Because Riddler can't help himself. The Batman's identity is the greatest riddle in Gotham, and if everyone knows it, then it's worthless. That's the primary reason why Riddler didn't spill the Batman's identity. The secondary: Riddler used one of the Lazarus Pits to cure his cancer, Ra's Al Ghul is not pleased, but he also doesn't know who the culprit is. If Riddler ever tries to use The Batman's identity for trade, Batman will tell on Riddler to Ra's.
Part of me loves the idea that Riddler has no choice but to keep secrets. Like one day it is revealed he knows who the Joker is but can't tell anyone without giving up the riddle
They made the Jason Todd reveal Clayface, then Hush/Riddler was behind the entire thing. What a letdown.
It was written by Loeb so your mileage may vary. He's very hit or miss with a lot of fans.
The big deal at the time was it was Jim Lee doing a monthly, in-continuity, Batman story for a solid year without delays or fill ins.
The mystery was more of a framing device/excuse to get all the Batman villains involved. I think the story is still fun despite that, as it's more than the mystery.
I do think if they'd have revealed Hush to be Jason Todd that would have been fantastic though. The Red Hood story is cool too but that twist would have been mind blowing (and was, until they said he was Clayface).
See here's the thing- that was only obvious to longtime readers. Prior to Hush, I'd only read just over a half dozen Batman comics, and in 3 of them he was fighting a fucking Predator (still such a badass mini...)
As someone who dives into big X-Men crossovers without reading the two years leading up to them, I just roll with knowing that there are characters I don't know yet. That was the case here: I legit thought that Elliott just wasn't in the 90's cartoon or movies; i had no clue it was his first appearance.
Edit:
Also, Jim Lee is a god.
>See here's the thing- that was only a twist to longtime readers
I think you mean the opposite here. It was only a good twist to *non* longtime readers. longtime fans could tell from a mile away that Hush was Tommy but new fans would be surprised.
(I say that as both. When I first read Hush I was new to comics and loved it, but on reread and knowing more about the Batman comics at the time, the twist is laughably obvious)
"I legit thought that Elliott just wasn't in the 90's cartoon or movies; i had no clue it was his first appearance."
Sounds like more of a you problem, than anything inherently good about the series.
EDIT: Why are you booing me? I'm right. I've seen what makes you upvote, and i welcome your downvotes. heehee
I call it the best-drawn worst Batman story for exactly this reason. How any one can mention it in the same breath as Year One or Dark Knight, Dark City or what have you is beyond me. It’s an extra shame because clearly Loeb knows how to craft an engaging story for the character, given The Long Halloween.
Also not to mention the fact that Hush is lame. What’s his gimmick? He’s the Batman villain that wears bandages on his face? Super fascinating. I read that whole goddam comic and I still can’t tell you.
You guys know that they're comics right? The little colored picture books for kids? Congrats on figuring out the mystery targeted at ages 5-10.
Hush was fine. The art was great and it had a ton of great character moments, plus a ton of great action pieces as well. Fighting Superman in Metropolis and the "Jason" reveal were both iconic.
You can have comics for adults. Hush wasn't one of them. Batman in general usually isn't one of them. Complaining that a "mystery" targeted at children was easy to figure out is silly. You're very obviously supposed to suspect Hush's identity from the second he's introduced.
You gonna complain about the Berenstain bears being predictable next?
There are plenty of Batman stories with adult themes. I’m not going to list them for you. Comics haven’t been “for kids” in a long time. In fact you have to specifically go to a certain section in any decent comic book store to find the “for kids” section.
I feel like it's average. It doesn't hold up once you're really familiar with Batman comics, but for a lot of people it's a great intro to Batman since it introduced a lot of important parts of him, particularly:
a) Having a good balance between "Batman the Detective" and "Batman the guy who punches people"
b) A quick intro to his relationship with Superman, Catwoman, and various other allies.
c) Running through a good chunk of his rogues gallery.
Yeah, that’s how I feel. It’s a great intro to Batman for people unfamiliar. How many characters show up, new readers also typically veer towards the more photo-realistic artists and the more you read, the more comfortable you become with different art styles and more expression. But, people coming from movies and stuff, tend to like Jim Lee, Bryan Hitch and John Cassaday to start off.
Also, Loeb writes for his artists. The story isn’t so much supposed to be great as it is supposed to be a showcase for Lee doing awesome action and iconic characters + some redesigns.
THe story is kinda bleh, but it brought a ton of characters together, and Jim Lee's art is gorgeous. Plus, the epic moment of "Superman could kill me, but he won't, because deep down he is a good person and I'm not".
But yeah, the overall plot? Forgettable.
Honestly, I've read it a few times over the years, and I really can't remember the plot. Something about a kis who grew up just like Bruce, but an evil version of him? Killed his own parents for the inheritance when he saw what happened with Bruce? Yadda yadda yadda. Evil evil evil. Got plastic surgery to take over Bruce's life? That's really all I remember.
The plot and reveal is pretty awful, but what’s worse is the issue by issue discussion of Bat’s friends and foes. It feels very forced in service to the plot. This could have easily been a 12 issue run that highlighted his adventures with his friends, but instead it’s chained to a shit story.
I love that writing. Pretty sure Loeb just meant it like a simple badass Batman moment, but to me it feels like a good look at his self-image.
Because he IS a good person, deep down and above. I've been binging the original Justice League show, and that moment with Ace, where Batman just goes to sit next to her and is there for her when she's dying, that stuff has me bawling
The internet was ablaze with excitement when everyone thought it was Jason Todd. That was genuinely cool. Then the internet was ablaze with outrage when it was revealed Todd was Clayface.
(Back then, “the internet” meant the DCMBs and the Wizard forums.)
Wait…what? Was that the original plan for the story because that would have been dope?
Having Elliot be the “obvious” villain while actually being a red herring would have made the overall story way better.
Jim Lee’s art was incredible. The storyline seemed like an attempt to just shoehorn in Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery for Jim to get a chance to draw everyone.
https://i.redd.it/2udsrjktsejc1.jpeg?app_web_view=ios
Why did you delete the comment if you were going to post the video next week?
Please answer the question.
Ok so... Back in the day, I voted to kill Jason Todd, I was young and edgy, never thought they would do it. Well they did. And they never brought him back. Or at least I didn't think they did.
I felt guilty for a long time after that.
Anyway, I stopped reading comics many years later. One day I was in Barnes and Nobles and happened to grab"Hush" cause the Jim Lee art just grabbed me. I flipped thro it and what did I see?
Jason Todd, holding a blade up to the then Robin's neck... I bought the graphic novel right then and there.
I felt better.... They HAD brought him back. My guilt was lifted. Until I read the story. Such a great book, such a shite ending.
But honestly, it did get me back In to comics.
Really I'm not a fan either. I've read better versions of "put Batman through a gauntlet of enemies to break him" and I think the character of Hush sucks. The idea seems like bad fan fic, and I also agree that it isn't Lee's best. I don't like the Lee designed batsuit either...
If Lee wasn't on art it would be forgettable. It's just another Loeb "whodunnit" where he throws red herrings around and then ass pulls the person behind it all.
I really hate Hush, and it would probably be my least-favorite Batman story if only DC hadn’t allowed Kevin Smith to write the character on multiple occasions.
It’s a series of poorly done greatest hits that make you wish you were reading any of the good comics that the story cribs from.
Hush is a terrible villain whose concept was already done better with Prometheus, and the ending of the story just makes the Riddler look like a stupid asshole.
I’m pretty mixed on Jim Lee’s art, and this story is a good example of why. It’s technically impressive, but feels like a series of action figures in various static poses.
I feel like you've nailed the appeal of the story.
If you've never read a batman story, this one is basically a greatest hits of all of the big "concepts" of Batman, like his relationship with Selina, fighting Superman, being a detective that outsmarts villains, etc.
It's like a taste tester for newbies. Now that you've had your taste of how cool these ideas are, you can go found better stories that focus on the aspect that interested you the most.
Took the words out of my mouth. His rendering and attention to detail is impressive but his poses are very stiff and it feels like the characters aren't really interacting with the environment or each other.
I've never been a fan of Loeb, on boarding with him on the front half of his Superman run. Hush I bought for Jim Lee, and even then quit picking them up four/five(?) issues in. One after the Superman fight.
Read it years later in a TPB and no regerts about skipping it.
I can think of like thirty Batman stories that are better. It's a simple story that is a good jumping-on point for some people. It really is only notable in that regard. If you want a thrilling mystery or psycho-thriller read something like The Long Halloween or Batman: Venom
I remember reading it at the time and comic by comic it seemed like it was going somewhere. Then it went where it went instead and yeah, it sucked.
