The Question: All Along the Watchtower

by Alex Segura, Cian Tormey (Illustrator)

The Question must answer the unanswerable—a mystery that threatens not only herself but the entire Justice League!

Renee Montoya is the Question, a detective whose resolve and resilience are put to the ultimate test. After leaving the gritty streets of Gotham, she arrives at the Justice League’s Watchtower, seeking a fresh start. But the sanctuary for heroes quickly turns into a crime scene when a murder casts suspicion on everyone—including those she might trust the most.

Facing relentless foes, double-crosses, and her own inner demons, Renee dives deep into an unsolved mystery that could upend the Justice League forever. Can she find the truth before it’s too late, or will her questions go unanswered?

The Question: All Along the Watchtower is a key part of DC’s All In initiative and a major companion title to DC’s flagship series Justice League Unlimited! Written by acclaimed novelist Alex Segura and drawn by acclaimed artist Cian Tormey (Alan Scott: The Green Lantern), this story combines epic superhero adventure with crime noir, weaving in many familiar DC faces (or lack thereof, in the title character’s case) along the way.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

Published August 26, 2025

About the author

Alex Segura is the bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, which The New York Times called “wittily original” and named an Editor’s Choice. NPR described the novel as “masterful” and The L.A. Times called it “a magnetic read.”

Secret Identity received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, was listed as one of the Best Mysteries of the Year by NPR, Kirkus, Booklist, LitReactor, Gizmodo, BOLO Books, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Hardcover, the Lefty and Barry Awards for Best Novel, the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel, and won the LA Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category.

His upcoming work includes the YA superhero adventure Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow, the follow-up to Secret Identity, Alter Ego, and the sci-fi/espionage thriller, Dark Space (with Rob Hart). Alex is also the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Anthony Award-nominated Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series, and a number of comic books – including The Mysterious Micro-Face (in partnership with NPR), The Black Ghost, The Archies, The Dusk, The Awakened, Mara Llave – Keeper of Time, Blood Oath, stories featuring Marvel heroes the Avengers, Sunspot, White Tiger, Spider-Man and DC’s Superman, Sinestro, and The Question, to name a few.

His short story, “90 Miles” was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories for 2021 and won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story. Another short story,“Red Zone,” won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story.

Alex is also the co-creator of the Lethal Lit podcast, named one of the best fiction podcasts of 2018 by The New York Times.

A Miami native, he lives in New York with his wife and children.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love the latest Question mini-series, but unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty dull. The first issue started strong, but the quality quickly dipped, and by issues five and six, I was practically wishing for a mercy kill.

The premise had potential: an attack on the Watchtower and The Question investigating why Batwoman appears to be harming someone in the footage. Naturally, things aren't what they seem, and a murder mystery or attack could have been a lot of fun. Instead, the narrative gets bogged down focusing on characters like Erdicator. This creates an odd imbalance between the more gritty, realistic characters and the fantastical threat, which just feels off. The last two issues were so unengaging that I didn't even care about the outcome.

Ultimately, decent art and a promising start couldn't save this one. I'd give it a 2 out of 5.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 stars

[John Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hands down the weakest The Question story ever written. Being Sage or Montoya.

This story takes place in the All-In universe, a wonderful place where everyone is literally in. You got your Golden Age sidekicks coming back from literary death, hell even Jay Garrick’s daughter exists here; you got your Ted Kord/Blue Beetle II working side by side with Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle III. Heck, even the Heckler appears as a background character in these comics, and up until last week I didn’t knew who he was.

Overall All-In has been pretty great: Challengers of the Unknown, The Atom Project, Justice League Unlimited, Two-Face, and so on.

It’s like a blast from the past with Paul Dini’s DCAU

But I digress, The Question: All Along the Watchtower 6-Issue mini series follows Rene Montoya’s (Question II) future in this new mainstream universe. She’s appointed as head of security for the JLU watchtower which is a very cool and intriguing premise and direction for the character. Even has her own team consisting of: Batwoman (make it stop), Animal Man, some Challenger of the Unknown, Blue Beetle II & III and so on.

The first 2 issues are pretty good, really enjoyed the mystery of it all, but by issue 4 it turns into a “the power of friendship” cliché type of story that makes sense considering how Montoya has distanced herself from her love ones the same way Vic Sage did, at least on paper, but at the same time it’s badly executed and feels like a generic “lets send the villain on a rocket to outer space” type of cartoon cringe fest. There’s so many bad tropes on this story.

It’s kinda sad, considering how uncommon it is for DC to publish The Question stories. Last great one was DC’s Black Label Deaths of Vic Sage in 2020

If you decide the read this mini, it’s kinda necessary to read most of Renee Montoya’s story prior to this. Only then can you understand her internal struggle, even though it’s the same struggle she had in Gotham Central -Renee please move on- which kinda sucks for new The Question readers since the payoff isn’t worth it IMO. Horrible first time The Question reading material.

