Customer Reviews

Batman: Hush Vol. 1

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a old fan of the Batman series of comics, I was a little suspicious of "Hush" when I first saw it in a books store.

Let me say that my fears were unfounded.

I found myself, almost an hour later, still in the book store, closing the cover and searching for volume 2. The romance and action are all perfectly balanced, not to mention the masterful art of Jim Lee only adds to this masterpiece.

Even if you don't know everything about the history of Batman and Robin, all pertinent information is explained and elaborated on.

Even if you don't like Batman, this is the comic series for you.

Having literally just read this trade paperback, I'm slightly embarrassed that I didn't pick this up on the newstand. (I'm not one to give much credence to hype...)

To paraphrase the storyline in writer Jeph Loeb's own words in the introduction, this is Batman done "just right." Nearly everything is here: incredible Batman gadgets; short by sweet acknowledgements to past Caped Crusader stories ("The Dark Knight Returns," "Farewell to a Friend," "Knightfall"); a host of baddies from Batman's rogues gallery; clever, tight dialogue; kick-ass art; tension between Batman and Superman (yet always, an underlying respect); just enough dry humor to balance the serious drama... The list could go on.

I'm floored. Loeb even nailed Bruce Wayne's character. That, in many ways, is the sign of a solid Batman scribe. I absolutely loved Bruce flirting with Lois Lane! That scene in the Daily Planet with her calling Clark Kent "Smallville" is what makes that issue in "Hush" and the animated Batman/Superman feature movie top notch. Most writers have no problem nailing down the Dark Knight, but the man under the cowl tends to escape most writers.

I admit it: I've never been that impressed with Jim Lee's previous artwork (it's been too generic, overblown and uninspired), but man, he did the Batman universe with great flair. Gotham, Metropolis and their inhabitants are dramatic without being too much, which is what I think Lee has done before. His Lois Lane is WAY too busty and super model-ish, but Lee's Poison Ivy and most especially, Catwoman, are amazingly sexy. Killer Croc leaves quite a bit to be desired, but... I'm willing to overlook Croc, the shorter Bat-ears and plain Bat-symbol, because Lee's moody Batman, Bruce Wayne, Alfred and the rest are spot on.

I'm a long-time diehard Batman fan. I've not been pleased with the artwork - much less the storylines - in the Batman titles in recent years. So this is refreshing to see Loeb and Lee hit Batman out of the park.

I'm a Batman fan, hands down. It's all ways been about the Dark Knight, more so than the Boy In Blue and all of DC's other characters. Batman has always been top of the line for me. I may not collect the monthlies but many of my favorite comics are Batman comics: Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, The Killing Joke, Gotham by Gaslight, to name a few.

When I heard that Lee was going to be joining the Batman team, I was pretty excited. I checked out the issues as they came in. Never buying, but looking them over. One of my favorite images of Batman was this drawing that Lee did for Batman Black and White many years ago. I was excited to think of what he might do with a whole comic let alone a few issues.

Now that I've seen the final product, I guess I feel a little let down. Maybe I'm preferential to other artists like Miller, Breyfogle, Wagner, and others who portray him as a creature of the shadows and not a hulking brute who just beats the crap out of everything he comes across. Right from the get go, we're getting a Batman who looks more like Spartan from Wildcats with a cape. I did like his work on Killer Croc and Catwoman. All complaints aside, Jim Lee can draw women better than anyone out there save John Cassaday.

I guess, what I was hoping for was Jim to mess with his usual style and maybe try some of the stuff he used to do with Deathblow and come up with more darkness than was used. Although, he seems to do that a little more in the second Volume of Hush, I just wasn't feeling that his art style was the best for Batman.

As for Loeb's writing, it's really good. The story kind of goes from plot point to plot point and it's kind of like a who's who in the Batman Rogues Gallery. The Catwoman/Batman twist makes for good reading but sometimes his narrative seemed forced and not needed. We see his Batline get cut but do we need to be told "Someone cut my Batline!" I don't think so.

