Gotham City may be best known as a dark haven for criminals and supervillains that have made it one of the most dangerous cities in the DC Universe, but it has also led to the creation of a number of heroes as well, from costumed characters like Batman and Robin to hard-working police like Commissioner Gordon and Renee Montoya.
Montoya, in particular, has evolved from her origins outside of the comics into a key character that has tackled police corruption, tangled with supervillains, found love only to have her life exposed, and finally found a new path as her own costumed hero, The Question.
10 Was Introduced As Gordon's New Assistant In The Comics
Batman first met Renee Montoya in Commissioner Gordon's office in 1992's Batman #75, though it was almost a disastrous first encounter as she pulled her gun on him when he came in through the window.
Thankfully Commissioner Gordon was able to warn her in time, and he introduced her to Batman as his new assistant, though her name was revealed initially as "Rene Montoya." After Montoya's first appearance she quickly became a valuable member of the GCPD and a recurring ally of Batman even though she didn't always agree with his methods.
9 Partnered With Harvey Bullock & Crispus Allen
Montoya worked well with a few partners on the GCPD over the years, though she spent most of her time initially working alongside Detective Harvey Bullock, a good cop with a controversial career who didn't always get along with Batman, though the two respected each other.
Montoya and Bullock had a contentious relationship, though he had her back when needed. After Bullock was suspended from the force Montoya began working alongside Crispus Allen in the pages of Gotham Central, though Allen would be murdered and briefly transformed into The Spectre after Montoya left the force herself.
8 Two-Face Grew Obsessed With Her During No Man's Land
When Gotham City was destroyed by a cataclysmic earthquake and abandoned by the federal government during the No Man's Land event, the supervillains carved up the remains for themselves while Batman and the GCPD tried to restore order. Montoya discovered that Two-Face had been assisting with clean-up and rescue efforts due to a string of good flips with his coin.
Two-Face and Montoya began to work together and he developed a lustful obsession with her. After he discovered that she was a lesbian, he exposed her in the GCPD, which led to harassment and problems that he hoped would drive her into his arms, though it just drove her off the force and onto a new heroic path — eventually.
7 Trained By Vic Sage To Become The Question
Montoya began to drown her troubles in the bottle when she first met Vic "Charlie" Sage during the weekly 52 event series when he recruited her to help him with a case and began to train her in his unique form of investigation as the faceless detective known as The Question (who was created by Steve Ditko).
Montoya also spent time training with some of the same people who had helped Sage become the mysterious hero, and after his death from cancer Montoya took over his role as The Question and began her new life as a costumed crimefighter.
6 In A Relationship With Kate Kane/Batwoman
The 52 weekly series also introduced a brand new Batwoman that was soon revealed to be Kate Kane, who had a former romantic relationship with Renee Montoya that continued off and on after her initial debut, though Montoya's struggles with alcohol after her outing at the GCPD caused problems int he relationship.
Kate Kane found new love with police captain Maggie Sawyer, though DC editorial kept the characters from getting married and they eventually separated. Montoya and Kane began working together again in the DC Rebirth era, and their relationship has rekindled.
5 Gathered Multiversal Supermen To Fight During Final Crisis
The Question's investigations into the Dark Side Club and an encounter with her former partner Crispus Allen/The Spectre during the outbreak of the Anti-Life Equation during Final Crisis resulted in her protection from the possession.
She was then recruited by Checkmate to become a Global Peace Agent and sent on a mission across the multiverse to find help for the final battle. Montoya and Captain Marvel/Shazam gathered an army of alternate-reality Supermen that helped take down Mandrakk while the mainstream Superman saved reality.
4 Disfigured By The Mark Of Cain
Montoya's earliest cases on her own and as the Question saw her investigating a religious sect of criminals that organized around the Crime Bible and worshipped the mythical Cain, who was revealed to be Vandal Savage in Final Crisis. Vandal Savage was initially disfigured with the Mark of Cain by The Spectre after he had been transformed by the Religion of Crime.
However, after The Question discovered that Savage was in control of a child-slavery ring she had been investigating, Montoya willingly took the Mark on her own face so that he would shut it down. She would eventually learn to suppress the Mark of Cain using her own mental conditioning and training from mentor Richard Dragon.
3 Worked With The Birds Of Prey & Batman's Detectives
After Montoya's time with the GCPD and the corruption she experienced while on the force, The Question wasn't much of a team player, though she worked frequently as an operative for the Birds of Prey without joining the main team.
She also worked with Batman, Incorporated when Bruce Wayne was assembling his team of international operatives, before the Flashpoint reboot. Montoya would take another path to her role as The Question in the DC Rebirth era in the pages of Lois Lane, but she was then assembled alongside Batman's detectives during Event Leviathan.
2 She Has Appeared Twice In Live-Action
Renee Montoya has moved back outside of the comics after her debut in animation, with Victoria Cartagena taking on the role for the first time on Fox's Gotham, which partnered her with Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) and briefly touched on a past relationship with Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) before disappearing from the series.
Rosie Perez then starred as disgruntled ex-cop Renee Montoya alongside Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn in 2020's Birds of Prey, though neither adaptation referenced her time as The Question, leaving the door open for the character to still appear in her costumed alter ego on the big screen.
1 Originally Created For Batman: The Animated Series
Cartoon animation was given a groundbreaking overhaul in the 90s with the debut of Batman: The Animated Series, which adapted a number of comic storylines while also reworking a few characters in Emmy-winning episodes that further distanced the animated series from other cartoons.
The character of Renee Montoya was initially created for the animated series by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian, though she actually made her first appearance in the comics a few months before her debut on the animated series in "The Joker's Favor."