"Hush" is also considered among the best Batman stories, and with the impending animated adaptation, it got me thinking, was the story that really that good, or did Jim Lee's art keep us blind to its problems? Having not read the story in 13 years, I busted out the oversided absolute edition I got for Christmas back then and see if it still holds up. While I have become more critical since starting my blog, despite taking a closer look into it, "Hush" is still a pretty good story. I've actually grown to appreciate it on a deeper level, but at the same time noticing the apparent flaws.
To start with the obvious, Jim Lee's artwork is amazing. I'd dare to say that this is probably the finest work in his career. It's all so beautifully detailed. The way he draws the characters is done in such an iconic fashion, which lead to his Batman being used on a variety merchandise for some time afterward. From the smallest areas to the city skylines, Lee is also so masterful with his backgrounds, especially when it comes to the two page spreads. Where he truly shines though is with the Batcave, making it feel like a world unto itself; the best example comes from part eight with a two-page spread depicting a variety of Batmobiles, paying homage to the movies and TV shows as well.
The story also includes flashbacks that are drawn in a different way compared to the present, using very little color and done with looks to be water paints, giving it a more abstract look. I didn't appreciate this when I was younger, but grew to respect it on my re-reading. While helping it stand out during the story, I feel that its faded look connects with the idea of memory, that while the details may not be present, the bare bones remain. Part seven shakes it up though, with Bruce remembering the terrible things Joker has done, including paralyzing Barbara Gordon and killing Jason Todd, the scenes being colored in with blood red. Tying in with the theme of faded memory, the darkest moments may tend to stand out in people's minds in certain ways; in Bruce's case, he sees them as the blood on his hands coming from his guilt of continuing to allow the Joker to live. Conversely, when Bruce imagines the possibility of Joker one day killing Catwoman, the splash page of Batman holding Catwoman's body in an alleyway with Joker's face plastered on the walls around them is done in a way where it's really just the sketch layout before any ink or coloring. Unlike the present or the past, it's a scene that hasn't fully been formed, only existing as a possibility in Bruce's mind. Between the flashbacks and imagination, Lee's techniques during these scenes are genius.
Now as for the story itself, while Jeph Loeb's talent has waned in recent years, he was very much still in his prime with "Hush". Like "The Long Halloween", it's a mystery with Batman trying to find an unknown villain. The villain, Hush, is basically playing a game to destroy Batman, using his rogues gallery as his pieces. As the story went on, the main suspects to Hush's identity were Harvey Dent (who has had his face and sanity repaired from being Two-Face), Thomas Elliot (Bruce's resurfaced childhood friend introduced in this story), and Jason Todd (the deceased second Robin). Now, it would probably be safe to assume that the new character introduced would indeed turn out to be the mysterious new villain, and in this case, you'd be right; Thomas Elliot is Hush. But before the reveal, Loeb does a great job at planting clues and red herrings. With Elliot, it was a childhood flashback scene of him playing a Stratego like game with Bruce, saying "As long as you can't think like me, you'll never beat me. But I can always think like you." With Dent, there was a scene of Hush holding Two-Face's, we later see Dent wearing the same trenchcoat Hush does, and he comes to warn Jim Gordon about being framed for murder, but in a way that sounds like a threat. As for Jason, it's very small, but in a scene where we see Hush watching Batman from on top of a building standing next to a sign that says "ROBINSON", when Batman turns to look his way, Hush is gone, and the panel is framed in such a way where all we see of the sign is "ROBINS."
Loeb makes a big contribution to the relationship between Batman and Catwoman, essentially changing their dynamic forever. It's in this story where Bruce finally feels he can trust Selina enough to reveal his true identity. While they call off their relationship by the end of the story, it pretty much set up the "on-off", "will they, won't they" romance that continues to this day; they clearly love each other, but there always seems to be something that gets in the way. And while their wedding this past summer didn't go as planned, considering current Batman writer Tom King's long term story plans, I still feel there's hope for these two. (Tangentially, what's funny is how last year I talked about how weird it was that Batman was getting married while Marvel goes out of their way to keep Spider-Man single, and within the span of one month, Selina left Bruce at the altar and Peter and Mary Jane started dating together; it's also sad though that it seems only one of my favorite heroes can be in a happy relationship at a time).
