History ComicBook / BatmanHush

* ArtShift: Lee uses painted art for flashbacks (lighter softer tones for when young Bruce and Tommy se the Alan Scott Green Lantern, and blood red for when Batman revisits the death of Jason and the crippling of Barbara).

''Batman: Hush'' is a 12-issue story, out of the monthly ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comic, published between December 2002-September 2003, written by Creator/JephLoeb and illustrated by Creator/JimLee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.

%%* OddFriendship: Batman continually examines his relationship to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Big Blue]] this way.

* BlackComedy: The Joker, in one of the reprint covers, wears a shirt reading “I Killed Jason Todd And All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt.”

It marked Jim Lee’s first major return to monthly comics since Heroes Reborn for Marvel in the mid 90s, plus his first collaboration with Jeph Loeb (who to that point had made a name for himself on ''ComicBook/ChallengersOfTheUnknown'', plus the ''Legends of the Dark Knight'' Halloween specials, ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' and ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'').

The plot goes something like this: an old/new enemy of the Batman is striking at him in all new, all-murdery ways. At the same time, the B-man undergoes a deeply introspective deconstruction that brings into question his views on his allies, his villains, and himself. Characters and themes introduced here (namely Dr Thomas Elliot) show up in other cross-media places, like ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' and the ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries Batman: Arkham]]'' series.

An AnimatedAdaptation by the way of the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies had been rumored for a while, until ''WesternAnimation/BatmanHush'' was finally announced at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con as part of the 2019 lineup.

* TheTeamBenefactor: Deconstructed. This is part of how Bruce figures out that [[spoiler:Riddler, not Tommy Elliot, was the true mastermind. Yes, Elliot's wealth financed the entire operation, but that doesn't explain ''how'' he got the Arkham inmates onboard with the scheme. After all, they ''didn't'' know Elliot; they had no reason to trust him or his money. Bruce correctly concludes ''somebody'' in the rogues gallery had to have served as a liaison -- somebody the other Arkham inmates ''did'' know, ''did'' trust, and who could vouch for Elliot. The subsequent analysis of Elliot's medical records reveals it was Nygma.]]

* FridgeLogic: InUniverse example. This is part of how Bruce figures out [[spoiler: the Riddler]] was the true mastermind. [[spoiler: How did Elliot get the Arkham inmates onboard with the scheme? They didn't know him and thus had no reason to trust him or his money. Bruce correctly concludes ''somebody'' in the rogues gallery must have served as a liaison -- somebody the other Arkham inmates ''did'' know, ''did'' trust, and who could vouch for Elliot. The subsequent analysis of Elliot's medical records confirms it was Nygma.]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: [[spoiler: The Riddler admits this was part of why he selected 'Arthur Wynne' as his alias while being treated for cancer by Thomas Elliot. Aside from the obvious tribute to the inventor of the crossword puzzle, the surname always appealed to him ("Wynne, as in...''win''.")]]

* ToxicFriendInfluence: In a flashback, Thomas Wayne orders Bruce and Elliot to wait by his limousine while the three are in Metropolis. However, the kids witness a Green Lantern duking it out with Icicle, and Elliot suggests they run away to watch the battle. After much insistence, Bruce relents and leaves the safety of the car. When the two return, Bruce's father is furious and expresses how concerned he was for the children, grounding them for the rest of the day.

* WhamLine: Hush proves he knows who Batman is when he says [[spoiler: "Right Bruce?"]]

%%* AbusiveParents: Part of Hush’s backstory. Also his FreudianExcuse.

%%* BettyAndVeronica: Talia and Selina.

%%* TheCameo: Lex Luthor. Amanda Waller. Talia.

%%* VorpalPillow: How Tommy kills his mother.
%%* WhamLine: Just two words, [[spoiler: "Right Bruce?"]]
%%* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bruce and Selina do, until they don’t.
* WitchWithACapitalB: Poison Ivy and Catwoman trade insults during their fight. When the former gets the upper hand, she noticeably stutters before calling Selina a "witch".

The plot goes something like this: an old/new enemy of the Batman is striking at him in all new, all-murdery ways. At the same time, the B-man undergoes a deeply introspective deconstruction that brings into question his views on his allies, his villains, and himself. Characters and themes introduced here (namely Dr Thomas Elliot) show up in other cross-media places, like ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' and the ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries Batman: Arkham]]'' series

* EurekaMoment:
** [[spoiler: The Riddler admits he had one after healing himself in the Lazarus Pit. As he puts it, "The Lazarus Pit gives you a unique kind of...''clarity''." This is how and where he figured out Batman was Bruce Wayne.]]

* FridgeLogic: In-story example. This is part of how Bruce figures out [[spoiler: the Riddler]] was the true mastermind. [[spoiler: How did Elliot get the Arkham inmates onboard with the scheme? They didn't know him and thus had no reason to trust him or his money. Bruce correctly concludes ''somebody'' in the rogues gallery must have served as a liaison -- somebody the other Arkham inmates ''did'' know, ''did'' trust, and who could vouch for Elliot. The subsequent analysis of Elliot's medical records confirms it was Nygma.]]

"Batman: Hush" is a 12-issue story, out of the monthly ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comic, published between December 2002-September 2003, written by Creator/JephLoeb and illustrated by Creator/JimLee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bm_hush_ben_affleck_batman_trilogy_movie_1_of_3_batman_hush_of_the_red_hood_jpeg_45538_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"Without friends, no man would choose to live, though he had all other goods."]]

!!''Batman: Hush'' contains examples of:
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* TookALevelInBadass: Toyed with. The Riddler, who is generally seen as one of the least competent Batman antagonists, turns out to be the mastermind who orchestrates the entire plot. Lampshaded by Batman, who states that Nigma was never a criminal genius. The Riddler's accomplishment in deducting Batman's identity and creating the scheme is muddied however when Batman states that he can't exactly ''tell'' anyone who Batman is as a) a riddle that ''everyone'' knows the answer to is ''worthless'', and b) the second he blabbed Ra's Al Ghul would be hunting him down for the use of one of the Lazarus Pits. The only real ace the Riddler has up his sleeve as his final confrontation with Batman comes to a close is the location of the body of Jason Todd - and based on what we later learn, it's likely Nigma didn't even ''know''.

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: A variation. This is what dooms [[spoiler:Clayface pretending to be Jason. As Batman muses, to make the deception work -- to make him ''truly'' believe this ''was'' the second Robin resurrected -- 'Jason' would've called him Bruce. What makes it a variation is that Clayface ''didn't'' forget; he ''didn't'' know, as Riddler and Hush had intentionally withheld that detail. And with the later retcon that the real Jason ''was'' present during this fight, it can be hand-waved that he wasn't going to tip his hand this early.]]
Clayface didn't call him by his real name. Justified, as Hush and Riddler had withheld (and with the later retcon that the real Jason

* AnotherStoryForAnotherTime: Hush’s backstory and connection to Bruce get deeper explanations years later, during the Heart of Hush story and ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman''.
* ArtEvolution: At the start of the series, Batman is huge and stocky not unlike how Batman looks for most of ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' (apparently a conscious choice by Jim Lee). However, as the series goes on, Batman becomes slimmer until he resembles Neal Adams' version from the 70's which apparently was NOT a conscious choice by Lee. He would make Batman consistently Miller-like again in ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder.