Storyline: Heart of Hush: The Last Good Day (Part 2 of 5)
Date: August 6, 2008
Price: $2.99
Writer: Paul Dini
Artists: Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs

Synopsis: A “Batman: R.I.P.” tie-in! Secrets shared years ago between Bruce Wayne and Tommy Elliott begin to have dangerous repercussions in the present. Why is this mystery driving Hush to destroy Batman’s life? And what part does Catwoman play in Hush’s plans?

Opinion: As we saw last time with the first Detective Comics “Batman RIP” tie-in, it’s not really a tie-in at all— it pretty much has nothing to do with “RIP” and can stand alone. But we don’t care, because what’s going on in Detective right now is much better than the main Grant Morrison Batman story anyway, which is confusing the hell out of us.

Once again Paul Dini gives us a great—in fact, even better—story and Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs give us fantastic art. The main villain? Hush, baby! ;D One of my favorites. Click through the jump and read more about this overall awesome issue.

First off, I HIGHLY recommend this issue and the last one—which had its flaws, but was still very good. And for that reason I don’t want to talk too in-depth about the comic and spoil it. The issue itself flows well and is easy to understand. At the same time, it’s jam-packed with twists, turns, and excitement—a ton for just one issue. Plus, Dini gives us more of Hush’s origin, pulling us deeper into Hush’s demented mind, revealing more of what he sees as justification for his obsessive grudge against Bruce/Batman.

Yes, he knows who Batman is. Thomas Elliot (aka Hush) and Bruce Wayne were childhood friends, but hatred and anger grew inside of Tommy, as we see in the flashback—handled beautifully in the issue with great colors that are very reminiscent of the original Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee story arc, Batman: Hush. Batman: Hush is one of my favorite Bat-stories, as I’ve mentioned before; even though you don’t need to have read it to understand what’s going on with Hush (and Batman) in “Heart of Hush”—Paul Dini does a spectacular job retelling and adding to the character, his origin, and his relationship with Bruce/Batman—it’s definitely worth your while to pick it up in your spare time.

But anyway, as Batman tells Robin and Nightwing in this issue, Hush is dangerous, and they—that includes everyone close to Batman—need to be on guard. “Strike at every shadow if you have to,” he tells them.

“… It’s not like you to be paranoid,” Tim points out.

“With an enemy who knows us so well, I have to be. Even Ra’s Al Ghul keeps our secrets out of his own skewed sense of honor. But with Hush, Tommy Elliot, it’s different.”

There are a lot of characters in this issue—Hush, Nightwing, Robin, Selina Kyle, Zatanna, some minor villains … even Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow—but it’s handled smoothly, and nothing gets out of hand. Each has a purpose and seems to know his or her place, and Dini doesn’t let them overstep those boundaries.

Last time I said it was kind of weird getting narration from Hush, and that it was a bit … clunky, I guess. This time it’s done much better and it’s much more interesting—so no complaining here.

I can’t WAIT for the next issue, which is going to feature the Scarecrow. DEFINITELY pick this up!

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