Reviewer: John Babos
Story Title: The Assassins (Hush, part 9)
Written by: Jeph Loeb
Penciled by: Jim Lee
Inked by: Scott Williams
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Richard Starkings
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
Batman hasn’t been this good in a long time. Wow. There’s a reason that Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s “Hush” arc has been the best and most-ordered comic over the last nine months. Its the epitome of what comic book “literature” should be. Solid from top to bottom on the creative end. Editor Bob Schreck should be commended for helping put this team project together and pulling it off. Wow.
Chapter nine of the twelve-part Hush arc has guest-stars galore. I won’t spoil this story for you, but I will give you a flavor for who’s who in this issue. Its a pretty big guest roster. First we have Talia Head, current Lexcorp head and daughter to another guest star, her father, master assassin and immortal Ra’s Al Ghul. From the pages of the Superman franchise, we also see the President of the United States Lex Luthor, and Vice President Pete Ross, as well as more typical Batman guests in retired Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, “two-faced” no more, but still shrewd and a really relevant villain once again. Lady Shiva and Catwoman round out the guest stars in an issue that also has regular mainstay Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne / Batman’s longtime confidante, who adds some perspective and provides advice to the book’s title hero.
So many stars, but surprisingly well connected and used, in a story that seems to set up the concluding issues of the Hush arc.
While this issue isn’t as new reader friendly as previous issues, readers still do a get a flavor for the main plot points of the Hush arc so far. Batman is being stalked by someone who knows that he’s Bruce Wayne. His boyhood friend Tommy Elliot has been killed. His relationship with Catwoman has deepened with him revealing his secret identity to her and their embarking on a relationship that they’ve been tiptoeing around for years.
As I said in a previous review of a chapter of this excellent Hush arc, which is also rings true of this issue, “In all my time collecting and reading comic books, so few “hot” books have lived up to their hype. This month’s Batman is a clear exception to the rule — it surpasses the hype. Great art and a solid story. Jim and Jeph deliver, again.”
Any review of this book won’t do it justice, nor do I want to reveal major new plot developments. However, I will tell you a few things. This issue does what others have done, and really make Gotham City and the Batcave characters onto themselves — in a only a few respective panels. Jim Lee’s attention to detail is fantastic. We also have a classic sword fight between longtime foes Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul in addition to a cat fight between Lady Shiva and Catwoman. The Hush arc is also moved along with revelations gleaned from a dynamic confrontation, beautifully scripted by Jeph Loeb, between Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent.
While I could have sworn that Lady Shiva was killed off in another DC book a year or so ago, I can’t recall which one, my questioning of whether she should even be in this story was the only odd part about reading this issue — and that lasted only three seconds.
Pick up Batman #616. A solid and entertaining read for new and old fans alike. Really what a Batman story should be