While this is a Batman story, the story also includes Superman, and boy it's quite enjoyable to read the dynamic Loeb writes between the two heroes. Despite the difference in their personalities and methods, let's not forget that the two are best friends. This is best displayed when Poison Ivy places Superman under her control by kissing him with lipstick laced with Kryptonite; Bruce knows that despite Ivy's control, Clark is doing his best to hold back his powers and fight her influence. This leads to one of the best Batman/Superman fights put to paper, and Bruce's internal thoughts giving us what is probably the best way to look at the difference between the two: "If Clark wanted to, he could use his superspeed and squish me into the cement. But I know how he thinks. Even more than the Kryptonite, he's got one big weakness. Deep down, Clark's a good person, and deep down, I'm not." For Superman, he has no problem doing the right thing because of how he was raised. For Batman, he's a man, who despite the tragedies of his life, who has every reason to be mad at the world, doesn't allow himself to fall too deep into the darkness, because he doesn't want anyone else to go through what he has. And the whole "not a good person deep down" thing is kind of put on display as while the two are fighting, Batman had Catwoman go grab Lois Lane, leading to her falling from a building, which is enough for Clark to break Ivy's control to save her. It was a pretty big gamble for Bruce, but between being a brilliant tactician and Clark's best friend, he knew what would happen. Loeb truly understands the relationship between the two heroes, and if you need any more proof, check out his run on Superman/Batman.
So was there anything that I didn't like about the story? Well, to start out with something small, it was Scarecrow. Whenever Loeb writes Scarecrow, he always has him speak in nursery rhymes, in this story's case, "Hush Little Baby". It's only Loeb that does this with the character, and on one hand, it does up the creepiness factory, which works for a character like Scarecrow. On the other hand though, I feel like it limits what you can write for the character in terms of dialogue. But in story, him singing the song was what gave them the idea for Hush's name to begin with, so I guess it was a necessary evil.
My biggest problem though is that the ending and the reveal of Hush's identity is somewhat anti-climactic. At the half-way point of the story, Thomas Elliot had faked his death, making Batman believe Joker had killed him, pushing Bruce to nearly kill the Clown Prince in retaliation. It would turn out that it was Clayface taking Elliot's form, but there was an autopsy done. Despite Clayface's shapeshifting ability, I doubt that he could take a ruse like that that far or that a coroner wouldn't notice the very flexible texture of the cadaver's skin. Besides that, Elliot's motivations aren't well developed in my opinion. As a child, he tried to orchestrate his parents' death in a car crash to inherit their fortune, but his mother was saved thanks to Bruce's doctor father. Between blaming Bruce's father from foiling his plan and resenting Bruce for becoming an orphan like he wanted to be, this lead to Elliot eventually becoming Hush. Now, many of Batman's villains are dark reflections of the hero and have deep psychological issues. Hush is no exception, and while focusing unfettered hatred on Bruce isn't out of left field, it does seem like a stretch when he's supposed to be the mastermind of this story and using Batman's villains to fulfill his goals. If anything, maybe the story would have benefitted from an extra issue to help expand a few things.
Despite my problems with the ending, "Batman: Hush" is overall a fantastic story, with excellent writing from Jeph Loeb and amazing artwork from Jim Lee. But perhaps the best thing is that it's totally accessible and a complete story, so whether your a long time fan or brand new reader, you can jump right in without having to read anything before or after it. I'd highly recommend it for people who became fans of Batman through the movies, cartoons, or games but haven't actually read the comics. It has a good cast of characters, from a variety of Batman's biggest foes to most of the characters that were part of the Bat-family at this point in the character's history (including Tim Drake as Robin). Rereading this gave me a feeling of nostalgia to when I was just starting to get into Batman comics thanks to my revitalized interest after "Batman Begins", a simpler time before all the relaunches and continuity changes.
During my reread, I thought about saving my overall thoughts on the story for when the movie came out next year and maybe do a comparison between them, but it turned out I had a lot to say about the comic itself, mostly thanks to Lee's art choices. Hopefully the movie will be a good adaptation that maybe fixes the problems the original source had; I can already see some areas that will probably be changed when it comes out. Until then though, "Hush" the comic is a must read for any Batman fan.