If it’s your first time with this character please start elsewhere, start by reading The Question by Dennis O’neill for Vic Sage Omnibus Vol. 1&2, 52 and Gotham Central for Renee Montoya.

Gave it a 2/5 out of respect for the character, very disappointed.

[grabbaloot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Renee is great as The Question however the actual cool detective stuff that The Question is known for isn’t really able to shine in the setting of this run. Honestly, it sorta falls off around the third issue out of six and becomes just a typical superhero story and doesn’t really spring into anything else too Questiony.

It fights to keep itself grounded within one setting with the same small group of characters, which I like. The billions of heroes on the satellite easily could’ve just saved the day but they saved room for the star of the show.

Idk, maybe it’s just Renee’s weird Sheriff costume and shotgun. The shotgun was kind of just an “okay yeah this does a super thing” object.

Glad to see that surprise at the end with a familiar no-face though. And a puppy :3

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not very familiar with "The Question" but it seems to me that this series could just as easily have been called "Renée Montoya: All along the Watchtower". She takes names and kicks asses, without a mask half the time, in an investigation that seems interesting in the first issue before embarking on a very mundane and slightly namby-pamby plot - ah, the power of love - with a resolution that's too easy to be honest. All centered on Renée.

I wanted to like it...too bad. Nice drawings though.

[A J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in single issues. Sadly mediocre overall.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Renée Montoya, fresh off of being fired as Gotham Police Commissioner, heads up to the Watchtower to be the Justice League Unlimited's new head of security. Unfortunately, there's a bad guy poking around causing trouble, and Renée's ex Batwoman is also there. Hawkward.

I liked the idea for this a little more than the execution, I think. A story about the inner workings of the Justice League Watchtower's pretty compelling, kind of like a Star Trek: Lower Decks for DC, but instead there are holes in the premise right away. The JLU are aware that there's a bad guy, so instead of deploying all of their computer geniuses, they...bring in the Question? Alright, moving past that one.

Then there's the fact that this sets out to be a murder mystery story, which usually have the reveal near the end of the book, right? No, we find out who the bad guy is here at the end of issue 3, and the remaining 3 issues are a more traditional superhero fight. That's fine too, but it wasn't really what I wanted, or what the book set me up to expect.

The art's good though - Cian Tormey has fun all the superheroes he gets to seed in the backgrounds of shots, and he draws some good action along the way too, as well as making the Question expressive despite her lack of a face.

Maybe I had the wrong expectations here, or maybe the book tried to invert them and it didn't work. Either way, this isn't bad, just kind of not what I was after.

[Alex Luck · Rating 1 out of 5]

tbh this whole series was rushed and overall just meh. i also didn’t like the lack of anything Question-like in this. it was just bleh

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a good book in here somewhere but it would require rewriting by someone who knows how to make a story and characters connect.

The writing is so lacking in terms of engagement that you have to take a step back and actually try and figure out what the point of it all was.
The dialogue is mundane and full of posturing, lots of tell don’t show.
The book features some of DCs best C-List characters, but not as you know them; because there’s no characterisation. It’s like a book full of avatars, or fortnite skins; characters in name or appearance only. Alex Segura has a handle on none of them.

On top of that it’s all a bit limp dicked. This is someone who could have benefited from a co writer.

Wasted opportunity and a shame for the artist, Tormey, who does a great job.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Había leído previamente el primer número de la miniserie a modo de tanteo, y realmente me interesaba esta premisa del Question de Renee Montoya aceptando un rol de investigadora (bueno, realmente Sherrif, que de Investigadores... de lo Desconocido está actualmente DC lleno) en la recién inaugurada Atalaya de la JL Unlimited. El caso es que este recopilatorio (hablo de la edición española de Panini) ya empieza a hacer ciertas aguas cuando necesita compilar una serie de números de la macrocolección Batman: Brave and the Bold, donde se descubre cómo el personaje de Renee vuelve a aceptar su rol de justiciera enmascarada debido a varios atentados contra personas muy cercanas por parte de otro enmascarado más villanesco. Trama que evidentemente va a quedar cortada de raíz por atender a la miniserie troncal que nos ocupa... ¿Y al final qué le deparaba a Question esta historia en la Atalaya?... Pues realmente una investigación con una escalada de amenaza total contra este lugar de respiro y planificación para los héroes DCitas que realmente rebasa demasiado rápido lo que para una historia de un personaje como Question, querría rehuir de las super amenazas de rashos lashers y super fuerza. Alex Segura empieza bien con esos indicios de trama oculta en las entrañas de esta micro utopía que empieza a hacer sospechar de agentes hostiles infiltrados siendo seguramente los mismos héroes (... pues no, aquí Air Wave ni aparece de fondo). Algo que entra en un terreno aparentemente salseante cuando las circunstancias vuelven a entrecruzar a Renee con Kate Kane. Batwoman se convierte en principal sospechosa del asunto... Pero lo dicho, pronto todo pasa a un enfoque de trama hiper convencional de super comic book que aún presentando una salida argumental interesante que hace que las mismas paredes de la Atalaya se conviertan en una amenaza directa... Todo tiene un mismo responsable que al final se siente totalmente desconectado del marco general en cuanto a su mayor contraparte está totalmente ausente de este relato.