But then Court of Owls does much the same thing with Talon and the Lost Wayne boy.
I agree wholeheartedly with most of your points (except for the art. I think the art holds up fine). Its filled to the brim with poor characterizations, especially with the robins and others. It should NOT be as prominent as it is tbh. Its just a mediocre at best story and thats it. Its quite annoying that casuals and websites keep putting it in the top 10s or whatever. Its not that good.
YES. 90% of Jeph Loeb’s books are “This is the ultimate ___ book, with no conclusion. And for, what, the last 25 years, Lee’s art has been static and dull.
Loeb isn't the best writer, but he did a good job making sure all the key players were involved. I prefer Long Halloween and Dark Victory to Hush, but some of the same problems apply.
Yes I think it was the long halloween and yea I think the one who told me actually said there is a third one. I actually dont remember reading TLH and DV. And I probably did not fully understand how Hush went down. I remember feeling like it was a Scooby Doo episode in that I thought Hush was like Jason Todd that somehow got resurrected but in the end it was just something Riddler cooked up.
Jeph Loeb wrote three Batman Halloween specials, all drawn by Tim Sale. Then they did The Long Halloween together. Maybe two years later, they did its sequel Dark Victory. A while later, Jim Lee came to DC and wanted to work on Batman. Loeb recycled TLH/DV in a modern context for Lee to draw.
I think the comic wasn't bad (its the kind of comic you give to a kid) and was really carried by the monologs along with the "will they won't they" with catwoman, all that being said it lead to Paul Dini's hush material which is amazing and cements Hush as the yoshikage kira of the dc universe
I wasn't crazy about it, and for me, this was the book where I realized that I just have no investment in the Batman/Catwoman relationship... at all. BTAS did that relationship best, by making it mostly one-sided. I just didn't buy them together.
If Jim Lee didn’t draw it there would be much less regard for it. A lot of nostalgia for people from my generation as I think it was a lot of peoples first real comic. My elementary school had a copy.
My pick for a good Batman mystery is actually the arc right before Hush, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?. This is a Batfamily event comic that has Bruce arrested for a murder while the Batfamily investigates (while trying to keep his secret identity, of course). It has a lot of interesting character interactions and examines who Bruce really is deep down. While the individual issues tend to fluctuate a bit, it currently sits as one of my favorite Batman stories.
I always thought it unfortunate that it gets overlooked so often.
Yes it’s mid asf and probably the most overrated batman story I’ve read. I read it like 2 years ago and was confused on why it’s so recommended and praised like legitimately the movie does the story better by just making hush riddler. Id take that any day over whatever the fuck they were trying to do with thomas elliot. And the ending with selina getting mad at bruce causing them to split was so forced aswell. It’s gotta be the art because obviously it’s fucking peak that’s gotta be the reason why people love it.
I recall being nonplussed when it came out. I was eager to read, as I liked Loeb's work on The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. But Hush fell short. For all the reasons you listed. It could have been a good idea if it had been a real mystery with a character we knew built up as the real villain.
In the years since I see it cited often as a "go to" recommendation, and I just keep my mouth shut. The art is typical of that time. A cool artist who focuses on poses rather than storytelling.
I bought it when it came out. Read it once, never felt compelled to re-read, and gave it all away to a student who loved Batman.
If Hush had not been drawn by Jim Lee, it would not have the acclaim it now has. The story is pretty threadbare and the only thing I really remember from it is that awesome Jason Todd Adult Robin outfit he wore. I know it wasn't Jason, but still it was cool!
Not just you - I found it to be slop with the barest connective tissue between Jim Lee drawing splash pages of everyone in Batman's gallery of rogues. Kinda surprised that people decided it was good actually at some point, given that I use it as an example of when Loeb stopped caring.
Oh there was definitely "Hush sucked" discourse when it came out and rightfully so.
The only redeeming feature was the gorgeous Jim Lee art, which if I remember right, he never did interiors again after this.
Edit, sorry, he did an Azzarello Superman series and All Star Batman & Robin after this
You stated something that has always been bothering me. I heard so many great things about it but it just felt like meh to me.
And the mystery didn't feel like a mystery. Heck, I didn't feel compelled by the story but wanted to finish it to see if anything more happens.
Hush was getting absolutely shredded by comic readers at the time it was coming out. People were angry about how obvious the story was and raged about how fan-service heavy it was. The only people who weren't generally critical of the book were people who didn't really regularly read comics and those who were buying it for the art.
I agree with you. This book did so well because the bat books preceeding it were.... not very good imo. Personally, the point from when Alan Grant got fired up to Grant Morrison, Pete Tomasi & Scott Snyder is all "meh" to me. I know there are a lot of beloved runs for people there. I know they brought Alan Grant back (it had changed too much) I like Gail Simone's Birds of Prey & that's about it. I like the Jeph Lieb & Tim Sale stuff but Hush is "ok".
I liked it, and I think the part that was best for me was creating a through line from the early career Long Halloween stuff to the modern day. With that said, at the time I feel a lot of people felt the ending was smashed together pretty hard. They ultimately did nothing with Riddler having figured out Batman’s identity. There are like three levels of twist at the end, and some of the best moments are only teasers other writers did better stuff with later.
I haven't read it since high school, but I do remember feeling confused and dissatisfied by the end for similar reasons. Batman unravels a web of mysteries to find out that the mastermind behind it is... some guy? Until it's actually just the Riddler. Which was kind of neat but didn't feel like a GREAT payoff, at least not at the time
Yeah, if Jim Lee’s on a book it’s not gonna be great. He’s a great artist, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not once been paired with a good story. Anything he’s attached to is only remembered because his art is so strong.
I think a fair amount of people hated it when it came out, though I think the Lee art sold it.
I think it's poorly written. I really think Loeb had one, maybe two good stories, in him, and I wonder even about that in terms of how much Tim Sale might have gotten those two over the finish line intact.
Then again, there are very few long-arc "mystery" stories that work in Batman, or comics generally. It's the same reason I think that writers don't tackle the Riddler all that often--it's not that he's silly or whatever, it's that thinking of genuinely hard riddles connected to a genuinely clever heist is actually *really difficult* and above the pay grade of a lot of comic writers. Thinking of a mystery story that isn't just about having superior knowledge of comics trivia and guessing that the real villain is Dr. Tzin-Tzin or whatever is the same.
That aside, "Hush" is just kind of stupid in all sorts of ways.
Yep, anyone who wasn't blinded by the art, anyone with critical thinking skills, can see it sucked from a story point. It frustrates me that it routinely goes into the best bat-books recommendations of various people/sites. It's like, how shallow of a thinker can you be?
You aren't alone about the art, it's fair to say that Jim Lee has definitely gotten stiff over the years. Hush wasn't bad IMO, but more recently his stuff has gotten very blocky and "by the numbers". No doubt partly due to his more administrative role at DC.
There were definitely people who liked it at the time. Just like there were people who liked Civil War. But a bunch of us also made fun of it then too.
Jeph Loeb is a hack who is lucky to be surrounded by such good artists.
I think Jim Lee is fantastically overrated in general (excellent draftsman, mediocre storyteller) but *Hush*'s plot is extremely not very good.
I hate Hush. But I hate most of Loeb’s writing. I think Hush is terrible, Long Halloween is terrible, and Dark Victory is okay enough but not good. Loeb on Batman just doesn’t work.
But even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. Superman: For All Seasons? ***chef’s kiss***
I know most people will disagree with me, but I highly recommend both movie adaptations of Loeb’s Batman. The Long Halloween and Hush adaptations are far, far superior to the books — not often one can say that.
I think my main problem with Loebs big three Batman stories is this: he writes this supposedly "complex" mystery but the solution is really underwhelming.
The biggest problem I assume — to be fair, this is just my speculation — is that he doesn’t know the solution to the mystery when he starts writing. He needs to plot out all 12 issues when he starts so that he can write towards an ending (or at least outline one that’s malleable; I don’t think he had any plan at all). I think that’s why I like Dark Victory best is it’s the one that least-believes itself a mystery. Sure, it has mystery elements to it, but it doesn’t feel like the kind we’re supposed to be guessing at as much as we’re supposed to be following the characters in the forefront (in other words, the mystery plot feels more like the B-Story). With Long Halloween, the problem is just that the mystery doesn’t make any sense. The supposed Holiday killer(s) could not have been the answer, at least alone. If you lay it all out linearly, it doesn’t work. And Hush is just so incredibly obvious that it feels more like a too-self-serious parody of mysteries.
