Batman #159 – Jeph Loeb, Writer; Jim Lee, Penciller; Scott Williams, Inker; Alex Sinclair, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The first issue of this blockbuster sequel pitted Batman against the Joker – only for Joker to wind up in the clutches of Hush, Batman’s sadistic rival, who tortured the Joker to the brink of death to see if Batman would save him. Batman’s moral code is so specific that there was never a real question, and so he finds himself on the doorstep of Leslie Thompkins, begging the closest thing he has to a mother figure for help. While we’ve seen this story before, with Batman even getting Joker off death row one time when he became convinced he was innocent of that specific crime, the dialogue here is very strong. After Joker is stabilized, Batman winds up taking him to the Batcave so he can recover in a coma before being transported back to Arkham. There’s just one problem with that – Jason Todd has access to the Batcave, and he’s definitely not over his trauma related to the clown.
Jason, of course, made his first return in the original Hush – although that turned out to be Clayface in disguise, it kicked off a level of interest that made his return inevitable. And while Jason and Bruce are generally on better terms now, this event has brought back all the old anger between them. This is a more brutal fight between them than we’ve seen in a while, and while some of this is warmed-over storytelling, there’s some real emotion packed into it as well as some great action scenes. Hush is entirely off-screen this issue, as his master plan unfolds slowly and a potential accomplice is revealed. But so is an unexpected ally – one of Bruce’s deadliest villains, with a new character design, is worried enough about Hush to seek out Nightwing and Batgirl for help. This book is definitely channeling the original story, for better and worse, but it’s a very entertaining read so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
