Written by the legendary Jeph Loeb and illustrated by the wonderful duo of Jim Lee and Scott Williams, Hush is over 300 pages of visual stuns and twists and turns. Ever the typical avid reader, I enjoy attempting to predict the end of any story I read, and for the first time in a fair while, I was thrown by the ending here. Well. I thought I knew what was going to happen, and then I was convinced I had jumped to conclusions too swiftly, and then I was sure that I was confused about my initial correctness’s potential.

In this epic, pretty much the entirety of the caped crusader’s rogue’s gallery makes an appearance in crisp lines and intricate bleeding color. It’s hard not to lose focus on the great story being told when all the beauty on display is trying so ardently to distract you. As is my custom, I tend to relate what I just read to what I read many moons ago.

In this instance, Batman said:
“Criminals, by nature, are a cowardly and superstitious lot. To instill fear into their hearts I became a bat. A monster in the night. And in doing so, have I become the very thing that all monsters become… alone…?”
Which brings to mind Vonnegut’s quote:

Now for me at least, Batman’s inner monologue only draws forth more questions. Questions like: Are all monsters alone? Which comes first – the isolation or the depravity? Is the end goal, no matter how noble, worth ripping ourselves into someone we deem less than human? And if the answer to that last question is no, a noble goal isn’t worth the lessening of self, what does that say about tearing ourselves down in pursuit of smaller goals?

In not just finding, but in building ourselves, I firmly believe we must seek and acknowledge wisdom where ever it can possibly be found. Sometimes it’s as important to learn lessons of what not to do from our heroes as well as the lessons of what we could accomplish if only we worked hard enough. Maybe? Maybe.

And if you are merely looking for quality fisticuffs of The World’s Greatest Detective versus :
 Poison Ivy
 The Joker
 Catwoman
 Superman
 Killer Croc
 Ra’s Al Ghul
 The Riddler
 Jason Todd
 Anonymous
You can find all that and more within Hush, as well.

No matter what you were lured in by, this will make you think and that’s all anyone can really ask of anything. So, I bestow upon this comic book of awesome, five artistically rendered stars. Stellar.

Jessie Gutierrez
aka Wolfy