Se sobreentiende que este panorama post Absolute Power debe llenarse con más propuestas comiqueras que, además, si hacen remontar personajes secundarios y terciarios mejor que mejor. Pero me molesta casos como este que encuentran un ESTUPENDO punto de arranque para un personaje tan particular y difícil de hacer integrar en el marco pijamero general como Question, para que más pronto que tarde pasen a un terreno convencional de acción hueca.

[Clint · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be a decent comic read for someone, but certainly not for me. I recently enjoyed Segura’s noir novel set in the comics industry and wanted to check out his actual comic writing, plus The Question has a cool character design that’s made me want to properly check out more of their comics, so I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty dreadful bore!

I was hoping for a relatively stand-alone detective plot that maybe gave the spotlight to some lesser known DC characters. Instead, this ties in heavily to fallout from DC’s latest event series (that I skipped because it looked loud and boring) while also relying on familiarity with a handful of C-level Superman villains from the mid-90s Death of Superman comics. That could all be fine if these issues offered any context or emotional hook for those inclusions, but it doesn’t.

The detective plot is similarly disappointing; the first half is all overly opaque “who could it be?!” teasing and then the big bad is suddenly just revealed midway, and the rest is essentially a physical battle between the big bad and Renee (who isn’t interesting or believable as a physical threat). A possibly interesting climactic question revolves around how the villain’s mind control will be broken, and Segura’s lame answer is that suddenly Renee’s shotgun just gains the ability to break mind control while also not harming the shotgunned person, so Question just shotguns her friends-turned-foes. It’s the sort of confounding make-em-up plotting that can make superhero comics seem like an embarrassing waste of time.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empieza fuerte y termina siendo un tostón, para qué nos vamos a engañar. La historia se alarga como el chicle con el leitmotiv de «ahora te controlo mentalmente, ahora te descontrolas, ahora te vuelvo a controlar», en una suerte de cansino juego del gato y el ratón que llega a aburrir a las ovejas. El dibujo, bien, sin pasarse. Renee Montoya me gusta como Question pero, la verdad, prefiero a Vic Sage, el Question original, pero bueno, lo cierto es que Renee está muy bien caracterizada durante toda la historia; por ahí, bien. El otro gran acierto es asignarle como compañeros a Ted Kord, Jaime Reyes (los dos Blue Beetles, vamos), Batwoman y Animal Man. Sobre todo, el guiño de juntar a dos personajes originarios de la editorial Charlton (vale, el Question de la Charlton era Vic, pero no nos pongamos tiquismiquis) creados por el inmenso Steve Ditko, me parece un bonito homenaje tanto a la editorial como al recientemente desaparecido creador de Spiderman. En fin, la serie habría estado bastante mejor con un par de episodios menos, pero bueno, es legible y, sobre todo, sienta las bases para que el «equipo Question» se establezca en el Universo DC y protagonice en el futuro nuevas historias, esperemos que mejores que esta. A ver si es verdad.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 'All In' Initiative gets a new marshal(?) for the newly designed Watchtower...

Renee Montoya has been through the ringer. Not only is she a recovering alcoholic, but she's also lost her job as commissioner of Gotham...to Vandal Savage. The 'Big Three' (aka The Trinity) convince Renee to be their liason at their new JLU Watchtower.

With the Blue Beetles (Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes), Animal Man, and the Challengers of the Unknown, she's set to keep the peace on Watchtower....just as things are starting to get odd. There's been a series of 'stress tests' on the base and it seems like someone wants in (or out).