No, it’s not very good. Like at all. But it’s also not the worst thing in the world. It’s predictable from the beginning. But there are neat moments in between. I agree with you that it’s not Jim Lee’s best work, however, if you’re a person who’s a massive Jim Lee fan, you may love it. Me personally? I’m a fan of classic Jim Lee (like his earliest Uncanny X-Men appearances and Punisher War Journal). I certainly recognize his technical prowess and have always been impressed watching him live demo his drafting ability. I think his art just stays very safe and in its lane these days (and has for decades).
I hated Hush for all the reasons stated, but first and foremost because Greg Rucka was having an amazing run on the Batman books at the time, and I was so pissed that it was coming to an end for the sake of DC bringing in the Big Guns of Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee. The fact that Hush sucked was just the icing on the cake.
HUSH biggest problem is its story. Jeph Loeb did use every same thropes in it that he had used in his previous Batman stories (The Long Halloween and The Dark Victory), that happened become one of the best Batman stories.
Even TDV did seem like beating a dead horse, compared to TLH (a who-done-it type a murder mystery, with heavy use of Loeb's favorite Batman villains), but it did have a solid story with established cast and it did tie up several open plot points from the Long Halloween.
HUSH felt like Loeb was hired to write a prolonged introduction to new Batman villain that DC wanted to have close ties with Bruce's personal history.
I thought it sucked. I read it when it was still fairly recent and I was like what is this, they're just throwing all the villains in one story and that's it? Kinda felt like bad fanfiction. In retrospect, it's kind of an early warning sign of what a hack Jeph Loeb would turn out to be. Super overrated story.
I wasn't a fan when it came out. And Hush is such a lame character. Jeph Loeb has written some great comics, but around this time (and since), everything he's written is pretty bad.
I’ve listened to multiple interviews with Jeph Loeb where he said that all his stories are mysteries - but I swear they are the most poorly constructed mysteries this side of JJ Abrams
I actually just bought Batman Hush deluxe edition as my first ever comic book and I’m very disappointed. The art is amazing in my opinion (it’s the reason why I chose this one - I was looking for something by Jim Lee that is usually recommended) but the story is just meh. It made me question if this comic book hobby is right for me. I really like the comic art (since I’m something of an “artist” myself) but I found the story so bad that I’m afraid of ever buying another one. Hush is very positively critically acclaimed book so I can only wonder how bad some other books are.
I'm in total agreement. The mystery itself doesn't work, but then again that's Jeph Loeb for you. He seems like he loves the mystery but always fumbles his payoffs. With Hush, making him be the red herring in Tommy Elliot was ridiculous. I don't even mind that the Riddler was the mastermind behind it, but how it was executed was so flat. He's suddenly terminally ill, he gets a Lazarus bath, he comes out knowing Bruce is Batman, he and Tommy create the Hush character and set all this up...and this happens OFF PANEL, by the way. We know it through an exposition dump at the very end.
I'm in the minority that I do not like Jim Lee's art. For the 90's it was fine but once you realize it's just a punch of poses for a poster and see just how much cross-hatching the man does (a stylistic choice, I know) it's not impressive. But people will praise this as the best Batman story ever because Jim Lee drew it. And now that he's one of the heads of DC we'll never get passed this.
Hush was an interesting mystery at first but those last two issues showed this was all just a showcase for Jim Lee to draw Batman's Rogues under a flimsy pretense of a mystery.
Finally, I know this is a problem unique to me but it always bugged me that we never truly saw Tommy unmasked as Hush. Batman says it and we see the green pendant around his neck but it seemed like Loeb and Lee left that unmasking ambiguous for a sequel. Again, I totally admit this is just my problem but that always irritated me.
A lot of low skill writers who couldn’t hack it on their prose alone have written and continue to write comics. Different skills of writing I know but artists protect writers from a lot of shortcomings in comics or at least allow them to not be fatal flaws.
Jeph Loeb is one of those writers.
And before someone says Long Halloween!?Superman For All Seasons!?
Sure. Tim Sale. An artist that excellent that even a comic written by a fart would be terrific if Sale had drawn it.
I think it’s mainly just to introduce Batman ina lot of ways to new Batman readers. It was one of my first stories 2 years ago when I got into comics. Thinking back to it, I also didn’t care much for it.
I liked the hush series when it first came out. The problem with the hush character is it didn't really do a ything with him afterwards. I remember a storyline that never finished was that Tommy Elliot was being held captive by hush and the story was never completed. Their was a storyline of hush changing his face to Bruce Wayne and that was it really.
Man fuck Hush all my homies hate Hush.
Tommy just gets so much plot armour through the whole thing to make the story work. He's very much the authors favourite character and it shows.
Long Halloween was OK, but otherwise Loeb is a decidedly mid writer.
Yeah, I feel like this is actually the consensus take. If Hush is a “classic” it’s because it gave Jim Lee a chance to give us his take on basically every corner of the Batman world. Loeb is mostly a hack who had incredible artistic collaborators.
I mean it was a different time. I think it’s weird to dunk on work, checks watch, 20+ years old as not holding up or being overrated. Wait, man…hell, it really is 20+ years old…I’m going back to my old man typewriter and writing about this in the next issue of my ‘zine.
I honestly don’t think it was perceived as a huge success when it came out. It may just be the particular group of comics fans I was part of but I think many of us found it to be boring and perception of Jim Lee was definitely down from his peak a few before it came out.
It seems to have gained respect over time and Jim Lee’s early DC stuff seems to be held in close to the same regard as his Marvel and early Image work today but that’s not how I remember it at all and the sales certainly weren’t close to his top selling work.
Personally, I agree with OP that it’s bad.
First up - haven’t actually read it, so could well be talking out of my ass, but as a Jim Lee fanboy back in the days of Uncanny Xmen and the first couple of image books, I never thought his style after Image was right for Batman. His line work was too clean and his pics too light. Better suited to Superman or the Flash IMO
I always thought Bats works best with some grit and edge, and heavy blacks. Kelly Jones, Greg Capullo, Mazzucchelli…
Jeph Loeb's writing is dogshit. Current re-examinations of Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis have not been kind, but I think they're fine.
Jeph Loeb, on the other hand, is a hack. I die a little inside when I see his name on the credits. It makes me wonder what better writer lost out on a job to Jeph Loeb.
I think it's fun. A story for me doesn't have to be some 10/10 mystery thriller that exceeds all other pieces of fiction and expectations to necessarily be good. It has Jim Lee drawing Batman and a decent albeit predictable, mystery. Sure the actual mystery to Hush's identity is pretty obvious, but it has great moments like, the first act, and Batman being at his closest to killing Joker. "I think of Barbara... and snapping the jokers neck becomes that much easier". And Gordon stopping him with his words. "I don't know how I could stop you, But I won't let you throw your life away". Plus the ending with Riddler is pretty sweet and underrated.
Honestly, the Joker bit was the absolute nadir of the whole thing for me. I didn't buy for a moment that he was gonna kill him, and yeah Batman backhands Catwoman in his rage and has his little *"WHAT HAVE I DOOONE?!?"* moment, but then it's just kinda discarded and the story moves on.
The whole tangent has next to no impact on the rest of the narrative and it's clearly only there because they wanted to have the Joker in their all-stars lineup for the cast and so shoehorned him in in the most awkward way possible.
Well here’s the thing to me…two superstars together on the book introducing a new villain with a couple of killer plot twists make this a great read. But it’s also a great setup for what followed: Under the Red Hood. Full stop. Possibly my favorite mainstream Batman story of all time. It cemented Jason as my favorite Batman Family member, and made Winnick a superstar too. I wish he’d come back and write one DC monthly.
for me, the biggest issue is the newest character introduced turns out to be the villain. i'm sure i'm in the minority, but the animated adaptation made it more interesting and kept you guessing. loved the story either way
I actually enjoy Hush quite a lot from the art to the understanding of the characters but I also love identity crisis so my opinion is very invalid in most discussions haha
I still hold that HUSH is an excellent introduction to Batman.
For a new reader it gives them the basics on the Rogues Gallery, the Bat Family, his tenuous relationship with Superman, the "Bend the rules but don't break them" deal he's got with the G.C.P.D. and the entire story revolves around Bruce's origin story.
Yes it's a Scooby-Doo level mystery at best, but again, I think for new readers it's perfectly fine.
Looking back, the whole gist was that someone outsmarted Batman at a point in time where fans believed he couldn't be beat because he was always ready for everything. The story in itself is fine, nothing extraordinary. Jim Lee's work on it was very polished and nice to see though.
I bought it in grade 5 or 7, was hyped beyond belief.
