The next chapter in THE HUSH SAGA has commenced.
The original team from the classic story has returned after 20+ years, and are ready to take us on a new (and final?) journey with one of Bruce Wayne’s oldest friends, and one of Batman’s most personal enemies.
Given this latest chapter is called HUSH 2 (or H2SH), where does it fall in the timeline? Clearly, it’s not the first sequel (that was 2004’s “Hush Returns”, which in my mind is forgettable), nor is it the second, third, or fourth.
But continuity be damned. Ignore that it’s BATMAN #158. Writer Jeph Loeb makes it an easy jumping-on point, diving right into the action, and giving us 22 pages of a classic Batman issue. Here, I mean classic as in Batman vs. Joker, where each character just is, you know? There’s an interesting element to this confrontation, though, as it seems like a semi-repeat of a true classic Batman vs. Joker story, and the Dark Knight is aware of that as well.
The rest of the issue brings in some familiar faces, some surprising faces, and a face that I’m completely unaware of (maybe this is a brand new character?), but Loeb masters in juggling multiple elements at once with ease. This issue just flowed, and has a great/sick torture scene to boot.
As we are all aware, perhaps the most celebrated piece of the original HUSH story was the art from Jim Lee. The legend returns here and hasn’t missed a beat. From the opening page, we get a great scene with detailed art. Batman looks fantastic, and resembles the look from the 2002 story (at least at first, then has a change). This version of The Joker looks better than the previous version, also, and I’m glad. He’s filled out a little more, not too gangly. And he has a good, creepy aura about him, too. Lee also excels at teasing us with the book’s main villain, and it totally works. I had high hopes for the artist’s work in this opening issue, and I couldn’t be happier.
A lot is riding on this sequel story to one of Batman’s most popular stories, and expectations are high. Of the (recently-announced) 400,000+ preorders of this issue, there should be 400,000+ happy comic fans.
Loeb and Lee deliver a rousing, dazzling opening statement to this latest adventure that, ironically enough, considering the title, should have everyone talking. – Ryan Lower
GRADE: A
