A review by kierano
Batman: Hush (DC Compact Comics) by Jeph Loeb

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

 ‘Batman: Hush’ (DC Compact Comics) – Comic Collection Review

  

Note on this collection:

‘DC Compact Comics’ is a new line of collections from DC spotlighting some of their most popular, new-reader-friendly stories with a smaller page-size—a similar size to manga collections—at a cheaper price than regular ‘full-size’ collections. 

 

Batman: Hush has been on my ‘To Be Read’ list for a long, long time. Given the story arc’s critical reception, it’s ability to remain in print for so long, and the general consensus that this is one of the most important Batman stories you can read, it’s actually a bit embarrassing that I’ve managed to avoid it for so long.

First published from October 2002 to September 2003, legendary writer Jeph Loeb and equally legendary penciller Jim Lee (not to mention inker Scott Williams, colourist Alex Sinclair, and letterer Richard Starkings) crafted a Batman mystery over twelve issues (#608 to #619) that has endured for decades and is often recommended to new Batman fans looking to start reading the comics.

 I took a different route to get into Batman comics (nearly fifteen years ago… hold on a sec, just trying not to think about the passage of time… okay, back to it) which meant I managed to neatly side-step Batman: Hush, but when DC announced that they were reprinting it as part of their new ‘DC Compact Comics’ line, I knew I’d be picking it up.

 

Hush, Little Baby

On the hunt for a new behind-the-scenes threat that’s causing his foes to act out of character, Batman suffers a catastrophic injury. Saved by an old childhood friend, Bruce resumes the hunt for a villain that’s always one step ahead—one with intimate knowledge of who he is behind the mask…

Something that I really like about this new line of DC Compact Comics is that they highlight the genre of the story right on the front cover, e.g. Horror, Thriller, Adventure. Hush is a Mystery—and who doesn’t like a good mystery? Batman as The Detective is where many people find him to be the most interesting (as opposed to Batman as The Infallible, Indestructible Action Hero—a territory writers sometimes veer him into).

Indeed, Batman is on the backfoot for much of this story. That doesn’t mean he’s passive or boring—it’s just that in striving to solve this mystery, he’s reacting exactly as the villain expects him to, leading him into greater danger. Smart antagonists are fun and having one that can predict how someone like Batman will react has the extra effect of undermining one of Bruce’s defining traits: his intelligence.

Full Review:
https://www.kieran-obrien.com/post/batman-hush-dc-compact-comics-comic-collection-review