Lmao 
, Sadly it’s true, I need to reread the comic to the scooby soundtracks. I bet the continous hallway track would be nice for a few of the situations.
Nothing too earth shattering for the Bat, Tim Drake stole the show IMHO. Especially if you’ve been reading up on the ordeal he went through in Teen Titans earlier on. Followed by Nightwing since he was involved in Tim’s storyline. Even Damian had bits here and there. Batman of course was no slouch lol I can read about him fighting Ra’s all day, but the story was really about ‘family’ in the end so the other characters added a lot of depth to it. One major thing about the Bat I suppose -
Ra’s storyline
Spoiler
Batman did survive a mortal wound via a dip in the Lazarus Pit. I hope this is what all of those rumors about Batman ‘dying’ were about since he was touch and go for a second…
Sounds possible, though it wouldn’t debunk anything. Gah, I guess I’ll have to pick this up as well, I’m a big Tim fan.
Moral of the story: don’t buy anything with Jeph Loeb’s name on it unless it also has Tim Sale’s name on it.
Hush has lots of problems with its plotting and its script isn’t very high tier, either. But to me, it gets a respectable 3 out of 5 stars because it’s an entertaining rollercoaster through Batman’s world. Yeah, the dialogue is so anti-subtle it makes Mark Millar look like Ernest Hemingway, but the artwork is a fun, mindless romp.
I am just disappointed that Hush was such a popular story. You can call me an elitist prick if you want, but Hush is the ultimate Batman story for people who aren’t discerning comics readers. It’s the comics equivalent to a standard Hollywood action blockbuster. The world doesn’t need it but because the masses don’t like to think when they consume their entertainment, it gets major props. By the way, I am not being opinionated here; I am merely stating a factual belief.
On the other hand, I need a good ass-kicking 'cause I own Hush in hardcovers.
I give Hush credit for helping to reveal Jeph Loeb as a whack writer, because without Hush, I might have expected Superman/Batman, Ultimates 3, or his Wolverine run to be decent. So in the long run, Hush saved me some money.
Well, I’ll give you that: at least it has this going for it.
I’m probably in the minority, but I don’t like the art in Hush. Every time I open the book, I get the sensation that a bunch of multicolored razors have exploded into my face. There’s no subtlety or feeling to any of it; it’s just loud, all the time. And Jim Lee uses the Barbie Doll approach to illustrating people–he draws the guys all the same except with different hair and clothes, and draws the girls the same except with different hair, clothes, and maybe minor differences in tit size.
And I hate the whole “cavalcade of villains” approach to storytelling that Loeb loves so much. He crams in so many surprise! (but not really) villain introductions that he forgets there’s supposed to be an actual story in there somewhere.
Uh, not to be a Negative Nancy or anything.
I think Hush is easy to melt. Loeb stereotypes Batman and the story in a good way by emphasizing the best and most recognizable qualities. I can imagine that someone who’s new to comics and Batman will love it and continue reading from there.
Hush
Spoiler
But yeah, the Jason Todd thing was horrendous. It was at least acceptable when they explained that it was Clayface, but then they just had to retcon it.
This post is sprinkled with SPOILERS FOR HUSH.
But that whole Jason Todd thing was Judd Winick’s fault more than Loeb’s, so I don’t hold that against Hush. It wasn’t really Jason until Winick started writing Batman. Loeb just “inspired” Winick. Having Jason come back at the end of an issue of Hush made a nice little cliffhanger but the stuff that happened after that wasn’t anything good. For instance, I didn’t know Clayface was such a great actor that he could master all of Dick Grayson’s fighting skills and moves just by watching tape of him.
If someone drafts Taskmaster for the Comic Book Football League, I’m going to counter with Clayface, and I’ll have Hush to back me up as evidence of Clayface’s abilities. You can all chalk that up to shitty writing if you wanna, but I say it’s ALL SKILL, BABY.
Another stupid aspect of the plotting was how Harold was used as a deus ex machina to explain how Batman got affected by subliminal messages. Harold? Seriously? I don’t have a problem with busting out obscure characters, especially if they came from the O’Neil/Cowan Question series, but this came out of nowhere. Anyone who knows anything about writing a satisfying mystery knows that it’s important to be fair to the reader. Loeb just brought out Harold in the eleventh hour. He could have at least introduced or mentioned the character in an earlier chapter, to ease in a little bit of foreshadowing. It just felt cheap to read about that.
