Batman #619, the final issue of the 'Hush' storyline, came out today, and it was finally revealed that Hush was really.....SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...two people, Tommy Elliot and the Riddler. The Riddler found out he had brain cancer, and used one of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pits to cure himself. While in the Pits, he had this epiphany that Bruce Wayne was the Batman. The fella he told about this was his doctor, who was none other than Tommy Elliot. Tommy had a long-time grudge against Bruce since childhood, when Bruce saved Mrs. Elliot's life and thus kept her around for years and keeping Tommy from inheriting her money.
So Tommy and Riddler collaborated on this plan, and recruited other villains to assist them in fucking around with Batman (though they didn't reveal his identity to any of them). During the final showdown, however, a cured and facially reconstructed Harvey Dent showed up in time to save Batman by shooting Tommy Elliot and apparently killing him. Riddler was sent to jail again, and will never reveal Batman's identity to anyone since (I thought this was a nice touch) Bats threatened to tell Ra's who ruined one of his Pits.
Not a bad conclusion despite the myriad of plot holes, but I've got to admit, almost anything would've been a letdown after all the buildup. In the end, all that's really changed is that Riddler and Catwoman know Bruce's secret identity, and Harvey Dent is apparently a good guy (like that'll last long). Not exactly the earth-shattering stuff that was promised by Jeph Loeb before the storyline started last year.
"When this bogus term alternative rock was being thrown at every '70s retro rehash folk group, we were challenging people to new sonic ideas. If some little snotty anarchist with an Apple Mac and an attitude thinks he invented dance music and the big rock group is coming into his territory, [that's] ridiculous." - Bono, 1997
A couple things. We don't know what Elliot put in Bruce's skull after he operated on him. Superman burned it off without further examination. Another thing. Even though we assume that the man in bandages was Tommy Elliot, we never actually saw his face. Not to mention that after the man that claims to be a reformed, unscarred Harvey Dent shot Tommy Hush, he disappeared...plus he was shot in non-lethal areas...meaning Hush is still alive and knows who Batman is. Also, the real body of Jason Todd is still missing.
My biggest gripe is that Batman shouldn't be manipulated so much. He's the world's greatest detective and should've had everything pegged, especially when you think about all the times villains have screwed around with him. It's insulting that Batman couldn't even figure out who Hush is.
The big problem is that 12 issues later, Batman still hasn't figured anything out and too much has been left unfulfilled. I can only assume that Loeb and Lee had planned on wrapping some more things up in what was supposed to be their next 6 issue storyline on Batman, but that has seemed to fall through with Lee now doing a one year run on Superman.
Oh well...better luck next time. Hopefully Loeb will actually do some research when that time comes around.
P.S., it was lame to tease fans with a Batman/Catwoman romance and then cop out without anything ever happening between the two of them.
"Just a humble bounty hunter, ma'am." -Spike Spiegel
Originally posted by The Vile1My biggest gripe is that Batman shouldn't be manipulated so much. He's the world's greatest detective and should've had everything pegged, especially when you think about all the times villains have screwed around with him. It's insulting that Batman couldn't even figure out who Hush is
P.S., it was lame to tease fans with a Batman/Catwoman romance and then cop out without anything ever happening between the two of them.
I wasn't expecting it, but a big part of me was hoping that it might turn out that when Bats fell in the alley he got knocked out and dreamed all that shit. I HATED the Catwoman stuff! Also, I think it's safe to assume that Hush WAS Tommy. All the personal info, especially the childhood stuff, makes it hard to pin it on anyone else. If they tried to, there's no way it could possibly come off well. However, they could conceivably find a way to have him come back since his body was never found either time he "died."
A few issues ago, I resigned myself that the big ending wasn't gonna be all that rewarding so I just enjoyed each issue on its own. The ending wasn't bad, and the Riddler part was cool.
Sooooooo, any Flash fans here?
The Ignition storyline seems pretty cool, but I just can't really get into it because the art is HORRIBLE!
I guess Im in the minority. I kinda liked the Hush story line. Oh well, we got Azzarello (SP?) now so this should be good.
Mr. Burns: You are of course familiar with our state usury laws? Homer:U-sur-y? Mr. Burns: Oh silly me, I must have just used a word that doesn't exist.
Originally posted by The Vile1My biggest gripe is that Batman shouldn't be manipulated so much. He's the world's greatest detective and should've had everything pegged, especially when you think about all the times villains have screwed around with him. It's insulting that Batman couldn't even figure out who Hush is
P.S., it was lame to tease fans with a Batman/Catwoman romance and then cop out without anything ever happening between the two of them.
I wasn't expecting it, but a big part of me was hoping that it might turn out that when Bats fell in the alley he got knocked out and dreamed all that shit. I HATED the Catwoman stuff! Also, I think it's safe to assume that Hush WAS Tommy. All the personal info, especially the childhood stuff, makes it hard to pin it on anyone else. If they tried to, there's no way it could possibly come off well. However, they could conceivably find a way to have him come back since his body was never found either time he "died."
A few issues ago, I resigned myself that the big ending wasn't gonna be all that rewarding so I just enjoyed each issue on its own. The ending wasn't bad, and the Riddler part was cool.
Sooooooo, any Flash fans here?
The Ignition storyline seems pretty cool, but I just can't really get into it because the art is HORRIBLE!
I'm still reeling from the end of Flash 200
My Calgary Flames are currently tied for first place overall with a record of 0-0-0-0. It's training camp, but it's a start, right?
A friend of mine passed me a link to a critique (alltooflat.com) of Hush, bashing it and comparing the writing to other stories. Apparently, this guy isn't a fan of Loeb.
For some reason, the way he was talking about the swerve regarding Wolverine, I was thinking Vince Russo should read this article.
The more I think about it, the more dissatisfied I am. I keep thinking that there's more to the story, since there are a ton of things that need explaining. Not even major Hush-related stuff even, but little things. For example, how did Poison Ivy get control of Superman?
p.s. When Tommy Elliot gets shot in issue 8 of 'Hush,' it wasn't really him. It was Clayface. I'm kinda torn on Clayface, since while the character is cool, it REALLY detracts from the pseudo-realism of the Batman stories.
"When this bogus term alternative rock was being thrown at every '70s retro rehash folk group, we were challenging people to new sonic ideas. If some little snotty anarchist with an Apple Mac and an attitude thinks he invented dance music and the big rock group is coming into his territory, [that's] ridiculous." - Bono, 1997
I liked the story a lot. The conclusion wasn't a let-down to me. I came close on guessing the identity of Hush as Clarence, the Butler for Thomas Elliot.
The same story could've been told in 9 issues if they wanted to cut a little filler. The best issues were Batman #613 and 610. (Pt. 3 + Pt. 6)
I think Jim Lee deserves 90% of the credit for this success and Loeb deseves about 10%. No matter what Azzeralo does next, without Lee it won't be as good.
Apparently the problem with Riddler is that a lot of DC writers think he's too difficult a character to write for. I guess DC's brightest minds can't put their heads together and come up with a few decent riddles. That would certainly explain why he's made the fewest recent appearances of Batman's "major" foes.
"When this bogus term alternative rock was being thrown at every '70s retro rehash folk group, we were challenging people to new sonic ideas. If some little snotty anarchist with an Apple Mac and an attitude thinks he invented dance music and the big rock group is coming into his territory, [that's] ridiculous." - Bono, 1997
Slestak, you got a crappy tape or your vcr sucks or your tv sucks (or just needs the colours adjusted). I'm currently a customer service technician (clerk) at a temporary media distrobution center (video rental place)