Batman: Hush "almost 10 Year Anniversary" Discussion

[jesse_custer]

I guess I'm in the middle on Jim Lee. Not someone I'd call a great artist, but he's serviceable and sometimes draws an interesting panel.

[Batman9]

Speaking of Hush, mine just broke. Does anyone know some hardcover alternatives? I'm not going to get absolute, but would you recommend getting Hush unwrapped? Can you got the vol 1. and vol 2. hardcovers cheap?

[Jim Thompson]

Speaking of Hush, mine just broke. Does anyone know some hardcover alternatives? I'm not going to get absolute, but would you recommend getting Hush unwrapped? Can you got the vol 1. and vol 2. hardcovers cheap?

I have the Absolute version, and I think it's quite nice. I'm going to be picking up the Unwrapped version this weekend -- it's $35, but worth it to me.

[Batman9]

I have the Absolute version, and I think it's quite nice. I'm going to be picking up the Unwrapped version this weekend -- it's $35, but worth it to me.

I'm thinking I might get the absolute. It has the best art and I can get it for 50 bucks. Theres just something in my brain that was saying, "100 dollars for a comic book!?!?!". It is my favorite book, how does it look in absolute?

[Jim Thompson]

I'm thinking I might get the absolute. It has the best art and I can get it for 50 bucks. Theres just something in my brain that was saying, "100 dollars for a comic book!?!?!". It is my favorite book, how does it look in absolute?

I think it looks wonderful. The over-sized paper really does right by Jim Lee's art.

[Kiryu]

Hush was my first real foray into DC Comics as a monthly thing, first exposure to Jim Lee's art and Loeb's writing. A friend turned me onto it by telling me "Yo the dead Robin is back". Always had a fascination with Jason Todd and always loved the idea of a rogue Robin. Massively let down by the fake out, then the reveal that the new character was the villain, then the bad fake cliffhanger about Jason Todd's corpse. At the time I thought Lee's art was cool, but my tastes have changed a lot since then and IMO his art now isn't half as good as it was on Hush.

I'd never read it again nor would I recommend someone else read it.

[Tar22]

Hush was my first real foray into DC Comics as a monthly thing, first exposure to Jim Lee's art and Loeb's writing. A friend turned me onto it by telling me "Yo the dead Robin is back". Always had a fascination with Jason Todd and always loved the idea of a rogue Robin. Massively let down by the fake out, then the reveal that the new character was the villain, then the bad fake cliffhanger about Jason Todd's corpse. At the time I thought Lee's art was cool, but my tastes have changed a lot since then and IMO his art now isn't half as good as it was on Hush.

I'd never read it again nor would I recommend someone else read it.

In my mind, Jason Todd was always Hush and Tommy Elliot was the fakeout. Batman leaves not knowing for sure and Riddler wins.

The story is ridiculous no matter how you twist it, but I prefer my version of things...

[Tar22]

1) The scratchy cross hatching often doesn't convey any real detail.

2) "Sly Smile" and "Mild Constipation" are the two facial expressions he seems capable of drawing.

3) Not that unique, considering it's a mishmash of Art & Neal Adams, and it looks just like most of his Image co-founders' styles.



I agree, but there is a vast gulf in between what we think that reason is.

I think those are all valid points.

I personally really like Jim Lee's style, but I can certainly recognize why a) some people hate his art, and b) why some people love it and it sells like crazy.

[cactusmaac]

I really like his art much more than say Alex Ross's since it has a distinct vitality and power to it.

He makes superheroes look superheroic.

I can't recall it being used for any stories I'd want to read more than once though.

[Jim Thompson]

I really like his art much more than say Alex Ross's since it has a distinct vitality and power to it.

Lee's version of Batman looks powerful and capable, I think, which is very much in keeping with the character. People who love detail in their art likely enjoy Lee's work, too.

[Statham]

Hush was my first real foray into DC Comics as a monthly thing, first exposure to Jim Lee's art and Loeb's writing. A friend turned me onto it by telling me "Yo the dead Robin is back". Always had a fascination with Jason Todd and always loved the idea of a rogue Robin. Massively let down by the fake out, then the reveal that the new character was the villain, then the bad fake cliffhanger about Jason Todd's corpse. At the time I thought Lee's art was cool, but my tastes have changed a lot since then and IMO his art now isn't half as good as it was on Hush.

I'd never read it again nor would I recommend someone else read it.

To be fair, that wasn't really a bad fake cliffhanger, was it? From what I remember, Loeb and Lee had plans of doing a sequel story that never came to fruition, so maybe they were planning on handling it there, but.. Riddler not telling where Jason's corpse is isn't so much a cliffhanger as Riddler foolishly using the last thing he has over Batman to confound him, in the face of an already pissed Batman. As it is, in light of future stories, Riddler likely didn't know at all and just decided to use it anyway.

[satchmo the dragon]

I guess I'm in the middle on Jim Lee. Not someone I'd call a great artist, but he's serviceable and sometimes draws an interesting panel.

WAy wrong.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Let's see where he's standing.

Personally I think he doesn't put anything new on the table, that he has hate or Batman instead of a personality and that he doesn't really have an angle (the Riddler came up with one for him).

What normally bothers me is the way he comes across as if he was superior to the regular rogues, when he's in fact just one of the bunch at best. I think it would have been mere effective to make the Riddler the secret behind Hush.

[stk]

Second time is the charm for this thread?

I like the design. And with a lot of Batman villains, that is enough of a hook to build off of. I get that you hated his introduction story and continue to hold a grudge against the character, but Dini used him well enough for me to accept the character as part of the mythos.

I think he would have been more effective if they'd had Jason actually BE Hush. That was a startling reveal, when every single page up to that point had been completely transparent about Tommy being Hush. But oh, well. I still think he's cool. Deadshot started (the second time) with nothing more than a cool look, and look what he has become.

[Mr. Holmes]

He's just dumb from the beginning. It's the cliche "blame it on the hero" origin, except Bruce really has nothing to do with him being a lunatic. People cite Heart of Hush as improving the character, but it still didn't work for me. If anything, the plastic surgery stuff just comes off as more gimmicky.