The Question: All Along the Watchtower is a 2024 limited comic book series published by DC Comics as part of their DC All In initiative. The series is written by Alex Segura and drawn by Cian Tormey.
In the wake of Absolute Power (2024), the Justice League has expanded its roster in all directions, and has created a massive new Watchtower to house all the new recruits. With so many new faces coming in, the Trinity worries that something might slip into the Watchtower, and thus have tapped Renee Montoya, former Police Commissioner of Gotham, to take up her former mantle as The Question and lead a small team of experts to investigate mysterious glitches in the Watchtower's systems. At first, Montoya thinks this is just busy work, but then a murder happens.
The first issue was released November 20, 2024.
The Question: All Along the Watchtower contains examples of:
- Affirmative-Action Legacy:
- Ted Kord, the classic Blue Beetle, is assisted by Jaime Reyes, his Latino successor.
- Renee is the gay, Latina successor to Vic Sage, the original Question, who was a white man.
- Beware the Superman: In the second issue, Question and Batwoman have to fight off the Eradicator, who has an approximation of the powers of Kryptonians like Superman. They are incredibly lucky that Hank Henshaw is controlling him and thus he's not at full power, but it's still a difficult battle.
- Big Damn Kiss: Renee and Kate share one after Renee manages to break Cyborg Superman's hold over Kate.
- Came Back Strong: The main villain is the Cyborg Superman, who came back with the ability to control organic beings.
- Chekhov's Skill: Bulleteer used to work in stock at a retail store when she was between jobs. Much to her chagrin, the League decides that this makes her an excellent candidate to run the armory.
- Continuity Nod: The Cyborg Superman took advantage of Xa-Du and the Phantom Zone denizens' escape to accomplish his plan. The events he describes happened in Mark Waid's Action Comics (2016).
- The Cowl: Batwoman, being an adjunct part of the Bat family, naturally serves this role on Renee's team. And Batman himself appears in the first issue in a flashback; he was the one who recruited Renee in the first place.
- Even the Girls Want Her: In the first issue, Renee has to will herself not to stare at Wonder Woman. It's a struggle.
- Face Your Fears: In the fifth issue, Renee is forced into a one-on-one confrontation with a brainwashed Kate, which is the last thing she wants, because she knows that Kate is better trained than she is and because she doesn't want to hurt her. She decides to lay down her weapon and not resist. Luckily, Kate's brainwashing requires conflict to maintain, and when Renee refuses to fight her, the mind control fails.
- Flirting Under Fire: In issue #4, after an explosion causes Kate to end up on top of Renee, Kate briefly flirts with her.
- An Ice Person: Thanks to complications from the events of Absolute Power, Fire now generates ice instead of fire. Her bestie Ice now generates fire. They're both still getting used to the switch, which creates difficulty in the first issue where Fire tries to join the fight against Conduit. While she is able to create a blast of cold easily enough, she used to be able to fly with her fire powers, and so she's rusty on making evasive maneuvers from the ground.
- Mythology Gag: One of Renee's new teammates is Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. Ted and Renee's predecessor, Vic Sage, were both created by Steve Ditko. The first issue also features cameos by Creeper and Hawk, two other Ditko creations. The second issue takes it further, with Nightshade, another Ditko character, running a nightclub on the Watchtower.
- Powered Armor: Jaime Reyes, the modern Blue Beetle, uses an alien power suit.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Eradicator's ultimate goal is to find a new Krypton. He is thus incredibly annoyed about having being used as Cyborg Superman's muscle, especially when it becomes clear that Henshaw doesn't intend for anyone to survive his rampage.
- Shout-Out:
- The series is titled after the Bob Dylan song "All Along the Watchtower".
- In the second issue, the Thanagarian Leopard bears a strong resemblance to Bubastis from Watchmen. Issue 4 also features a homage to one of Ozymandius' most famous lines from that series.
- Smokescreen Crime: In the first issue, as the Question fights Conduit, someone sneaks into the Watchtower and murders one of the Challengers of the Unknown.
- The Teetotaler: Renee is a recovering alcoholic. One of the reasons she took a job on the Watchtower was because she hoped that getting away from Gotham would help her stay sober, especially after being fired from the GCPD.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In the second issue, Batwoman is not pleased to discover that Renee tried to investigate her for the murder of Kenn Kawa without even trying to talk to her first.
- Working with the Ex: Much to Renee's annoyance, the League has appointed Batwoman - AKA her ex-girlfriend Kate Kane - to be her second-in-command. It's not so much that there's bad blood between her and Kate, it's more that Renee had really wanted to make a clean break from Gotham, and dealing with Kate makes that hard.