investigate further instead of rescuing Deadshot, injured in action.^[8] In an attempt to assert his authority, Sage petitioned for control of the explosives implanted within the Squad members to ensure compliance, currently held by Waller, but was denied authorization in the name of maintaining a balance of power in the Suicide Squad leadership. Sage's disagreements with Waller worsened, escalating into physical violence,^[9] and he left for the Pentagon to request a transfer, but was again denied. In a Washington, D.C. bar, he was presented with a job offer by an agent of the Pearl Group,^[10] a subsidiary of the Calvary Corporation, who aimed to destroy the Suicide Squad for interfering with their international operations. Sage eventually accepted, and conceived of a plan to expose and shut down the Squad by leaking its existence through a Belle Reve inmate who would shoulder the blame, concealing his own involvement^[11] while he would be repaid with a lucrative position in Calvary and the satisfaction of bringing down Amanda Waller.^[12]

After dispatching the Suicide Squad on their next mission, to infiltrate a splinter group of the League of Assassins,^[13] Sage enlisted the help of Amanda Waller's assistant Bonnie to familiarise himself with Belle Reve's operations, arousing Waller's suspicion.^[14] When the undercover team were tasked with destroying an allied refinery, Sage planned to abort the mission, while Bonnie proposed that a second Squad be sent in to run interference as an alternative. Belle Reve lost contact with the second team,^[15] and Sage took advantage of the situation by forcing Waller onto the field team to provide greater oversight.^[16]

While investigating superpower-granting drugs with the Suicide Squad in Rio de Janeiro, Waller pieced together Sage's affiliation to the Calvary Corporation and their involvement in the Squad's recent operations, and broke contact with Belle Reve. In response, Sage triggered the explosive implants of her team,^[17] which unbeknownst to him Waller had disabled. He reported Waller's rogue status to his Calvary contact, Mister Daemon, who had Sage initiate his plan ahead of schedule: playing on Black Manta's desire to humiliate Amanda Waller,^[18] Sage recruited him to be trafficked out of Belle Reve and to deliver evidence of the Squad's operations to Calvary. Their plan was uncovered, however, by Bonnie, who Sage consequently killed, only for Waller, the Squad, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrive at the prison to arrest them. In a bid for time, Sage released all prisoners from the cells, but Waller and the Squad came upon upon him and Manta as they made their escape. While the the Squad dealt with their erstwhile teammate, Waller beat Sage before delivering him into FBI custody.^[12]

DC Rebirth

Vic was re-established as the Question due to the various alterations to the timeline causing Prime Earth to begin resembling its Pre-Flashpoint state.

He was a patient at the Sanctuary, a superhero mental health facility,^[19], and after Superman was framed and rendered comatose, Question joined the group of heroes heading towards Mars to confront their mysterious enemy. The heroes met and engaged Doctor Manhattan, but they were easily defeated.^[20] The Question was a member of the Guild of Detection, a secret society of detectives dedicated to the unsolved mysteries of the world, and participated in Batman's career-long induction rite,^[21] and with other mystery-oriented heroes, worked to locate the Hall of Doom on behalf of the Justice League.^[22]

Event Leviathan

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In Hub City, the Question investigated the deaths of three members of the Mikhailov Brotherhood, a crime syndicate. He tracked their killer—who wore a faceless mask like his own—to the penthouse of Narcisse Mikhailov, son of the brotherhood's head, where Sage tackled the assailant to keep him from shooting Mikhailov. Unmasking his opponent, Sage discovered that he shared his target's face. Mikhailov revealed that the killer, Valentino, was a lookalike hired for his protection who had become his lover. Upon discovering his son's homosexuality, Mikhailov's father had a arranged for Valentino to be killed turning him against the family. Motivated by the sense of missed opportunity his one-time lover aroused in him, Mikhailov shot Valentino himself despite the intervention of the Question, striking Valentino in the head and knocking him off the penthouse balcony to death. Though Sage wished to take Mikhailov's life in retaliation, he determined that the city desired him to live with the knowledge of his action.^[23]

Infinite Frontier

 Main article: Checkmate Vol 3

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All In

When Renee Montoya—now commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department—was exposed as the Question, Sage left Hub City for Gotham to help restore her secret identity, providing the local press with evidence that falsely exonerated her of being the vigilante.^[24]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Leadership
• Investigation: The Question was able to uncover Batman's secret identity.^[2]
• Intimidation
• Stealth
• Martial Arts: The Help likened Catwoman's martial arts skill to that of Sage as a compliment.^[25]
• Surveillance
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Question's Mask^[2]

Notes

• Vic Sage was created by Steve Ditko, first appearing in Blue Beetle (Volume 5) #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Vic Sage first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in New Suicide Squad #1 by Sean Ryan and Jeremy Roberts.
  

Trivia

• The Question was manifested as a persona within the mind of Batman to interrogate his relationship with Catwoman.^[26]

Related

• 56 Appearances of Victor Sage (Prime Earth)
• 17 Images featuring Victor Sage (Prime Earth)
• 5 Quotations by or about Victor Sage (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Victor Sage (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Checkmate Member This character was a member of the top secret government organization Checkmate. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Checkmate members" and "Government Agents" categories.

Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.