Batman #160: The Bane of Silence

While it continues to be a sales juggernaut, Hush 2 has struggled to achieve anything close to the critical reception its predecessor earned over two decades ago. Where the original excelled with its classical simplicity, the sequel stumbles in its attempts to be clever, playing the worst renditions of already tired hits from the last decade or so of Batman comics. Issue #160 is the first to truly recapture the thrills of the original Hush, even if it remains tainted by plotting undermined by Loeb’s ignorance of recent characterizations and continuity.

The tangled plot threads finally coalesce here as Hush steps fully into the spotlight as the villain of the story. His plan, while still written with convenience, brings together the previously discordant use of the extended Bat-family and unites them with larger-than-life threats that lend his schemes much-needed tension and coherence. Each character begins to take on a meaningful role in the narrative, no longer feeling like obligatory window dressing. Riddler, Batgirl, and Nightwing help flesh out the tension of this arc beyond the weaknesses of its setup. Jason’s strange characterization, while still questionable, is at least given a justification that could make more sense in hindsight than it did upon his arrival in issue #159.

The backbone of it all is Jim Lee’s exceptional illustration, as the story finally begins to align with his strengths as an artist. Despite my earlier criticisms, this book remains a big, dumb, action-figure-smashing spectacle — and it’s blindly fun because of Lee. His layouts burst with motion, and every punch seems to vibrate off the page. Alex Sinclair conjures an atmosphere that’s equal parts detective noir and superhero adventure. His masterful focus on lighting pulls the reader deeper into the immersive world of Lee’s art. The writing, which has often felt like an afterthought to the marketing, is overshadowed — in a good way — by an issue that finally puts Jim Lee’s brilliance front and center. It’s given weight, tension, and raw superhero schlock as a result.