Batman’s quest to stop Hush and save Red Hood from himself leads him to Hush’s allies, while Nightwing finds Hush, Red Hood, Joker and more characters as “H2SH” rolls on. Batman #160 is written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams, colored by Alex Sinclair and lettered by Richard Starkings.
Will Nevin: I want to live in a world in which Grant Morrison is relaunching Legends of the Dark Knight and *not* writing Batman/Deadpool. Is that possible? Can we do that? And what’s with getting marquee talent on weird crossover books? *stares in Jonathan Hickman’s Aliens vs. Avengers*
Matt Lazorwitz: I can think of a few reasons. One: It’s high profile, and who doesn’t like getting that kind of attention? Two: Maybe you’re a fan of both properties and when else will you get the chance to write them together? Three: It’s a challenge to make one of these work. And four:
Will: I was thinking about that pile of cash, actually. Do you think it’s five figures?
Matt: I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s a lot (by comics standards, anyway). I’m still confused about how Zeb Wells got into the mix. He’s a perfectly cromulent writer, but when the rest of the creatives are Morrison, Mora and Capullo? I don’t know, short of Hickman, who Marvel has on speed dial, who is that big a name on the writer side of things, but you’d think they would find someone.
Will: Ultimately, I think it’s a brilliant move — you get the normies who’d read the crossover regardless, and you get the nerds who are happy for one more bit of the Bat God. Big tent Big 2 comics.
H2SH: Attack of the Clowns
Matt: How are we three issues into this story and it feels like maybe one issue’s worth of story has happened?
Will: And most of this issue was told in goddamned security camera flashbacks! Good lord. This might have broken my brain. Why is Hush throwing scalpels to stop a gun from firing? Why did Hush plant a terminator in Wayne Medical? Why is this story simultaneously too much and not enough?
Matt: I am really struggling with this. We’ve read plenty of comics for the column and the podcast that haven’t been to my taste. But I can usually find something to like in them. I am having a hard time with that here. Even Jim Lee’s art feels rushed. The design of said Terminator, Armori, is basic ’90s Image, and the page itself looks flat, like she is lacking in detail. And that is balanced by adding all these lines and gewgaws to Hush’s and Bane’s costumes. Hush was already over-designed. We don’t need more lines on him.
Will: We’ve talked about how this story doesn’t break any new ground, and this chapter certainly didn’t change that. But I was struck by its complete inability to stand alone from “Hush.” To this point, a new reader would not have a single clue who Hush is or what motivates him or why we should even give a shit. I understand that sequels rely on what came before, but there has not been a bit of development or insight into the Tommy Elliot character of “Hush 2.”
Matt: He is barely in the book until this issue, and there only as this looming presence. And that’s a great way to use a character if it’s Dracula or the Joker, characters with outsized presences. But Hush doesn’t carry the same gravity.
Will: In Jeph Loeb’s brain he does.
Matt: And as we’ve talked about each issue, this adds more characters without giving us enough with the already huge cast. Now we have this new character, Armori, plus Jim Gordon, Damian and Bane. And there had better be a real important reason those two are working together, because that makes zero sense. I am beginning to wonder if this whole thing is just a nightmare, that Hush has done something to Batman’s mind, except we’re spending time with characters in scenes where Batman isn’t there, so that doesn’t work either.
Will: Normally that would be a cheesy shit copout, but I wouldn’t mind it here. If you take the Damian/Bane pairing together along with the “I thought Batman was just a legend” line, I’m willing to believe Loeb hasn’t read a Batman comic in 15 years. Bro, Tom King put the Bat family in a Bat-themed restaurant. Read a damn book.
Matt: I’m sitting here and I’m trying to think of something to say that isn’t just a rant. Loeb does indeed call out Bruce’s hugely out-of-character use of a gun from the previous issue, so at least that has some story weight, but I just don’t know what you can do to wrap this up with even a satisfying cliffhanger in three more issues. This has been sound and fury, signifying nothing. I can’t even come up with a theme here. It’s just smashing action figures together.
Will: If we can accept Batman’s decision to not let the Joker die as some novel theme worth investigating, could we at least investigate it? Could we sit with that idea for more than a page and have characters talk about it rather than hit each other? You’ve already talked about how the art is relatively disappointing, but I’m amazed at the complete inability to grapple with what amounts to the central premise.
Matt: And I think we’ve said it before, but the character regression. Jason, Barbara and Jim have all made their peace with their past with the Joker; Jim had a whole 15-issue series that was him doing it. There is nothing new under the sun here.
And yes, there might be something interesting in Jason having irreparable CTE or a similar brain injury, but I don’t think Loeb has the time or the wherewithal to deal with that.
And can I say how dumb the line, “Curious, though, as you lay dying in his arms he didn’t think to call me. His childhood friend and the best brain surgeon in the world. When Bruce cracked his own skull open, mine was the first number he dialed.” First, we found out at the end of the original story that Hush had planted subconscious triggers in the Batcomputer for a time leading up to that to make him think of him. Granted, Jason might not know that, but as he has been retconned into being part of that scheme, you’d think he would.
Will: And second, Jason Todd was in a mysterious African country that we may have retconned at this point! Halfway across the damned world!
Matt: Exactly! Jason was dead before he could get him to anywhere he could contact anyone. It’s not like he was lingering in a coma in Gotham for weeks and Bruce decided to pull the plug. Again, outside of his own work, it feels like Loeb only knows the broadest strokes of continuity. Which would be fine except we’re doing a story that seems to rest on the shoulders of a lot of continuity.
Will: You figure it’s the sort of thing someone in editorial would mention if it was anyone else?
Matt: This definitely feels like a book where editorial threw up their hands and just let Loeb go, because it’s gonna be the best-selling comic of the month regardless of what is in the book.
Will: I’ll tell you one thing, Brother Matt: This comic had better get busy doing one of two things, either getting a whole lot better or a fuckton worse. I don’t know how much more we can keep saying about a mushy pile of milquetoast nonsense that’s content to plod along cloaked in its mediocrity.
Bat-miscellany
- Josh Weil joins us to read three stories from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight where Batman fights monstrous foes in this week’s BatChat podcast.
Buy Batman #160 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