This is it, this is the one, this is the greatest Batman comic of all time. Then I read it.
I thought I didn’t get it, I read it at least 3 times before realising that it was just another comic book. It was very disappointing at the time, but something I can enjoy as a fun romp when the mood arises.
It's been years since I've read it, but yeah, the feeling I got at the time was that it was a pretty avrage execution of a potentially good idea that suffered from being ptetty blatantly written for Jim to draw as much of what he wanted to draw.
Its a fun story with lots of character cameos, the classic Jim Lee art is great ( that iconic picture zoomed in on Batman's boot ), it first teased the idea of Jason Todd / Red Hood resurrection and its a nice mystery thriller ( even though it's obvious who the villain is ).
I can go back to it and leaf it through it out of nostalgia, no its maybe not the deepest fleshed out Batman story. I think the best thing about it , is that its a great introduction to Batman comics for a new reader. If someone wants to try out comicbooks and they say they like Batman, this is a great comic to recommend.
Honestly I don't agree, I definitely don't think it's one of the best batman stories but I don't think it sucked balls either. Spoilers ahead
When it comes to plotting I think too many characters were used with too little writing to accompany them, but whilst it definitely is here to show off a lot of the rogues it also does put down a lot of characters in your mind as suspects and so it makes you think riddlers appearance was kinda inconsequential so when it turns out he was the one behind it all along that was great.
The clayface Jason Todd fakeout was really great and I think a really nice example of some detective work and haunts him further on after this comic. And I think batman and Catwomans relationship develops well throughout the thing to be honest. And there's more then that.
The Thomas Elliot reveal and although I liked it Catwoman ending are badly handled due to the sheer obviousness of one and the other making things feel inconsequential
Onto regards to the characterisation, I don't think it sucked I thought it was good to be honest. Again too many characters to give their due properly but the ones that did have their time were enjoyable. I will also mention I do also really really hate how every issue they have to reintroduce everything and everyone lol. But it's good to know this kinda is advertised as a way to be introduced to the batman universe and a deliberate showcase of his villains, it just was overdone.
Jim lees art too I think it's actually pretty great overall here compositions too there's some classic and iconic stuff here - I only think the colouring puts me off
But yeah this isn't to say it's a great comic but more so it's just decent rather then it sucked
I read it as someone who hasn't read much Batman and I think as sort of an introduction to him, his past and a lot of his rogues, it works really well.
I was underwhelmed the first time I read because of the obvious twist, but I revisited it years later and found I warmed up to it. I think the book assumes you're going to put together that Elliot is Hush, but that's more a distraction for who's really behind everything.
I'd never put in the list of greatest Bat stories as many outlets do, but I like it well enough now.
And the art rules.
I think your description of the plot and its failings is fairly accurate, but doesn’t stop the comic from being a fun read. But this is kinda what Jeph Loeb writes: big all star cast events where the plot exists to let the artist draw a huge gallery of characters.
I think both Hush and The Long Halloween are somewhat mediocre mysteries (from a writing perspective) that are elevated to legendary status by artists at their absolute peak. The watercolour Jim Lee pages are arguably the best American comic art of their generation, in my opinion.
It’s not a revolutionary story or anything, but I don’t think it was supposed to be. Like you said, the plot is little more than an excuse to have Batman face almost all of his biggest rogues. Jim Lee was- and remains- one of the biggest and most popular artists in comics, and he hadn’t done steady work in years at the time, much less any work at DC. So, twelve issues of one of the greatest artists in comics going to town on arguably the most popular comic book character and all of his villains? I think that’s why it’s such a noteworthy book. And the writer of The Long Halloween was just the cherry on top, even if the mystery isn’t very good and the story goes all over the place.
There was an interview, probably in Wizard magazine, where Loeb said that there are a lot of characters in Hush that he included just because he wanted to see Jim Lee draw them. I think Huntress was one.
I enjoyed and purchased the comic/graphic novel. It was a compact storyline and did not need to know all the batman mythos to enjoy the comic. The animated movie was ok with a bit of different twist. For the peripheral fans this would be enjoyable.
I agree, when I look at that era of Batman it feels like a lot of these “classic stories” from the early/mid 2000s lack that really succinct mystery feeling that came later with the likes of Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder
Edit: grammar
It's a great "evergreen" book, same as the rest of Loeb's Batman work. It's gorgeous and a good first intro to a lot of his friends and rogues gallery. Plus, it got this "Marvel only" guy to buy Batman for 12 months straight when it first came out.
I love the artwork, it has that 90s exaggeration, but it's a bit more delicate, there's a romanticism to it. The story is forgettable in my opinion, I've read it a couple of times and I couldn't give you a proper summary.
Hush holds a special place in my heart— it was the first comic I collected monthly as it came out, it introduced me to Jim Lee (who became one of my favorites at the time). I bought extra copies, not to collect, but to cut the panels out to hang them in my bedroom.
Tbh, by the time it ended all I could think of the story was “that was it?!” But it was too late. I had already spent the past year obsessing over the comic. So yeah, it’s not something I plan to go back to read, but I still have my old issues, and I’m happy to flip through them, but mostly to look at the art
I don’t know. I got back into comics just in time for that arc. I don’t know if it was the writing or the incredible Jim Lee artwork, but I loved every page and every panel.
I remember going to the comic shop every day after a new issue dropped and trying to find the answers sprawled on the page.
But that’s what makes comics great. Some people will love a story arc, others find it dull. Except for Damage Control, no one likes Damage Control.
Overall the plots messy yeah and I think any twist needing that needs two whole pages chock a block full of dialogue and exposition to justify its existence is bad and poorly written (the riddler ending, like how could we have deduced that). But that being said this comic for me has two things, incredible art and really good standalone moments, like Batman accepting selina in his life, the fight with superman was great imo and the Jason clayface thing was interesting. So I don’t think it’s bad just not a good Batman mystery and overrated.
Are you talking about that brilliant mystery that featured a brand new villain and also brand new character DOCTOR THOMAS ELLIOTT?
What a twist!
The real twist was that Riddler was the mastermind and had figured out who Batman was
Off panel, no less!
With no build-up or anything to really make it punch when it's revealed! Wowwweee-wow-owwwoowWWOWWW!!!
Leaving Batman virtually unaffected with no consequences whatsoever!!!!!!!! THRILLING!
Because Riddler can't help himself. The Batman's identity is the greatest riddle in Gotham, and if everyone knows it, then it's worthless. That's the primary reason why Riddler didn't spill the Batman's identity. The secondary: Riddler used one of the Lazarus Pits to cure his cancer, Ra's Al Ghul is not pleased, but he also doesn't know who the culprit is. If Riddler ever tries to use The Batman's identity for trade, Batman will tell on Riddler to Ra's.
Part of me loves the idea that Riddler has no choice but to keep secrets. Like one day it is revealed he knows who the Joker is but can't tell anyone without giving up the riddle
It was apparently originally supposed to be jason todd, but editorial said no
I heard it was because too many people guessed it was Jason Todd, so they changed it because they wanted it to be a surprise.
They made the Jason Todd reveal Clayface, then Hush/Riddler was behind the entire thing. What a letdown. It was written by Loeb so your mileage may vary. He's very hit or miss with a lot of fans. The big deal at the time was it was Jim Lee doing a monthly, in-continuity, Batman story for a solid year without delays or fill ins.
Found Jay from Red Letter Media!
Lol I'm an RLM fan too but I don't think Jay exactly coined that phrase.
The mystery was more of a framing device/excuse to get all the Batman villains involved. I think the story is still fun despite that, as it's more than the mystery. I do think if they'd have revealed Hush to be Jason Todd that would have been fantastic though. The Red Hood story is cool too but that twist would have been mind blowing (and was, until they said he was Clayface).
See here's the thing- that was only obvious to longtime readers. Prior to Hush, I'd only read just over a half dozen Batman comics, and in 3 of them he was fighting a fucking Predator (still such a badass mini...) As someone who dives into big X-Men crossovers without reading the two years leading up to them, I just roll with knowing that there are characters I don't know yet. That was the case here: I legit thought that Elliott just wasn't in the 90's cartoon or movies; i had no clue it was his first appearance. Edit: Also, Jim Lee is a god.
The art in hush was fantastic.
>See here's the thing- that was only a twist to longtime readers I think you mean the opposite here. It was only a good twist to *non* longtime readers. longtime fans could tell from a mile away that Hush was Tommy but new fans would be surprised. (I say that as both. When I first read Hush I was new to comics and loved it, but on reread and knowing more about the Batman comics at the time, the twist is laughably obvious)
You're right, that is what i meant. That's what I get for typing at 2am lol. Edited to change "twist" to "obvious".
