Who do you get to analyze a murder at the most safe superhero stronghold in the world, and when each member of the Justice League is a suspect? The reply is the Query. That’s, detective Renee Montoya’s superhero alias, in The Query: All Along the Watchtower #1, a new ongoing sequence 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 comply with Renee after Batman, Superman, and Surprise Girl name her as much as the Justice League’s orbital Watchtower headquarters to resolve a murder most foul.
Segura, who’s made a identify with comics-themed mystery novels Secret Identification and Alter Ego, is a pure match for that hook. He instructed Polygon through electronic mail that the largest 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.”
Cartoon followers will acknowledge Renee Montoya from her copious appearances as a police detective in Batman variations — from her origin in Batman: The Animated Collection, to the Gotham TV sequence, to the Birds of Prey film, all the means as much as her supporting function in this summer season’s Batman: The Caped Crusader. Much less often showing in variations is her superhero alter ego, inherited from the unique Query in the pages of DC’s venerable 2006 sequence, 52.
Segura says his comics influences relating to Renee contain two writers: Denny O’Neil, who first wrote the Query into the DC Universe, and Greg Rucka, who spearheaded Renee’s evolution, together 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 stated. “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 season crossover, and options a revitalized Justice League and a wholly new Watchtower satellite tv for pc headquarters. The setup gave Tormey free rein to invent his personal tackle the basic comics setting. He described it in one phrase: “Scale.”
“The last book I drew was set in 1930s New York,” Tormey instructed Polygon through electronic mail. “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 Query: All Along the Watchtower kicks off this Nov. 20, with a primary cowl by Tormey and variants by Danny Earls, Lucio Parrillo, and Jorge Fornés. You possibly can try all these covers beneath, together with DC’s official abstract.
Renee Montoya investigates a murder mystery on the Justice League Watchtower
Who watches the Watchtower? In the wake of Absolute Energy, the Justice League Limitless has created a haven for all heroes—however can they maintain it safe? Enter Renee Montoya, reeling from an abrupt finish to her time in Gotham and in search of a place to hold her hat. However the Trinity didn’t deliver her as much as the Watchtower to loosen up—there’s a darkish risk effervescent beneath the floor, and solely the Query and her advert hoc assist workforce stand a likelihood of determining who the downside is earlier than it’s too late.
Picture: Danny Earls/DC Comics
Picture: Lucio Parrillo/DC Comics
Picture: Jorge Fornes/DC Comics
