As far as Denny being "coaxed back" to do the QUESTION QUARTERLY, I stand by my statement that it was made crystal clear to the comics--buying public by the time of publication of the last issue of the regular title that it was merely shifting to a different format and frequency, slightly different title, and new #1. The most likely explanation is that O'Neil misunderstood what "the last issue of THE QUESTION" meant when he was told and tied everything up, only to subsequently get straightened out.

Greg:

Concerning Dragon's original prose venue, there IS a "#1" on the title page which could very easily have misled the DHOKF reviewer. Got it.
The wheelchair situation: Just shows you how much--or, rather, how little--attention I paid to your scans. Sorry.

Andrew Collins:

I used to be quite the Bolan fan myself, so much so that I checked out many other series in the "men's adventure" genre, including "Destroyer" #1. Didn't get into it. Specifically, I felt quite certain that it had been done as a single novel, but then the last third or so was completely rewritten to set up an "Executioner"-like series, presumably at the request of Pinnacle Books execs possibly even by other hands. Don't give that last much weight anymore. The Fred Ward movie is a guilty pleasure, however. On the other hand, this board isn't about Remo, is it? Sorry, Greg.

Our host, Brian:

Nice new look. Won't know for sure until I post this, but it looks like I don't have to extra-dash click for hyphens to look proper anymore. GOOD deal. On the other hand, this field is now wider than my screen, which is inconvenient, but no real problem to live with, just pointing out the change.

Dragon was at least interesting in the Question, although I still wonder if O'Neil had the wheelchair angle planned from the start.

And thanks for the heads up on Helltown. I had no idea that came out and now I MUST read that too, being a big fan myself of O'Neil's Question.

Lastly, I wouldn't really mind if Renee became the Question, I just don't want to see Vic die. I would like to see him stay in the 'mentor' role, or at the very least get some sort of happy ending with Myra that lets him exit stage left gracefully...

I really enjoyed, if only vaguely remember, O'Neil & Cowan's Question series. One of the things the years took from me was Shiva's role - and knowing little of the orginal Dragon comic, I never knew her origins lay there. It's amazing & fascinating how far this failed adventure paperback's ideas stretch into pop culture. Considering Rucka's use of Dragon in Cry for Blood, in turn co-opted into the Dini/Timm-verse in JLU and Simone's recent use of Shiva as sensei to the Canary in Birds of Prey, it's a major cornerstone of the current DCU.

Finally, "I’d be interested to know how they worked it out, who came to who" sounds like an excellent urban legends, eh Brian C.?

However, can someone remind me what role Lady Shiva played in Knight Fall? I’ve only read the O’Neil adaptation (though I read it several times as a teen), and I can’t remember her in there at all.

Shiva helped Bruce regain his 'capacity for violence' after Shondra Kinsolving cured him. It was a less-prominent role in the novel, but it was the whole first act of "KnightsEnd" in the comics.

However, can someone remind me what role Lady Shiva played in Knight Fall? I've only read the O'Neil adaptation (though I read it several times as a teen), and I can't remember her in there at all.
Intrestingly enough, as a teen, after having read the novelisation, I borrowed the first collection of the Knightfall series, and was rather disapointed.
I found the novel to be much, much better.

The quality thing... well, the early works are certainly classics, but honestly I think the art carries a lot of weight there too, especially GL/GA. But you have a point about 'below par.' Frankly -- and O'Neil himself has talked about this in interviews, I just felt it was more my place to just talk about the work -- I think his scripts suffered a lot in the mid-70's because of the personal troubles he was having. The quality took a dip from, say, "Snowbirds Don't Fly" to Kung Fu Fighter, sure, but I don't think it was a HUGE dip. However, it ramped WAY up when he started doing stuff like "Shaman" and The Question. Suffice it to say that I love the O'Neil/Adams Batman and GL/GA stuff, but for me The Question is a huge leap beyond that.

I am reasonably certain, as certain as it's possible to be without researching it for another couple of weeks, but I think there was just the one novel. I know Dragon was MEANT to be a paperback series, I'm holding it in my hand now and it says #1 on the title page.

I say 'coaxed back' because in the letters pages of the original series and in several interviews at the time, O'Neil said flatly that the story would END. Done. Over. So maybe he coaxed himself out of it. But my feeling is that there was some coaxing going on SOMEWHERE, self-inflicted or external, whichever, because the original intent was to end it.

And the wheelchair pretense is IN the scan, actually. That's Vic in the chair and Dragon's pushing him.