Good start. Volume Two is much better.

Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee would get a chance to create a full year, 12 issues, of Batman comics. They created a year-long story. This is the first 5 of those 12 issues, and it is outstanding. A very good detective story, with some of the greatest artwork ever done in a comic book.

Vol. 2 is probably better, but keep a lookout for a single volume containing the entire run.

Includes a "Forward" by Jeph Loeb.

The dialogue and art are great and Hush is a interesting story but this book is paper thin. When I sat down with this book I honestly couldn't believe how thin it was. DC could have easily have made Hush One Volume but they cheat you out of your money by spilling it into two parts. There's Absolute Hush which is $40 which should contain the full story and added bonuses but to be honest I haven't picked it up and I don't know if its worth the money so there's no real way to get around it. There's a really good Batman vs. Superman fight in this book and despite it being paper thin its not a bad book.

Since the beggining Hush was a story full of hype and expectation. And of course, if you read it with that much expectation, you won't like it. It's Batman's, it's Loeb's and Jim Lee's, but certainly it's not definitive.

Ok, ok, let's go easy, from there it looks like i didn't liked the story, and I did. Seriously. I really like Jim Lee's art and Loeb's stories may be goos sometimes. But that's the thing: it's Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb, so you should read expecting lots of - amazing - splash pages and cliffhangers all over the series.

I think it's better if I don't tell anything about the plot because I read it all once in a paperback edition here in Brazil, but it deals with Batman's past, a love case involving he and a women, some famous characters and villains. So if you like Gotham City's wolrd, you probably will like the story.

Hush may not be what you're looking for if you are wanting a classic, but if you want e cool and exciting Blockbuster and a few hours of fun, then you got it.

In the review from 'Publisher's Weekly' they say, and I quote, "...Catwoman, whom he [Batman] teams with in a rousing (though improbably evenly matched) brawl with Superman." I just want to point out that this is not entirely correct.

(Please note I choose my words carefully since I don't want to give too much away. This graphic novel rocks out and I highly recommend reading it.)

But back to my point...the 'brawl' as they call it takes place with Batman's thoughts sort of narrating...and he makes a point of mentioning that he knows Superman was holding back during the fight, because if Superman hadn't then he would have pretty much gotten smashed to a pulp.

I appreciated that comment more then anything else in the book/comic. It shows how the author recognizes the impossibility of a fight between the two of them, but still found a way to play it out in spite of that. It was WELL DONE and I'm miffed at that review casting a negative light on a skillful balancing act.

Jeph Loeb likes writing comics as if they were summer movie blockbusters with a galaxy of stars. These movies, or comics, can be fun but may be lacking substance. In Hush, we have an action packed story with a parade of entertaining guest stars, heroes and villains alike. Are their appearances mainly to add to the star quotient? Possibly. Do they add to the enjoyment of the story? Definately. This is no different from his previous, much heralded Batman sagas Long Halloween and Dark Victory. One thing is certain, with Jim Lee as cinematographer/artist, they have never looked better. Batman's always been one of the top leading men in the biz and with his rugged good looks still remains a top box office draw. As leading lady we have Catwoman, who deserves second billing in this movie/comic and is as sexy and spunky as ever. Poison Ivy is cast as the temptress, Talia al Ghul as the femme fatale. Add the Joker, Harley Quinn, Clayface, Harvey Dent, Killer Croc, Huntress, Scarecrow, Nightwing, Superman, Lois Lane ...whew, talk about a big budget flick. Unfortunately herein lies many of the barbs hurled at Hush. Some criticize it for being just a visual cinematic tour de force by the great Jim Lee and nothing more than eye candy. The plot certainly has flaws. The big reveal of the mysterious antagonist is a forgone conclusion, and his motivations for becoming Hush are dubious at best, but now we're missing the point. This isn't about reason or logic or gritty realism. For fans of that, there are much better choices and to demand that here is just being a stick in the mud or spoilsport. This story is all about pure and simple fun, and in the context of movie blockbusters, it's a complete and total success.

