It's All About The Building Blocks

Batman 608-619
DC Comics
Jeph Loeb, writer
Jim Lee and Scott Williams, artists

**********SPOILER ALERT**********

If you don't recognize the issue numbers above, they are from the yearlong, 2002-03, epic story arc "Hush," the Batman story that features a huge cast of Batman's allies and rogues along with the mystery of who Hush really is. This type of story is a theme repeated by writer Jeph Loeb in other Batman stories including "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory," both of which also feature a central whodunit mystery and a tour of Batman's rouges' gallery.

The biggest criticism of the initial "Hush" story was that ultimately the villain responsible for everything was a character who didn't exist in the pages of Batman before issue No. 609. That's right, the character's very first appearance as Hush doesn't come until the second chapter of the story, and it isn't until almost the end of that issue that his real name is even mentioned. Then he makes his first unmasked appearance in a flashback. And finally on the next to last page, he makes his first unmasked contemporary appearance.

Loeb provides clues to the true identity of Hush throughout the story, but the character is purely his own creation that was brand new for this story arc. Despite that fact, the emotional impact of the villain's identity hinges on readers accepting that this brand new character is one Bruce Wayne is supposed to have known all of his life, a childhood friend now grown, and seemingly just as twisted as Batman is honest.

Despite the immediate cries of "foul" and "cheat" when Hush's real identity was revealed in the story, the character has returned in a number of story arcs by other creators to very good effect. That, I believe, is testament to the fact that Loeb really did craft a good story despite what many claimed at the time. And beyond just being a good story, it provided the building blocks that shaped a great deal of the Batman universe going forward as other creators stepped in after Loeb's epic.

For instance, Batman and Catwoman have long had a flirtatous relationship in the comics, but it is during the "Hush" story arc that Batman decides to reveal his true identity to Catwoman as a show of trust. Without that development in the modern versions of the characters, I don't think we would have gotten Catwoman's characterization in the latter part of the third series to bear her name, particularly the issues by Will Pfeifer.

I also like the interaction shown in this arc between Batman and his allies, Alfred, Nightwing, Robin, Oracle and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Nightwing in particular gets a lot of "screen" time in this story, a further plus in my book. It doesn't hurt that I like the way Loeb writes their interactions and depicts their relationship through their characterization.

If you've never read "Hush," pick it up in single issues or trade. I think you'll be glad you did. It is filled with solid writing and some mighty pretty art.