10 Devastating Comic Book Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere
6. The Question - 52 #38 (2007)
During the 52 storyline, Batman decided he needed to retrain, compelling him to go on hiatus for a year. Knowing Gotham would need to be protected, Charles Victor Sage, aka The Question, headed to the city to assist the police force. Teaming up with Detective Renee Montoya, the pair travelled across the world after they stumbled upon a global conspiracy.
During their mission, Vic and Renee couldn't stop getting on each other's nerves. Every time Renee lit a cigarette, Vic got agitated, barraging her with smoking statistics, and detailing the poisonous chemicals that reside in tobacco.
Several months later, Renee discovered why Vic was giving her a hard time - he had lung cancer, and her smoking was exasperating his condition.
Because this is a comic book, most readers believed Sage would pull through, even though his illness was terminal. And when Montoya brought Vic to the healing city of Nanda Parbat, we safely assumed The Question would make a complete recovery.
Unfortunately, Vic passed away moments before reaching the one place where he could be cured. Although casual readers probably never heard of The Question until they read 52, his death hit hard for everybody.