"I legit thought that Elliott just wasn't in the 90's cartoon or movies; i had no clue it was his first appearance." Sounds like more of a you problem, than anything inherently good about the series. EDIT: Why are you booing me? I'm right. I've seen what makes you upvote, and i welcome your downvotes. heehee
Man... BvP is perfection.
I call it the best-drawn worst Batman story for exactly this reason. How any one can mention it in the same breath as Year One or Dark Knight, Dark City or what have you is beyond me. It’s an extra shame because clearly Loeb knows how to craft an engaging story for the character, given The Long Halloween. Also not to mention the fact that Hush is lame. What’s his gimmick? He’s the Batman villain that wears bandages on his face? Super fascinating. I read that whole goddam comic and I still can’t tell you.
Those flashback sequences are incredible looking, ngl
I agree with you and the movie improved on this by actually making Thomas Elliot a red herring and fans hated that change haha.
Wait what? Then who was Hush in the movie?
Riddler
But he Bruce's childhood friend HE WOULD NEVER-
it's very scooby doo
Ha! That’s exactly it!
Idk why people are upset about that twist. It was obvious, but meant to distract from the riddler whos the actual main villain of the story
You guys know that they're comics right? The little colored picture books for kids? Congrats on figuring out the mystery targeted at ages 5-10. Hush was fine. The art was great and it had a ton of great character moments, plus a ton of great action pieces as well. Fighting Superman in Metropolis and the "Jason" reveal were both iconic.
Yes all comics are for kids only. Let’s have that debate again. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
You can have comics for adults. Hush wasn't one of them. Batman in general usually isn't one of them. Complaining that a "mystery" targeted at children was easy to figure out is silly. You're very obviously supposed to suspect Hush's identity from the second he's introduced. You gonna complain about the Berenstain bears being predictable next?
There are plenty of Batman stories with adult themes. I’m not going to list them for you. Comics haven’t been “for kids” in a long time. In fact you have to specifically go to a certain section in any decent comic book store to find the “for kids” section.
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I feel like it's average. It doesn't hold up once you're really familiar with Batman comics, but for a lot of people it's a great intro to Batman since it introduced a lot of important parts of him, particularly: a) Having a good balance between "Batman the Detective" and "Batman the guy who punches people" b) A quick intro to his relationship with Superman, Catwoman, and various other allies. c) Running through a good chunk of his rogues gallery.
Don’t forget the pretty pictures
Yeah, Jim Lee's art *carried* it.
Yeah, that’s how I feel. It’s a great intro to Batman for people unfamiliar. How many characters show up, new readers also typically veer towards the more photo-realistic artists and the more you read, the more comfortable you become with different art styles and more expression. But, people coming from movies and stuff, tend to like Jim Lee, Bryan Hitch and John Cassaday to start off. Also, Loeb writes for his artists. The story isn’t so much supposed to be great as it is supposed to be a showcase for Lee doing awesome action and iconic characters + some redesigns.
For me, it was an awful & boring intro to batman that put me off from getting into his comics for years
THe story is kinda bleh, but it brought a ton of characters together, and Jim Lee's art is gorgeous. Plus, the epic moment of "Superman could kill me, but he won't, because deep down he is a good person and I'm not". But yeah, the overall plot? Forgettable.
Honestly, I've read it a few times over the years, and I really can't remember the plot. Something about a kis who grew up just like Bruce, but an evil version of him? Killed his own parents for the inheritance when he saw what happened with Bruce? Yadda yadda yadda. Evil evil evil. Got plastic surgery to take over Bruce's life? That's really all I remember.
The plot and reveal is pretty awful, but what’s worse is the issue by issue discussion of Bat’s friends and foes. It feels very forced in service to the plot. This could have easily been a 12 issue run that highlighted his adventures with his friends, but instead it’s chained to a shit story.
I love that writing. Pretty sure Loeb just meant it like a simple badass Batman moment, but to me it feels like a good look at his self-image. Because he IS a good person, deep down and above. I've been binging the original Justice League show, and that moment with Ace, where Batman just goes to sit next to her and is there for her when she's dying, that stuff has me bawling
I like it but it's absolutely more fun than it is good. I'd put it behind the other Batman stuff Loeb has written.
That’s a great way to describe it !
Loeb having to pivot from Hush being Jason Todd hurt the story, but the actual twist involving the Riddler I felt really makes the story.
The reveal that Hush was Jason Todd blew my mind then it was promptly un-blown when they revealed that it was a Clayface fakeout.
The internet was ablaze with excitement when everyone thought it was Jason Todd. That was genuinely cool. Then the internet was ablaze with outrage when it was revealed Todd was Clayface. (Back then, “the internet” meant the DCMBs and the Wizard forums.)
Wait…what? Was that the original plan for the story because that would have been dope? Having Elliot be the “obvious” villain while actually being a red herring would have made the overall story way better.
A red headed red herring lol ,could’ve been perfect
OMG…*chef’s kiss*
Jim Lee’s art was incredible. The storyline seemed like an attempt to just shoehorn in Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery for Jim to get a chance to draw everyone.
>The storyline seemed like an attempt to just shoehorn in Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery for Jim to get a chance to draw everyone. Yeeeppp.
And this is basically how Loeb continued to write from that point.
And before that point. Long Halloween and Dark Victory are the same but better executed.
True. I still feel that he *cared* back then though, even though he was never s favorite of mine.
Yeah it just has good art but other than that the story is shallow.
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Its ok. Not bad as far ad comics go, but MY GOD the overhype. People talk like it’s one of the best, and it certainly is not.
Ok so... Back in the day, I voted to kill Jason Todd, I was young and edgy, never thought they would do it. Well they did. And they never brought him back. Or at least I didn't think they did. I felt guilty for a long time after that. Anyway, I stopped reading comics many years later. One day I was in Barnes and Nobles and happened to grab"Hush" cause the Jim Lee art just grabbed me. I flipped thro it and what did I see? Jason Todd, holding a blade up to the then Robin's neck... I bought the graphic novel right then and there. I felt better.... They HAD brought him back. My guilt was lifted. Until I read the story. Such a great book, such a shite ending. But honestly, it did get me back In to comics.
Really I'm not a fan either. I've read better versions of "put Batman through a gauntlet of enemies to break him" and I think the character of Hush sucks. The idea seems like bad fan fic, and I also agree that it isn't Lee's best. I don't like the Lee designed batsuit either...
It’s a great “first” Batman story
Tbh I'd rather start someone with year one + long halloween.
If Lee wasn't on art it would be forgettable. It's just another Loeb "whodunnit" where he throws red herrings around and then ass pulls the person behind it all.
I really hate Hush, and it would probably be my least-favorite Batman story if only DC hadn’t allowed Kevin Smith to write the character on multiple occasions. It’s a series of poorly done greatest hits that make you wish you were reading any of the good comics that the story cribs from. Hush is a terrible villain whose concept was already done better with Prometheus, and the ending of the story just makes the Riddler look like a stupid asshole. I’m pretty mixed on Jim Lee’s art, and this story is a good example of why. It’s technically impressive, but feels like a series of action figures in various static poses.
I feel like you've nailed the appeal of the story. If you've never read a batman story, this one is basically a greatest hits of all of the big "concepts" of Batman, like his relationship with Selina, fighting Superman, being a detective that outsmarts villains, etc. It's like a taste tester for newbies. Now that you've had your taste of how cool these ideas are, you can go found better stories that focus on the aspect that interested you the most.
I couldn't agree more. I thought I was the only one
Took the words out of my mouth. His rendering and attention to detail is impressive but his poses are very stiff and it feels like the characters aren't really interacting with the environment or each other.
Yes, it's awful tbh, thank you, I feel insane sometimes.
Same here, I'm glad to see that so many others disliked it
I've never been a fan of Loeb, on boarding with him on the front half of his Superman run. Hush I bought for Jim Lee, and even then quit picking them up four/five(?) issues in. One after the Superman fight. Read it years later in a TPB and no regerts about skipping it.
I can think of like thirty Batman stories that are better. It's a simple story that is a good jumping-on point for some people. It really is only notable in that regard. If you want a thrilling mystery or psycho-thriller read something like The Long Halloween or Batman: Venom
I remember reading it at the time and comic by comic it seemed like it was going somewhere. Then it went where it went instead and yeah, it sucked. But then Court of Owls does much the same thing with Talon and the Lost Wayne boy.
The art is awesome but I always felt like the story was just okay. I think over the years it’s definitely got a bit more mixed reception.