Can Renee piece together the clues and ask all the right...questions?
DUN DUN DUNNNNN!
======
This feels like a comic book version of Deep Space 9. I'm kind of into it.
======
Bonus: Will they...won't they...part XIII with Batwoman...
Bonus Bonus: A quick introduction story to the new Watchtower base (before they blow it up at some point)

[Raul Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two issues were so good, but the quality slowly declined from that point forwards. I really wish that they would’ve pushed the reveal of the real villain was until issue 4 so we could’ve gotten another issue that was purely detective work, since that’s where this series shined and because the Cyborg Superman is not related in any way to Rene. I don’t think that the series became awful after that point, but it lost a lot of the fun of the premise, and I really found issue 6 to be incredibly underwhelming. I liked the focus on Rene’s relationship with Kate, but they didn’t spend enough time with it so the kiss felt unearned. That also goes for the final lines where Rene suddenly understands why she was chosen for the task. The emotional moments needed a little bit more clarity. Aside from that, I liked the supporting cast and the art, and seeing Rene is always fun. Just wish that the series could’ve stuck the landing.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was OK, nothing special.
The Question is asked to be head of security aboard the JL Watchtower space station. Something odd is going on, but the normal heroes don't have time to investigate. There is little to no actual investing that goes on, because things start to escalate almost immediately. A Superman villain shows up, a hero does something bad, another Superman villain (or former hero, not sure of my Superman history) shows up, then another Superman villain, with new mind-control powers, shows up, and the non-powered Question has to fight Superman level threats to save everyone.
This is bad enough, but the ending is so sudden and so incomplete, and so confusing, that after rereading the last few pages several times, I still have no clue what actually happened to the villain.

[Emile Rudoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contra todo pronóstico, me gustó (y es que no soy fan ni de Question ni de Renee Montoya). Algo que me ha agradado recientemente de los títulos de DC es que están retomando personajes olvidados de los 90's y en esta miniserie no es la excepción. No voy a vender trama para quien no la haya leído, pero particularmente un villano olvidado de Superman de esa época hace su aparición y eso me encantó. También me gusta que se use a Animal Man ya que es uno de mis personajes favoritos. En fin, a diferencia de otros personajes que DC ha decidido "resucitar" ojalá veamos mas cosas de Question escrita por Alex Segura. Lo leería con gusto y no por "obligación*".



*Nadie me obliga a leer nada, de hecho ya ni soy tan completista, es solo una expresión.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the attempt to mix noir with cape but while it started alright by the end it was just… a lot and it features Cyborg Superman who I don't like to read as he comes off as pandering to certain fans. Too much bombast with nothing to back it up. It doesn't help that it is starring The Question but doesn't really feel like a miniseries about her. This one is more plot and concept than character focused with Question just happening to be the lead. The mystery can't be guessed and goes way too big by the end. It can't be guessed at all because it involves information we can't know like someone getting new powers to get weak mind control and traveling through a Phantom Zone gun's ray. It's all just a bit messy and feels unimportant or like this is just a filler episode which is bad considering it's a standalone miniseries.
The writing and lettering aren't my favorite. The writing made me glaze over and not really grab anything (though I read this sick so that could be part of it). The lettering is awkward on The Eradicator making it so every time he talked it was terrible to read.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off strong enough with The Question (Renee Montoya) being tasked as the house detective aboard the Justice League's new space station, the Watchtower. She gets a team of fun C-listers, but before anyone can settle in, someone's brainwashing heroes aboard the Watchtower into doing dirty deeds. Towards what end??

You'd expect The Question, being a detective, to examine clues and suss out the culprit. Instead, the culprit just reveals himself. (Cyborg Superman, who I feel like we just saw in the Superman ongoing.) And then never really explains his deal - instead, he just starts fighting everyone. All Along the Watchtower then devolves into a standard-issue "big hero fight" comic, which is disappointing. At least the art is decent.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the right story for this character. The mystery aspect is a pretty strong start, but it veers off track severely. Eradicator is simply not a good match for a character like The Question. Something much more street level feels like her speed, and putting her up against literally a Superman level threat just doesn't work. It doesn't help that the last couple of issues get bogged down in cliches and enormous wall of text speeches, from multiple characters.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this. The art was good, the characterization was great, the story had some fun twists, but what really brought it home for me was the sense of place. Segura and his collaborators really brought the new Justice League headquarters and the various characters that call it home to life. It felt like a living place and The Question's perspective was a great POV to view it from.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the art and colours. lettering is nice also particularly issue 2 with Tawnys text.

the story is fine. something is taking control of JLA members and the watchtower itself.

superman revenge squad forms. up to Renee, batwoman and animal to stop them.

[Mazdyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really care much for this one. I liked the development of Renee and loved her moments with Batwoman, but the rest of the premise and the plot quickly became a silly slog for me. At least the art was nice and there was a dog too, I suppose.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last issue was yesterday, doomhound :)

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the character, story was ok.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whodunnit? Who cares.

This was lame.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75. A who watches the watchmen scenario with introspection.

And it’s nice that it’s intended to be a one and done story that links up with the bigger All-in and gives context.

[Mateusz Nowowiejski · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 - 2025

[Kaa]

Apparently 2025 is the year I return to reading DC.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Question is a great character and this was a fun mystery with a good dog!

[AnaDeCintra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué gran personaje es Reneé Montoya y qué bien lo ha escrito y representado esta gente. Y que bien que hayan vuelto a traer a Kate y su pasado con Reneé.