The Best DC Comic You've Never Heard Of

2. The Philosophy

DC Comics/Denys Cowan

The driving force behind O'Neil's Question is the idea of the imperfect hero. To begin with, Sage is journalist who thinks himself invincible; he tells fiery stories on the network, and slinks out at night to fight crime. Being a hero without powers, O'Neil takes this to its only natural conclusion - by having Sage die in a fight with the DCU's most fearsome fighter, Lady Shiva.

From that point on, Vic Sage spends the next 40 or so issues learning. O'Neil introduced many of the philosophical texts he himself was reading at the time, and recommended them to readers of the book in the series' letters pages. For Zen and Violence, that book was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and the writer would weave other novels into his later arcs too.

This wasn't just another 'flavour of the week' comic (not that there's anything wrong with those of course), or an over-stuffed angst-filled series either - it had a genuine message. Sage rebranded as a peaceful, spiritual avenger; as one of the DC mythos' foremost minds and martial artists, and as one determined to take a stand against the worst excesses of eighties America - political extremism and corruption being the two most notable examples. (As a side, Hub City became the worst place to be in the DCU at this point, surpassing even Gotham in terms of seediness - so Vic had his work cut out.)

By its conclusion, you truly get the sense that Vic has grown, and it's a transformation unlike any other in the superhero genre.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.