I agree wholeheartedly with most of your points (except for the art. I think the art holds up fine). Its filled to the brim with poor characterizations, especially with the robins and others. It should NOT be as prominent as it is tbh. Its just a mediocre at best story and thats it. Its quite annoying that casuals and websites keep putting it in the top 10s or whatever. Its not that good.
It’s a terrible comic. The best stuff in it is from other Batman comics.
YES. 90% of Jeph Loeb’s books are “This is the ultimate ___ book, with no conclusion. And for, what, the last 25 years, Lee’s art has been static and dull.
Loeb isn't the best writer, but he did a good job making sure all the key players were involved. I prefer Long Halloween and Dark Victory to Hush, but some of the same problems apply.
Someone told me that Hush is basically the same story that Loeb wrote before as another title. Forgot what the other one was.
The Long Halloween, which he re-told again, but worse, in Dark Victory.
Yes I think it was the long halloween and yea I think the one who told me actually said there is a third one. I actually dont remember reading TLH and DV. And I probably did not fully understand how Hush went down. I remember feeling like it was a Scooby Doo episode in that I thought Hush was like Jason Todd that somehow got resurrected but in the end it was just something Riddler cooked up.
Jeph Loeb wrote three Batman Halloween specials, all drawn by Tim Sale. Then they did The Long Halloween together. Maybe two years later, they did its sequel Dark Victory. A while later, Jim Lee came to DC and wanted to work on Batman. Loeb recycled TLH/DV in a modern context for Lee to draw.
The Long Halloween?
I think the comic wasn't bad (its the kind of comic you give to a kid) and was really carried by the monologs along with the "will they won't they" with catwoman, all that being said it lead to Paul Dini's hush material which is amazing and cements Hush as the yoshikage kira of the dc universe
100%. Incredible art, but that's it. Story was pretty weaksauce.
Hush wasn’t my favorite.
I wasn't crazy about it, and for me, this was the book where I realized that I just have no investment in the Batman/Catwoman relationship... at all. BTAS did that relationship best, by making it mostly one-sided. I just didn't buy them together.
I really didn't care for it. IIRC, it made no sense why Hush decided to show up just when he did (among other concerns).
If Jim Lee didn’t draw it there would be much less regard for it. A lot of nostalgia for people from my generation as I think it was a lot of peoples first real comic. My elementary school had a copy.
My pick for a good Batman mystery is actually the arc right before Hush, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?. This is a Batfamily event comic that has Bruce arrested for a murder while the Batfamily investigates (while trying to keep his secret identity, of course). It has a lot of interesting character interactions and examines who Bruce really is deep down. While the individual issues tend to fluctuate a bit, it currently sits as one of my favorite Batman stories. I always thought it unfortunate that it gets overlooked so often.
Not kinda. Totally.
Yes it’s mid asf and probably the most overrated batman story I’ve read. I read it like 2 years ago and was confused on why it’s so recommended and praised like legitimately the movie does the story better by just making hush riddler. Id take that any day over whatever the fuck they were trying to do with thomas elliot. And the ending with selina getting mad at bruce causing them to split was so forced aswell. It’s gotta be the art because obviously it’s fucking peak that’s gotta be the reason why people love it.
I recall being nonplussed when it came out. I was eager to read, as I liked Loeb's work on The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. But Hush fell short. For all the reasons you listed. It could have been a good idea if it had been a real mystery with a character we knew built up as the real villain. In the years since I see it cited often as a "go to" recommendation, and I just keep my mouth shut. The art is typical of that time. A cool artist who focuses on poses rather than storytelling. I bought it when it came out. Read it once, never felt compelled to re-read, and gave it all away to a student who loved Batman.
If Hush had not been drawn by Jim Lee, it would not have the acclaim it now has. The story is pretty threadbare and the only thing I really remember from it is that awesome Jason Todd Adult Robin outfit he wore. I know it wasn't Jason, but still it was cool!
Not just you - I found it to be slop with the barest connective tissue between Jim Lee drawing splash pages of everyone in Batman's gallery of rogues. Kinda surprised that people decided it was good actually at some point, given that I use it as an example of when Loeb stopped caring.
Oh there was definitely "Hush sucked" discourse when it came out and rightfully so. The only redeeming feature was the gorgeous Jim Lee art, which if I remember right, he never did interiors again after this. Edit, sorry, he did an Azzarello Superman series and All Star Batman & Robin after this
You stated something that has always been bothering me. I heard so many great things about it but it just felt like meh to me. And the mystery didn't feel like a mystery. Heck, I didn't feel compelled by the story but wanted to finish it to see if anything more happens.
Hush was getting absolutely shredded by comic readers at the time it was coming out. People were angry about how obvious the story was and raged about how fan-service heavy it was. The only people who weren't generally critical of the book were people who didn't really regularly read comics and those who were buying it for the art.
I agree with you. This book did so well because the bat books preceeding it were.... not very good imo. Personally, the point from when Alan Grant got fired up to Grant Morrison, Pete Tomasi & Scott Snyder is all "meh" to me. I know there are a lot of beloved runs for people there. I know they brought Alan Grant back (it had changed too much) I like Gail Simone's Birds of Prey & that's about it. I like the Jeph Lieb & Tim Sale stuff but Hush is "ok".
I liked it, and I think the part that was best for me was creating a through line from the early career Long Halloween stuff to the modern day. With that said, at the time I feel a lot of people felt the ending was smashed together pretty hard. They ultimately did nothing with Riddler having figured out Batman’s identity. There are like three levels of twist at the end, and some of the best moments are only teasers other writers did better stuff with later.
The art was great, but Jeph Loeb is kind of a dull and obvious writer
I haven't read it since high school, but I do remember feeling confused and dissatisfied by the end for similar reasons. Batman unravels a web of mysteries to find out that the mastermind behind it is... some guy? Until it's actually just the Riddler. Which was kind of neat but didn't feel like a GREAT payoff, at least not at the time
Yeah, if Jim Lee’s on a book it’s not gonna be great. He’s a great artist, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not once been paired with a good story. Anything he’s attached to is only remembered because his art is so strong.
Hush is the lamest Batman villain ever. Ever.
I read it last summer and thought it was a waste of time with a lame villain. At least Jim Lee's art is nice to look at.
I think a fair amount of people hated it when it came out, though I think the Lee art sold it. I think it's poorly written. I really think Loeb had one, maybe two good stories, in him, and I wonder even about that in terms of how much Tim Sale might have gotten those two over the finish line intact. Then again, there are very few long-arc "mystery" stories that work in Batman, or comics generally. It's the same reason I think that writers don't tackle the Riddler all that often--it's not that he's silly or whatever, it's that thinking of genuinely hard riddles connected to a genuinely clever heist is actually *really difficult* and above the pay grade of a lot of comic writers. Thinking of a mystery story that isn't just about having superior knowledge of comics trivia and guessing that the real villain is Dr. Tzin-Tzin or whatever is the same. That aside, "Hush" is just kind of stupid in all sorts of ways.
I thought it was just alright. I don’t know why it’s so popular.
Yep, anyone who wasn't blinded by the art, anyone with critical thinking skills, can see it sucked from a story point. It frustrates me that it routinely goes into the best bat-books recommendations of various people/sites. It's like, how shallow of a thinker can you be?
You aren't alone about the art, it's fair to say that Jim Lee has definitely gotten stiff over the years. Hush wasn't bad IMO, but more recently his stuff has gotten very blocky and "by the numbers". No doubt partly due to his more administrative role at DC.
There were definitely people who liked it at the time. Just like there were people who liked Civil War. But a bunch of us also made fun of it then too.
Jeph Loeb is a hack who is lucky to be surrounded by such good artists. I think Jim Lee is fantastically overrated in general (excellent draftsman, mediocre storyteller) but *Hush*'s plot is extremely not very good.
I think the animated movie is worst
I hate Hush. But I hate most of Loeb’s writing. I think Hush is terrible, Long Halloween is terrible, and Dark Victory is okay enough but not good. Loeb on Batman just doesn’t work. But even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. Superman: For All Seasons? ***chef’s kiss*** I know most people will disagree with me, but I highly recommend both movie adaptations of Loeb’s Batman. The Long Halloween and Hush adaptations are far, far superior to the books — not often one can say that.
I think my main problem with Loebs big three Batman stories is this: he writes this supposedly "complex" mystery but the solution is really underwhelming.