And that whole Riddler thing at the end was uncalled for as well. I remember reading a Loeb interview where he said that confrontation at the end of the story between Batman and Riddler was his “Brian Michael Bendis Scene” because of all the dialogue and general verbiage. But that was so expository that it really DID make the Hush story feel like a gigantic Scooby Doo episode. (And, much as I love the old school cartoon, that’s not a compliment.)
And that scene had some weak layouts in the art. Jim Lee doesn’t do subtle. People give Bendis crap for making his characters talk a lot, but at least his artists can draw a scene of two people having a conversation and make it engaging for the reader. Gaydos and Maleev know how to do talking heads comics. Jim Lee? He just draws a poster of Batman that takes up 2/3 of the page and then the rest of the page is just a bunch of word balloons. Very shoddy craftsmanship right there.
It’s like Jeph Loeb looks at who the hot writers are and tries to imitate them, except he completely misunderstands what makes those writers good in the first place. He thought he could write a Bendis scene to iron out Hush’s ending, but it was all exposition without any buildup or genuine drama.
And Loeb’s doing the same thing with Ultimates now. It’s like he thinks The Ultimates was so good because Millar made them the Asshole Avengers, so now Loeb is taking it to the extreme. Loeb just crushes all the amusing bits of life out of The Ultimates. Like that whole Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver incest thing - Millar never really brought it to the forefront; he just hinted at it broadly, but left it in the background and slightly ambiguous. And that’s what made it funny. Now, what Loeb is doing, is he thinks he’s being like Millar by taking it to the next level and being completely blatant. But it doesn’t make that little subplot more interesting. It just makes it look like bad fanfiction.
Yep, agreed. For awhile I thought everyone was looking forward to Loeb coming to Marvel. Now we have to sit through what is it two more years of him in the Ulimate U, fucking shit up. Only thing I can consistently look forward to is Invincible and Asthonishing X-Men.
Alright I picked the Long Halloween up this weekend, read it, reread it and now it’s my favorite story. I was hesitent going in thinking Loeb’s earlier work would be like his newer stuff, so I was half expecting Batman and Joker duking it out on the Gotham police station while regenerating and flashing back at random points.
But then I found out Loeb kicks ass when paired with Tim Sale, and now all is well. Finally I got the chance to see my favorite villains origins, and in a film noir setting no less. Harvey’s road to Two-Face was very interesting, as was the Holiday murders and various villain appearences.
The art was fantastic, and reminded me a lot of my favorite bat artist Neal Adams. Catwoman was my favorite concept and looked great. Joker’s huge ass grin was creepy, as was the abstract appearences of Scarecrow and Mad Hatter. Everything was blown out of porportion, but it made it all better.
So now I’m on a hunt for more Loeb/Sale work, I think Dark Victory will be my next purchase.
is Hush any good?
…Wow.
Just wow.
I think kev_the_bev was being sarcastic. Or at least that’s what I choose to believe.
Is sunlight any good?
yes, sunlight provides Vitamin-D.
P.S.
Sunlight also causes skin cancer.
Hush provides my favorite Batman and Nightwing illustration
don’t worry, guys.
[media=youtube]QXWMQ6gLYmI"[/media]
Since we’re speaking about HUSH…I loved what Bats did to him at the end of Gotham Knights, bitch was acting all high and mighty predicting shit and in the end gets it up the ass.
Oh and sorry if I already asked this, but what are some good books that have Cassandra as Batgirl? She’s pretty much my fav. Batgirl to date XD.
Nice find. I had no idea Kevin Conroy looked like that 15 or 20 years ago. It’s really weird to hear Batman’s voice coming out of that dude’s mouth.
Also, I must let it be known that I am a fan of Little House on the Prairie. I read most of the books when I was a wee lad, and I was addicted to that TV show. Even nowadays, if I see the show on, I will watch it. Someone should make a comic book adaptation of the Little House books. That’d be some good stuff right there, I’m telling you all. For real, now.
I’ll get a team right on that. I’m thinking Alan Moore for scripts and Geoff Darrow for pencils.