Batman> Hush, is very good in many ways. I LIKED IT, The story and the art are fantastic. all sides of batman/bruce wayne, alfred, gordon, robin, nightwing, catwoman, jocker and all were ilustrated on the dot. if jim lee and Jeph Loeb would team up on a single comic book for a longer run they very well could be the new Chris Claremonth and Jhon Byrne, im not kidding.
any way. This book is good for many rasons...
1.-because you get fantastic vissuals.
2.-because the story is goooooooooooood.
3.-because if you dont realy know who or whats up with robin and got no idea how come there have been diferent robins, and dont understand the diferrence between them this story line will ilustrate you well on it (as it did to my non comic fan friends).
4.-This is also a good introduction to the batman world for new comers and a good catch-up read for former batman fans.
--even people who dont like comics say thats its preaty good.
5.-mistery, action, love, honor, revenge, redemption, and tons of awwsomeness will be found on this book as well on the second paperback, but dont worry is not over saturated its balanced just fine.
and thats all folks.
...by the time you read this part you will find out that i have nothing else to say and it will be to late because you have already read it.

The average comic fan struggles between trying to "look" mature and giving in to their childhood fantasies. Having said all that, the average comic fan is actually far more intelligent than most people think. I mean, the world is only now discovering things like the "Matrix" films and these are things that comic readers have taken for granted for years.

I, and many like me, have been "seduced" by the intellectually satisfying and literary rich writings of post-modern comic scribes like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis. These masters of deconstructionist, post-modern writing always seem to come up with new ways of reinventing the entire comic genre. However, all that said, there is still that part of me that is a lot less cerebral and a lot more visceral... or more romantic. It's that part of me that gasp with bated breath when Green Lantern takes his oath or when the Batman swoops down unto the roof of the GCPD in answer to Commissioner Gordon's call. And for that, I turn to Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's "Batman : Hush".

Jeph Loeb doesn't pretend to be what he's not. He's not from the fraternity of "2000 A.D." British writers who deconstructs superheroes to show them for the fascists they really are. Jeph Loeb is a romantic - of the "Casablanca" sort. He loves superheroes and it shows in his works (check out "Superman For All Seasons" and his Marvel "color" books for further evidence). And here in "Hush", we have Loeb writing a story that I believe he himself wanted to read. All the best writers write for themselves... for their own pleasure rather than for the approval of a board of critics. In short, Loeb writes as a fellow fan to fellow fans who want to see a great Batman-Superman bout, a Batman-Catwoman romance, a Batman-Joker fight-to-the-death, etc. - you get the point! More than that, he writes for the artist. In this case, Jim Lee. Jeph Loeb is as much a fan of Lee as many of us. So he writes the scenes that he himself (and most of us) wants to see Jim bring to glorious life with his pencils. For example, who doesn't want to see Poison Ivy drawn by Jim Lee?

That brings us to the artist. Need I tell you that Jim Lee is the creator of the highest-selling comicbook of all time (X-Men #1)? Need I tell you that Jim Lee is the founder of Wildstorm? But more important than that, we respect the man for his art - which can be summed up as merely a strong sense of the human figure and tight, super-detailed backgrounds. Having grown up with his work on X-Men and Punisher, I must say that he has improved greatly here on Batman, giving us (dare I say it) the most definitive Batman since Neal Adams in the 1970s. All that is brought to glorious life by the tight inking work of frequent collaborator Scott Williams and colorist Alex Sinclair.

This first of two volumes collects the first five parts of the Hush storyline along with an introductory "origin" of Batman told from Alfred's perspective. Jeph Loeb provides the foreword himself and the book includes biographies of the creators. I gave it four stars instead of five because the paper is awfully thin. Seeing that this is a hardcover collection of the highest-selling comic of 2003, D.C. should have used a heavier paper-stock - like they did on the wonderful Green Arrow hardcovers.

All in all, I recommend this book for those who grew up with Batman and those who would like a taste of the "real" Batman apart from the awful movies.