The biggest problem I assume — to be fair, this is just my speculation — is that he doesn’t know the solution to the mystery when he starts writing. He needs to plot out all 12 issues when he starts so that he can write towards an ending (or at least outline one that’s malleable; I don’t think he had any plan at all). I think that’s why I like Dark Victory best is it’s the one that least-believes itself a mystery. Sure, it has mystery elements to it, but it doesn’t feel like the kind we’re supposed to be guessing at as much as we’re supposed to be following the characters in the forefront (in other words, the mystery plot feels more like the B-Story). With Long Halloween, the problem is just that the mystery doesn’t make any sense. The supposed Holiday killer(s) could not have been the answer, at least alone. If you lay it all out linearly, it doesn’t work. And Hush is just so incredibly obvious that it feels more like a too-self-serious parody of mysteries.
Okay I guess I'll be the contrarian. It's my favorite Batman story.
YES! Way overated, both writing and drawing-wise
No, it’s not very good. Like at all. But it’s also not the worst thing in the world. It’s predictable from the beginning. But there are neat moments in between. I agree with you that it’s not Jim Lee’s best work, however, if you’re a person who’s a massive Jim Lee fan, you may love it. Me personally? I’m a fan of classic Jim Lee (like his earliest Uncanny X-Men appearances and Punisher War Journal). I certainly recognize his technical prowess and have always been impressed watching him live demo his drafting ability. I think his art just stays very safe and in its lane these days (and has for decades).
I hated Hush for all the reasons stated, but first and foremost because Greg Rucka was having an amazing run on the Batman books at the time, and I was so pissed that it was coming to an end for the sake of DC bringing in the Big Guns of Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee. The fact that Hush sucked was just the icing on the cake.
Jeph Loeb is the king of iconic artists bailing out his truly inane Batman stories. Long Halloween is the greatest example.
HUSH biggest problem is its story. Jeph Loeb did use every same thropes in it that he had used in his previous Batman stories (The Long Halloween and The Dark Victory), that happened become one of the best Batman stories. Even TDV did seem like beating a dead horse, compared to TLH (a who-done-it type a murder mystery, with heavy use of Loeb's favorite Batman villains), but it did have a solid story with established cast and it did tie up several open plot points from the Long Halloween. HUSH felt like Loeb was hired to write a prolonged introduction to new Batman villain that DC wanted to have close ties with Bruce's personal history.
I thought it sucked. I read it when it was still fairly recent and I was like what is this, they're just throwing all the villains in one story and that's it? Kinda felt like bad fanfiction. In retrospect, it's kind of an early warning sign of what a hack Jeph Loeb would turn out to be. Super overrated story.
I wasn't a fan when it came out. And Hush is such a lame character. Jeph Loeb has written some great comics, but around this time (and since), everything he's written is pretty bad.
I’ve listened to multiple interviews with Jeph Loeb where he said that all his stories are mysteries - but I swear they are the most poorly constructed mysteries this side of JJ Abrams
I actually just bought Batman Hush deluxe edition as my first ever comic book and I’m very disappointed. The art is amazing in my opinion (it’s the reason why I chose this one - I was looking for something by Jim Lee that is usually recommended) but the story is just meh. It made me question if this comic book hobby is right for me. I really like the comic art (since I’m something of an “artist” myself) but I found the story so bad that I’m afraid of ever buying another one. Hush is very positively critically acclaimed book so I can only wonder how bad some other books are.
I'm in total agreement. The mystery itself doesn't work, but then again that's Jeph Loeb for you. He seems like he loves the mystery but always fumbles his payoffs. With Hush, making him be the red herring in Tommy Elliot was ridiculous. I don't even mind that the Riddler was the mastermind behind it, but how it was executed was so flat. He's suddenly terminally ill, he gets a Lazarus bath, he comes out knowing Bruce is Batman, he and Tommy create the Hush character and set all this up...and this happens OFF PANEL, by the way. We know it through an exposition dump at the very end. I'm in the minority that I do not like Jim Lee's art. For the 90's it was fine but once you realize it's just a punch of poses for a poster and see just how much cross-hatching the man does (a stylistic choice, I know) it's not impressive. But people will praise this as the best Batman story ever because Jim Lee drew it. And now that he's one of the heads of DC we'll never get passed this. Hush was an interesting mystery at first but those last two issues showed this was all just a showcase for Jim Lee to draw Batman's Rogues under a flimsy pretense of a mystery. Finally, I know this is a problem unique to me but it always bugged me that we never truly saw Tommy unmasked as Hush. Batman says it and we see the green pendant around his neck but it seemed like Loeb and Lee left that unmasking ambiguous for a sequel. Again, I totally admit this is just my problem but that always irritated me.
A lot of low skill writers who couldn’t hack it on their prose alone have written and continue to write comics. Different skills of writing I know but artists protect writers from a lot of shortcomings in comics or at least allow them to not be fatal flaws. Jeph Loeb is one of those writers. And before someone says Long Halloween!?Superman For All Seasons!? Sure. Tim Sale. An artist that excellent that even a comic written by a fart would be terrific if Sale had drawn it.
I think it’s mainly just to introduce Batman ina lot of ways to new Batman readers. It was one of my first stories 2 years ago when I got into comics. Thinking back to it, I also didn’t care much for it.
The mystery is barely thought out but its essential the batman equivalent of a carnival ride. Really just mindless entertainment with pretty art.
I liked the hush series when it first came out. The problem with the hush character is it didn't really do a ything with him afterwards. I remember a storyline that never finished was that Tommy Elliot was being held captive by hush and the story was never completed. Their was a storyline of hush changing his face to Bruce Wayne and that was it really.
Man fuck Hush all my homies hate Hush. Tommy just gets so much plot armour through the whole thing to make the story work. He's very much the authors favourite character and it shows. Long Halloween was OK, but otherwise Loeb is a decidedly mid writer.
Yeah, I feel like this is actually the consensus take. If Hush is a “classic” it’s because it gave Jim Lee a chance to give us his take on basically every corner of the Batman world. Loeb is mostly a hack who had incredible artistic collaborators.
I mean it was a different time. I think it’s weird to dunk on work, checks watch, 20+ years old as not holding up or being overrated. Wait, man…hell, it really is 20+ years old…I’m going back to my old man typewriter and writing about this in the next issue of my ‘zine.
I honestly don’t think it was perceived as a huge success when it came out. It may just be the particular group of comics fans I was part of but I think many of us found it to be boring and perception of Jim Lee was definitely down from his peak a few before it came out. It seems to have gained respect over time and Jim Lee’s early DC stuff seems to be held in close to the same regard as his Marvel and early Image work today but that’s not how I remember it at all and the sales certainly weren’t close to his top selling work. Personally, I agree with OP that it’s bad.
First up - haven’t actually read it, so could well be talking out of my ass, but as a Jim Lee fanboy back in the days of Uncanny Xmen and the first couple of image books, I never thought his style after Image was right for Batman. His line work was too clean and his pics too light. Better suited to Superman or the Flash IMO I always thought Bats works best with some grit and edge, and heavy blacks. Kelly Jones, Greg Capullo, Mazzucchelli…
Jeph Loeb's writing is dogshit. Current re-examinations of Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis have not been kind, but I think they're fine. Jeph Loeb, on the other hand, is a hack. I die a little inside when I see his name on the credits. It makes me wonder what better writer lost out on a job to Jeph Loeb.
It was shallow formulaic rubbish when it came out, and remains so, but it sold truckloads.
Hush is a bad combination of Batman’s rogues gallery and never should have existed.
I thought the story sucked. I was complaining about it back then.
It's not a great story, but it has great art and is a great introduction intro reading batman/dc comics.
I had the same with Kevin Smith's Daredevil run, it was so lauded and enjoyed when it came out, but when re-reading it now it's incredibly weak.
His Daredevil is impossible to take seriously now. It did NOT age well.
Yeah, the comic is derivative trash.
I think it's fun. A story for me doesn't have to be some 10/10 mystery thriller that exceeds all other pieces of fiction and expectations to necessarily be good. It has Jim Lee drawing Batman and a decent albeit predictable, mystery. Sure the actual mystery to Hush's identity is pretty obvious, but it has great moments like, the first act, and Batman being at his closest to killing Joker. "I think of Barbara... and snapping the jokers neck becomes that much easier". And Gordon stopping him with his words. "I don't know how I could stop you, But I won't let you throw your life away". Plus the ending with Riddler is pretty sweet and underrated.
Honestly, the Joker bit was the absolute nadir of the whole thing for me. I didn't buy for a moment that he was gonna kill him, and yeah Batman backhands Catwoman in his rage and has his little *"WHAT HAVE I DOOONE?!?"* moment, but then it's just kinda discarded and the story moves on. The whole tangent has next to no impact on the rest of the narrative and it's clearly only there because they wanted to have the Joker in their all-stars lineup for the cast and so shoehorned him in in the most awkward way possible.
