With James Gunn now helming the DCU, we should expect to see DC characters that go beyond the familiar: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. For example, take a look at the first two episodes of Creature Commandos which just released on Max; I mean who has ever heard of G.I. Robot or Nina Nazursky? Or cares about Rick Flag's dad? James Gunn does.

Have you heard of The Question before?

I think we'll see a lot more bizarre second and third tier DC characters in the years ahead. One character I'm dying to see in live action is The Question. The Question is an aggressive and often ruthless investigative journalist who uses an artificial skin called a "Pseudoderm" that conceals his famous identity. You've all likely seen him before; created by the legendary Steve Ditko in 1967, the Question is the faceless detective with the trench coat and fedora:

Even if you've never read any of The Question's comics, you may have seen him before in the TV series Justice League Unlimited, the video game Batman: Arkham Shadow or even in Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold. And The Question has another connection to a James Gunn production; like the Peacemaker, he's also originally a creation of Charlton Comics (which was later acquired by DC in 1983 for just $5,000 a character).

Can you name the first appearance of The Question off the top of your head?

Even though he's a fairly recognizable character, I doubt many of you could name the comic which includes his first appearance: Blue Beetle #1 (Charlton, 1967). The Question also appears for the first time on the bottom cover of this book. Blue Beetle #1 is a rare book with only 585 universal blue label copies on the CGC Census. To me, this is a nice Silver Age book that hasn't received much attention since characters featured in the MCU and DCU have sucked all of the oxygen out of comic book collecting market. The FMV of a CGC 6.5 copy of this issue (the most common grade on the CGC Census) is only $220.

You can also see that the value of this book over the past ten years doesn't reflect the boom and then bust nature of the overall comic book market; it's remained relatively flat. While the most recent 6.5 sold for a respectable $315 in October 2024, if you're willing to be patient, you can find some great deals. For example, this very nice presenting 7.5 sold for only $192 just a few months ago on Heritage Auctions:

If you are interested in The Question's first appearance, be mindful there's a 1977 Modern Comics reprint of Blue Beetle #1 from 1977. Those reprints have the blue "M Modern Comics" logo in the upper left corner of the comic. Modern Comics also made similar reprints of Peacemaker #1.

The Question first appears in a DC publication in Crisis On Infinite Earths #6.