Rorschach, was based on The Question, and The Question was created by Ditko, who inserted his Ayn Rand/Objectivist ideology into the character.

While I certainly don't agree with those beliefs, I don't necessarily believe that "facist" is a particularly accurate label either.

While I certainly don't agree with those beliefs, I don't necessarily believe that "facist" is a particularly accurate label either.

Well, but I think it was accurate to how the Ditko character was rather blase about taking out bad guys a la very early Batman.

Thanks! I've never read any of the Question comics, but I've read references to the guy in several essays about The Watchmen (and the Flex Montello mini-series, which features a Question-like guy). I didn't realize that there was a post-Randian Question.

but I think it was accurate to how the Ditko character was rather blase about taking out bad guys a la very early Batman

!= fascist

!= fascist

I'd say the little-f definition of "fascism" from the Miriam-Webster would fit:

2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

How does that fit? Batman isn't trying to rule Gotham. He's just keeping it safe.

I think Objectivism certainly lends itself to the "fascist" label. Hell, it practically whores itself, what with the idea of an authoritarian natural aristocracy whose individual contributions to themselves are more meaningful (in Rand's view) than any altruistic actions (naturally, the actions of lesser people) on behalf of the general public. That was the essence of Mussolini's fascism, wasn't it? Industry leaders acting in their own self-interest are more valuable to the state than any centralized bureaucracy. Since I haven't read The Question, I don't know if the label fits there, but I know the early Batman comics, like the Death Wish or Dirty Harry movies, were about lone vigilantes acting out their personal vendettas at the expense of bystanders & the rights of petty criminals, usually because the bureaucracy of state-supported police couldn't or wouldn't act effectively.

Remember, The Question was one of the Charlton heroes (as everyone points out, created by Steve Ditko). After Charlton went under, DC bought the characters and incorporated them into the DC Unifverse (the main heroes being The Question, Captain Atom, and Blue Beatle). When Alan Moore proposed doing Watchmen, he was originally going to use the Charlton characters, but since DC decided that they were going to use them in their own continuity, Moore used analogues of the Charlton characters (which actually suited Moore's inclination anyway).

That (partially) explains why DC's The Question differs so much from the Ditko creation.

How does that fit? Batman isn't trying to rule Gotham. He's just keeping it safe.

What Hayden said. I was talking about VERY early Batman where the bad guys had a tendency to fall into vats of acid or from very high places. Deciding who gets to live and who gets to die is pretty autocratic in my book.

On the other hand, that lingering undercurrent, and the struggle against it, is one of the reasons I've always found Bats the most interesting superhero.

Whatever happened to DC's notion that they were going to stick The Question in Metropolis (altering the character yet again) as part of their move to refresh Superman?

(I ask here, because I got sick of attempting to parse the bad spelling and stupid arguments on comics boards.)