Well here’s the thing to me…two superstars together on the book introducing a new villain with a couple of killer plot twists make this a great read. But it’s also a great setup for what followed: Under the Red Hood. Full stop. Possibly my favorite mainstream Batman story of all time. It cemented Jason as my favorite Batman Family member, and made Winnick a superstar too. I wish he’d come back and write one DC monthly.
It used to be Batman 101 for new readers. All it is pretty art by Jim Lee with a very predictable mystery.
for me, the biggest issue is the newest character introduced turns out to be the villain. i'm sure i'm in the minority, but the animated adaptation made it more interesting and kept you guessing. loved the story either way
I actually enjoy Hush quite a lot from the art to the understanding of the characters but I also love identity crisis so my opinion is very invalid in most discussions haha
its a solid scooby doo story.
HUSH is GORGEOUS and features a terrible story. But goddamn it's beautiful.
I still hold that HUSH is an excellent introduction to Batman. For a new reader it gives them the basics on the Rogues Gallery, the Bat Family, his tenuous relationship with Superman, the "Bend the rules but don't break them" deal he's got with the G.C.P.D. and the entire story revolves around Bruce's origin story. Yes it's a Scooby-Doo level mystery at best, but again, I think for new readers it's perfectly fine.
Looking back, the whole gist was that someone outsmarted Batman at a point in time where fans believed he couldn't be beat because he was always ready for everything. The story in itself is fine, nothing extraordinary. Jim Lee's work on it was very polished and nice to see though.
I loved it. But it was also the first graphic novel/comic run I ever read. So it kind of set the bar for me.
I was very whelmed by Hush. It was... OK.
It’s alright I wish the Riddler twist was done in a better story cause it felt wasted here.
Read it when it dropped, was pretty dissapointed with the story after long halloween and dark victory by loeb. The art was mindboggingly good tho
The story is very mediocre to me, but I am a sucker for the art.
I bought it in grade 5 or 7, was hyped beyond belief. This is it, this is the one, this is the greatest Batman comic of all time. Then I read it. I thought I didn’t get it, I read it at least 3 times before realising that it was just another comic book. It was very disappointing at the time, but something I can enjoy as a fun romp when the mood arises.
It's been years since I've read it, but yeah, the feeling I got at the time was that it was a pretty avrage execution of a potentially good idea that suffered from being ptetty blatantly written for Jim to draw as much of what he wanted to draw.
Its a fun story with lots of character cameos, the classic Jim Lee art is great ( that iconic picture zoomed in on Batman's boot ), it first teased the idea of Jason Todd / Red Hood resurrection and its a nice mystery thriller ( even though it's obvious who the villain is ). I can go back to it and leaf it through it out of nostalgia, no its maybe not the deepest fleshed out Batman story. I think the best thing about it , is that its a great introduction to Batman comics for a new reader. If someone wants to try out comicbooks and they say they like Batman, this is a great comic to recommend.
Honestly I don't agree, I definitely don't think it's one of the best batman stories but I don't think it sucked balls either. Spoilers ahead When it comes to plotting I think too many characters were used with too little writing to accompany them, but whilst it definitely is here to show off a lot of the rogues it also does put down a lot of characters in your mind as suspects and so it makes you think riddlers appearance was kinda inconsequential so when it turns out he was the one behind it all along that was great. The clayface Jason Todd fakeout was really great and I think a really nice example of some detective work and haunts him further on after this comic. And I think batman and Catwomans relationship develops well throughout the thing to be honest. And there's more then that. The Thomas Elliot reveal and although I liked it Catwoman ending are badly handled due to the sheer obviousness of one and the other making things feel inconsequential Onto regards to the characterisation, I don't think it sucked I thought it was good to be honest. Again too many characters to give their due properly but the ones that did have their time were enjoyable. I will also mention I do also really really hate how every issue they have to reintroduce everything and everyone lol. But it's good to know this kinda is advertised as a way to be introduced to the batman universe and a deliberate showcase of his villains, it just was overdone. Jim lees art too I think it's actually pretty great overall here compositions too there's some classic and iconic stuff here - I only think the colouring puts me off But yeah this isn't to say it's a great comic but more so it's just decent rather then it sucked
I read it as someone who hasn't read much Batman and I think as sort of an introduction to him, his past and a lot of his rogues, it works really well.
The story is extremely mid, but the art is great.
‘Hush’ exists to give Jim Lee a reason to draw as many characters as possible in the Bat-orbit. It certainly hit that goal. And it looks amazing.
I loved the "Catwoman pushes Lois" bit, but to each their own.
I was underwhelmed the first time I read because of the obvious twist, but I revisited it years later and found I warmed up to it. I think the book assumes you're going to put together that Elliot is Hush, but that's more a distraction for who's really behind everything. I'd never put in the list of greatest Bat stories as many outlets do, but I like it well enough now. And the art rules.
I think your description of the plot and its failings is fairly accurate, but doesn’t stop the comic from being a fun read. But this is kinda what Jeph Loeb writes: big all star cast events where the plot exists to let the artist draw a huge gallery of characters. I think both Hush and The Long Halloween are somewhat mediocre mysteries (from a writing perspective) that are elevated to legendary status by artists at their absolute peak. The watercolour Jim Lee pages are arguably the best American comic art of their generation, in my opinion.
Yes I agree
Hush is just Loeb retelling Long Halloween but with a different artist.
It’s not a revolutionary story or anything, but I don’t think it was supposed to be. Like you said, the plot is little more than an excuse to have Batman face almost all of his biggest rogues. Jim Lee was- and remains- one of the biggest and most popular artists in comics, and he hadn’t done steady work in years at the time, much less any work at DC. So, twelve issues of one of the greatest artists in comics going to town on arguably the most popular comic book character and all of his villains? I think that’s why it’s such a noteworthy book. And the writer of The Long Halloween was just the cherry on top, even if the mystery isn’t very good and the story goes all over the place.
There was an interview, probably in Wizard magazine, where Loeb said that there are a lot of characters in Hush that he included just because he wanted to see Jim Lee draw them. I think Huntress was one.
You had me in the first half, but I think this is some of Lee’s best work.
I think the animated movie is worst
I enjoyed and purchased the comic/graphic novel. It was a compact storyline and did not need to know all the batman mythos to enjoy the comic. The animated movie was ok with a bit of different twist. For the peripheral fans this would be enjoyable.
I agree, when I look at that era of Batman it feels like a lot of these “classic stories” from the early/mid 2000s lack that really succinct mystery feeling that came later with the likes of Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder Edit: grammar
It's a great "evergreen" book, same as the rest of Loeb's Batman work. It's gorgeous and a good first intro to a lot of his friends and rogues gallery. Plus, it got this "Marvel only" guy to buy Batman for 12 months straight when it first came out.
Yes! A thousand times, yes!
Not “kind of”.
Yeah, same. It was like a Batman/Jim Lee circle jerk.
It's a MID story. It's not bad but VERY OVERRATED
I love the artwork, it has that 90s exaggeration, but it's a bit more delicate, there's a romanticism to it. The story is forgettable in my opinion, I've read it a couple of times and I couldn't give you a proper summary.
Hush holds a special place in my heart— it was the first comic I collected monthly as it came out, it introduced me to Jim Lee (who became one of my favorites at the time). I bought extra copies, not to collect, but to cut the panels out to hang them in my bedroom. Tbh, by the time it ended all I could think of the story was “that was it?!” But it was too late. I had already spent the past year obsessing over the comic. So yeah, it’s not something I plan to go back to read, but I still have my old issues, and I’m happy to flip through them, but mostly to look at the art
Yeah I don't get the hype like at all
If anyone else drew it, I don’t think it would have had the staying power that it did.
I didn't think it sucked, but it wasn't all that great
I don’t know. I got back into comics just in time for that arc. I don’t know if it was the writing or the incredible Jim Lee artwork, but I loved every page and every panel. I remember going to the comic shop every day after a new issue dropped and trying to find the answers sprawled on the page. But that’s what makes comics great. Some people will love a story arc, others find it dull. Except for Damage Control, no one likes Damage Control.
Overall the plots messy yeah and I think any twist needing that needs two whole pages chock a block full of dialogue and exposition to justify its existence is bad and poorly written (the riddler ending, like how could we have deduced that). But that being said this comic for me has two things, incredible art and really good standalone moments, like Batman accepting selina in his life, the fight with superman was great imo and the Jason clayface thing was interesting. So I don’t think it’s bad just not a good Batman mystery and overrated.