Batman: Hush
Instead of putting little chapters apart, I’m just going to do my review in one big entry.
Synopsis: Batman is flying high in the sky one day when a Batarang cuts the line he’s hanging from and lands in crime alley: the very alley where his parents were murdered, and where he met Jason Todd (Robin II). He calls upon the help of a childhood friend who has experience in the field of surgery: Dr. Thomas Elliot. Then after Batman is fixed up, Elliot is alledgedly murdered by the Joker. Inferiated by this, Batman starts to attack the Joker, while Harley Quinn and Catwoman try to intervene. Then ex-police commissoner James Gordon (successfully) steps in and stops Batman from murdering the Clown Prince of Crime. Later on, we see the Dark Knight break into a LexCorp jet and retrieve the alluring Talia Head, which is all just a ploy to get the attention of her father, Ra’s al Ghul. When Batman returns to the Batcave, and Talia in custody of Catwoman, he finds a sword in one of the control panels. He realizes this is Ra’s calling card and heads out to North Africa. Meanwhile, Ra’s has sent the master murderer, Lady Shiva, to retrieve Talia from the clutches of Catwoman. After a fight breaks out between the three, Talia is the only one left standing, and then cures Catwoman. Then Batman arrives with some important information regarding a tapped Lazarus Pit. Talia then questions his feelings for her, by asking “Is She worth It?” He replies, “Yes.” Possibly later that night, Batman and Catwoman are in the Batcave discussing all of what had just happened. After seeing her in the secret lair, the Boy Wonder Tim Drake starts to fight with Catwoman, saying “She can’t be trusted.” Batman intervenes by saying that he does, and that’s all that matters. After this brawl, Catwoman hops on one of the motorcycles to catch up with Huntress in her new suit. After a small fight near a church, the Scarecrow comes around on Huntress’ motorcycle to fight with Bats. After Scarecrow loses, he is just about to tell Batman who is all behind this, when his head is cut open with a mini-batarang. After that, a masked stranger reveals himself, and reveals himself to be the long-dead Jason Todd! After they fight each other, Batman starts to realize the flaws in this Jason: the acrobatics are that of Nightwing, and he said all he wanted to be was “loved”, but this was a dead give away, because in the end Jason knew Batman loved him. Then he turns out to be Clayface and melts away. Wanting answers, Batman pays a visit to Oracle (Barbara Gordon), at which point she finds out how the enemy was able to allude Batman: Harold the Mechanic. Batman goes to pay a visit to him on a bridge, when he shot in the head and killed. The murderer turns out to be the real Dr. Elliot, and the other one Clayface. After a Batmobile blows up, Batman pushes Elliot into the water, where he is presumed to be carried out to sea…
Review: SUPERB! ONE OF THE BETTER BATMAN PLOTLINES EVER CREATED! The animation was perfect. And now I like it that Batman and Catwoman’s relationship is evolving into something more. Another interesting tidbit is that I feel Batman is coming to an end soon: Two-Face had plastic surgery so now he has one face. Scarecrow’s head was sliced open…these villains seem to be dropping like flies! But I hope Tom Elliot comes back, he was a great character. But I truly do wish that I had the first 6 and chapter 8 of the series. I also wish that they would update the DC Comics Guide to Batman.