Revealed in DC Comics June 2009 Solicitations on Monday:

DETECTIVE COMICS #854
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by JH Williams and Cully Hamner
Cover by JH Williams
Variant cover by JG Jones
“Elegy” part 1 of 4! A new …blah, blah, blah… Batwoman …blah, blah, blah… Greg Rucka …blah, blah…  JH Williams III …blah, blah, blah!
Featuring the debut of a new co-feature starring The Question written by Rucka! Odds against you? Alone and nowhere to turn? Willing to fight, but you don’t know how? When you’re searching everywhere for an answer, sometimes all you need to do is ask the right Question. Renee Montoya again dons the faceless mask to help those in need, all the while searching for her own answers in this new adventure with art by Cully Hamner (BLUE BEETLE).
Retailers please note: Blah, blah, Blah… Standard Edition (with a cover by JH Williams III ), …blah, blah… Variant Edition (with a cover by JG Jones). …blah, blah, blah.
On sale June 24 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

This was followed by Newsarama’s interview with Cully Hamner.

The Question is dead, long live the Question!

From a recent question / answer session at Newsarama with Dan Didio:

3. That said, how does that apply to someone like The Question? Full disclosure here – I still don’t believe Vic Sage is dead. He “died” too close to a city where people never die for him to be over and done with. But yet, Greg has developed Renee as the new version as The Question which flows organically from Vic, and there seems to be a push to further establish her, rather than start the questions of “When is Vic coming back?”

DD: You’re absolutely correct. Again, one of the problems even with these interviews is that when I make a statement, it gets interpreted as a definitive statement that has to be applied across the board to every single character and every situation forever, and it gets held against us. The reality is, when I say something about wanting to get back to the iconic versions, that is an overall direction for the line. It’s a mission statement for what we’re trying to accomplish, but it’s not something that’s all-encompassing for every single character and for everything that we’re doing. We do approach things case-by-case, we look for what has the best potential for story, and we look for what has the greatest opportunity to expand the scope and standing and breadth of the line, and that’s where we go. In some cases, it’s looking back, and in other cases, it’s looking forward.

People ask why we seem cagey or never, in their opinion, give a clear answer. We do give clear answers, but the problem is that there are always options and choices. I don’t want to say that we have a blanket option and a blanket answer for everything we do. We can’t do that. One of the things we try to avoid is the homogenous feel of the DC Universe, and what we’re trying to do is approach every character from the standpoint of what has the most potential. At this particular moment, Renee Montoya as The Question has, we believe, more potential for story and more opportunity to enhance the DC Universe than Vic Sage did. We told a great story with Vic Sage in 52. We had a great ending for that story, a great passing of the mantle, and a great platform in 52 for telling that story. There’s no reason to go running backwards from it so quickly, because it’s a story that we fully embrace.

Therefore, Renee Montoya, as we’re presenting her, will be The Question for the foreseeable future, because there are so many stories with her as The Question that are completely untapped, and are waiting to be told. And for you, personally Matt, I understand that Vic Sage will always be your Question, and that’s what’s wonderful about our trade paperback program. [laughs] Everybody has their favorite. Honestly, I’ve ended up going against my own favorites in some cases, but that’s just the way it works.

But again, with Barry Allen – and I’m sure there are people who will say, “What you just said about The Question should apply to The Flash,” and it did – for over 20 years. And now, we’re deciding to explore Barry Allen again. So, in twenty years, or somewhere down the road, you and I, or whoever’s in these chairs may be about Vic Sage, and if the excitement is still there, you might end up with a Return of Vic Sage storyline. If that’s the case, I’d be happy to read it from my rocking chair at the Old Age Home for Comic Book People.

The Question to appear on the Brave & The Bold!

Bob Tilley recently sent us a link to his site, where he provides a sneak preview of the Question on an upcoming episode of the Cartoon Network show The Brave & The Bold!

See more at Bob’s site. Thanks, Bob!

The Watchmen as Charlton Heroes

Mike Dominic offers this fantastic reimagining of the Watchmen as the original Charlton heroes that inspired their creation:

Thanks to reader Sean for pointing this out to us!

We knew in advance that this was coming because a few weeks ago, we stopped by the Albany Mini-Con and asked Mr. Hembeck to draw his version for us. As soon as our house is unpacked, and our scanner hooked up, we’ll let you see the awesomeness that he provided.

(And yes, we mean “we” in the royal sense.)

From the Justice League Unlimited Line:

From the DCU Infinite Heroes line:

For more images visit Action-Figure.com’s complete SDCC 2008 toy coverage, here.

Secondly, as posted by “Superfriend,” an exchange between the author and DC President Paul Levitz on the potential for a Question figure, with Levitz briefly addressing the financial factors that prevented a Question figure until now:

There are different contractual and business concerns relative to each of those characters, and it’s certainly possible that at some point Mattel will want to do them and we will let them. Unfortunately, the relative demand for a single action figure isn’t a major economic factor (no one figure in a line like JLU other than the key characters of Superman and Batman is able to sell enough to generate enough royalties to resolve almost any imaginable business obstacle), but we do try to clear enough of the great characters to keep our collectors excited and interested in the line.

In honor of the wide-release of the hardcover The Question: The Five Books of Blood by Greg Rucka and accomplices, we’re presenting a week of (long overdue) content related to the new Question, Renee Montoya. Stay tuned, as we’ll be uploading new content every day!

MONDAY, June 23 –

• A History of Renee Montoya – Part I: Secret Origins
• Crime Bible Wrap-Up Interview with Greg Rucka
• Crime Bible Cover Inspiration

TUESDAY, June 24 –

• A History of Renee Montoya – Part II: From Screen to Page
• Crime Bible #3 From Script to Page with Matthew Clark
• Face to No-Face with Costumer Jessica Smith

WEDNESDAY, June 25 –

• A History of Renee – Part III: On the beat
• The Question of Gender and Sexuality with Scott Anderson, Joe Palmer and Amy Reads

THURSDAY, June 26 –

• A History of Renee Montoya – Part IV: Losing Face
• Steve Lieber reveals technique behind Crime Bible engravings
• Behind the Scenes of the Montoya Journal with Eric Trautmann
• Nick “Holiday” Hartz breaks the Crime Bible code
• Becoming Darkseid’s Bitch

FRIDAY, June 27 –

• The (Not Quite) Complete Renee Montoyagraphy
• Final Crisis: Revelation Lightning Round with Greg Rucka
• Final Crisis: Revelation Talk with Philip Tan

The brain-weary owner of this site could’ve used the reminder awhile back. Everyone stay tuned for our Renee Montoya-themed week, which will take place during the week when the hardcover hits the GENERAL market, June 23-27th.