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Category: Books and Stories

Comics and Identity.

Now that I am home most of the time (at least until I need to leave again), I have had time to get back into hobbies I enjoyed in my younger days. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was quite a comic fan back then. I would usually read Superman or Batman, or other characters that I no longer remember due to their blandness. I was never one to dive into the obscurer characters. It wasn't like my peers were going to tell me about the newest adventures of Plastic Man, so I stuck to what was popular.

Recently, however, I've been going over some of the ones I loved with some of my younger family members (it is, after all, my duty as an older cousin and sibling to indoctrinate them into liking the things I did at their age) and I have discovered a new love for some of the sidelined heroes. One that we have discovered that I find particularly compelling is The Question (specifically the Victor Sage Question, although I appreciate Renee Montoya as well).
If you are familiar with my profile, then you are likely aware of the persona I like to portray. A faceless, slightly professional, man with a thirst to discover my identity. I've always felt disconnected from myself, for reasons that are becoming increasingly clear to me as I get older, and the most comfortable way I can put these feelings on display is by having very little identity, or at least a sanitized version of one.
It was for these reasons that I felt an immediate connection to this character. For those unaware, DC's Question is a man that uses a smooth, skin toned bandage to obscure his face, giving him a distinct and memorable lack of features. He dresses in fine clothing and uses his anonymity to solve crimes and protect those that he cares about. His story often revolves around his identity, which he feels disconnected from. He feels as blank as the mask that he wears, and is no more the person he is out of costume than he is someone entirely unrelated to him.
Seeing this character was like looking in a mirror in some ways. Identity is hard and often painful to discover. In the end I will find it. Until then, I will continue to read comics with my family and do my work with all of the self that I have. 


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