Who do you get to investigate a murder at the most secure superhero stronghold in the world, and when every member of the Justice League is a suspect? The answer is the Question. That is, detective Renee Montoya’s superhero alias, in The Question: All Along the Watchtower #1, a new ongoing series from DC Comics this November.
Written by Alex Segura (The Black Ghost) and drawn by Cian Tormey (Son of Superman), All Along the Watchtower will follow Renee after Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman call her up to the Justice League’s orbital Watchtower headquarters to solve a murder most foul.
Segura, who’s made a name with comics-themed mystery novels Secret Identity and Alter Ego, is a natural fit for that hook. He told Polygon via email that the biggest influences on Watchtower are the classics: “like Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie: plot-driven novels that feature colorful characters and situations, often outside of the expected or mundane. But I’d also have to tip my hat to more modern PI novels, like the work of Walter Mosley, Laura Lippman, and George Pelecanos — stories about flawed protagonists in over their heads, trying to do the right thing.”
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Cartoon fans will recognize Renee Montoya from her copious appearances as a police detective in Batman adaptations — from her origin in Batman: The Animated Series, to the Gotham TV series, to the Birds of Prey movie, all the way up to her supporting role in this summer’s Batman: The Caped Crusader. Less frequently appearing in adaptations is her superhero alter ego, inherited from the original Question in the pages of DC’s venerable 2006 series, 52.
Segura says his comics influences when it comes to Renee involve two writers: Denny O’Neil, who first wrote the Question into the DC Universe, and Greg Rucka, who spearheaded Renee’s evolution, along with their frequent collaborators, artists Denys Cowan and Cully Hamner. “I don’t presume to carry that torch, but I’ve taken to heart the stories they’ve told with Renee, where we see her trying her best to overcome her own demons to do the right thing,” Segura said. “I think the challenge of doing that in this story, which involves Renee walking among an array of heroes that are akin to gods, is part of the fun — and it’s made me think of classic superhero mysteries like The Long Halloween, Human Target, and Wagner/Seagle/Davis’s essential Sandman Mystery Theater, except on a much bigger and more surreal stage: the JL Watchtower.”
Watchtower takes place after DC’s 2024 summer crossover, and features a revitalized Justice League and an entirely new Watchtower satellite headquarters. The setup gave Tormey free rein to invent his own take on the classic comics setting. He described it in one word: “Scale.”
“The last book I drew was set in 1930s New York,” Tormey told Polygon via email. “So getting to grips with drawing a huge station full of aspirational tech was such an exciting challenge. Add to that the fact that we would be telling a noir story — usually the stuff of dive bars, smoke filled rooms and back alleys — in a clinical pristine environment, that juxtaposition was too intriguing to pass up! […]
“The Watchtower is as much a character in this as Renee herself, but, it’s a noir story when all is said and done — so you’ll have to trust me when I say, there’s a lot of thought put into all those backgrounds you won’t be able to see under all the blood and shadows!”
The Question: All Along the Watchtower kicks off this Nov. 20, with a main cover by Tormey and variants by Danny Earls, Lucio Parrillo, and Jorge Fornés. You can check out all those covers below, along with DC’s official summary.
Renee Montoya investigates a murder mystery on the Justice League Watchtower
Who watches the Watchtower? In the wake of Absolute Power, the Justice League Unlimited has created a haven for all heroes—but can they keep it secure? Enter Renee Montoya, reeling from an abrupt end to her time in Gotham and looking for a place to hang her hat. But the Trinity didn’t bring her up to the Watchtower to relax—there’s a dark threat bubbling underneath the surface, and only the Question and her ad hoc support team stand a chance of figuring out who the problem is before it’s too late.
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