Batman (2016-) #161

Batman (2016) (Single Issues)

by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee (Artist)

Batman’s battle with Hush takes a dark turn when Damian (Robin) and Bane team up!

Genres: Comics, Batman, Dc Comics

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2025

About the author

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent issue, but the weakest so far. Of course the artwork by Jim Lee is fantastic as always, but for me personally it’s just not enough anymore to save the book overall.
The story just feels very weak and empty. In this issue particularly, nothing really happened. There are just not enough pages at all. Each time I read one of these chapters, I feel like it’s not long enough and not enough happened to justify it as a chapter or note worthy story in Batman’s life.
I seriously can’t see how this will satisfactorily end in 2 more issues….
I’m hoping the next issue is more substantial

[Garth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original Hush arc is probably my favorite of all time. This, this isn’t.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genuinely when I look at this issue and I try and think: what actually happened, what did I get out of that, or what did I particularly enjoy? I have a really hard time answering any of those questions. Jim Lee’s art continues to be amazing, I can’t doubt that in the slightest, but the writing and story just feels so backwards. Batman consistently is written like he despises the existence of his family and he literally commented on his they are his weakness Hush can exploit. I am hoping that the end of this issue is showing a trajectory where the rest of the bat family can show just how wrong he is in that point, but this issue did not help to progress that or any ideas in the slightest. This issue opens as we left off, in one corner hush has a blade to Damian’s neck (also why is everyone so keen on just calling each other by their real names all the time?!) as bane fights alongside Robin against hush and his cronies, while in the other corner the joker has Red Hood and Nightwing cornered with two guns as he threatens to take them out. Robin ends up employing a new tactic, based on a tactic batman used in year one, activating a switch that calling a bunch of robotic robins to throw off the enemies and give them the upper hand. He was very conveniently given this tactic by his mother. This part of the game is seemingly over and Hush decides to retreat with his cohorts. Batman is pretty sick of this being treated like a game with matches, and I can’t blame him, so he attempts, and fails, to jump out the window and go after Hush as he is escaping in a helicopter. Luckily Damian was there to pull batman up again. Now that they have a moment to breathe they can talk about the elephant in the room…bane. Apparently Damian broke him out because bane owes him a debt (since when?!) but Bruce can really only think of Alfred when he sees Bane, and immediately knocks bane down with one punch. Ordering Damian to take him back to black gate immediately. I would have liked a bit more explanation on what the hell that was, but yeah please put him back in jail.

We now jump back over town where Jason is still written as “erratic” and basically begs joker to try and kill them. Nightwing moves fast, as joker misses every shot, as he tackles Jason out the window from the lighthouse, safely into the water below. Joker continues to fire down on them, and we actually loose track of Jason entirely.

We now jump back to batman as he follows a lead, as Damian told him where Dick went looking for Jason. In that alley Batman finds a spot of blood which he takes a sample of to identity later, and a creepy basement level where Hush setup his little toy set of Gotham and paper figures of the bat family that we saw in the preview for this comic storyline. Batman also saw a cut out of Jim, who if you remember is currently in the hospital from that tablet blowing up in his face and is currently being joined by Barbara in her batgirl costume. Batman watches the two talk from across the street, as they have a conversation about Batman’s choice to save the joker’s life. Jim is still adamant that it may have been something he had to do, to be better than him and not succumb to the joker’s level. But with everything Barbara has been through with the joker (quick flashbacks to killing joke) I can’t fully blame her for not appreciating batman saving his life. But it turns out Hush knew batman would be here, and planted explosives on the building he is standing on! As batman was thrown off the building, Barbara spotted his body falling and quickly glided over and grabbed him mid air. She still isn’t on the best of terms and let him take a hard fall into the alley where they landed. They then proceeded to fight as she is worried about the life of her father because he let the joker live…yep…they are now fighting…sigh. Because they decided to slap Barbara back in the batgirl suit, they also have her some Oracle style tech upgrades…including invisibility. Batman was able to use heat sensors in his cowl to locate her and fight her, but she then decided to whip out a police baton to continue fighting him. The entire time their conversation indicates that she is letting her emotions dictate her actions, and she makes the point that maybe he should do that a bit more rather than cutting himself off from everyone else. Suddenly their fight is interrupted by one of Nightwing’s sticks bouncing between them, as batman looks over to see like 1/3rd of the bat family standing there. Huntress, Nightwing, Robin, Catwoman, and riddle (whose presence even confuses batman) are all standing there. Part of me is hopeful that this may be the intervention batman needs right now to get back on track and really end this terrible game. But part of me also thinks that based on his reaction (and the current writing) that seeing them won’t affect the story at all. Also, where’s Cass at? Wack.

[Jason Holtzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well the art is still nice to look at.

I have to admit that mucking up the launch of your flagship title (a new Batman #1) helmed by a team of beloved creators for this story is quite funny and should be considered publishing malpractice.

Just about every character save from Hush and Joker is acting out of sorts, making for a rather grueling read. With only two issues left to go, I’m not sure what this is really about or what it wants to try to say. It’s quite something.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce deserves this behavior from Barbara, and Barbara deserves better than all of this. Bruce is so insufferable right now, it’s hard to read. I wish they’d put more of Talia’s involvement on the page, and I can’t believe they built so much suspense off of the Damian and Bane team up when the explanation was just going to be events of a previous (less widely read) book.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hush...Jim Lee...Batman (and the whole gang)...Loeb.

Wow! Can't wait to get this all collected into a hardback volume.

A huge cast of good and bad characters!

I love me a good Hush story. He really hates Bruce!

[Edward Covington · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5💰’s

Starting to think that Jeph and Jim may have been motivated by something other than a burning desire to tell a follow up Hush story… and is this “story” just going to dangle out there unfinished now? This was a serious misstep with a beloved Batman storyline.

[Gabriel Dickens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything is out of character for the sake of the plot, a plot done over and over again 😭

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me cuesta tratar de entender que esto forma parte de la cronología troncal de Batman. Un retroceso brutal.

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun! Felt a bit like something we already seen but still entertaining enough to kep me going!

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 5 out of 5]

90

Here for the art, will appreciate the story for what it is. Some beautiful water colored flashbacks and a double page spread the shows Jim Lee still’s got chops at 60 years old!!!

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art screams blockbuster but the story is meh. Every month I cannot remember what I read the previous month...

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.

It keeps getting better and better! Love this series. So good. Give it a shot ! Read it! The art is just beautiful as well.

[Wm · Rating 2 out of 5]

When will I learn not to read Jeph Loeb?

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️. Same, boring, Batman beats.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is good at least.

[Lukáš Kudela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its mess but I still low-key enjoying it :D

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4
Better than the prior Hush issue I read a while back, which was pretty mediocre. But the characterization feels off.

[Mark Cubillos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Lee’s art is masterful and Hush is still a great villain. The joker dilemma will always plague the Batverse characters.

[Derrick McCall · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I... I knew you'd come, OLD FRIEND."

Jesus Christ... I hate how much of a chore it is to read this series. How do you do H2SH (HUSH 2) and only NOW bring in Catwoman?

I cannot believe it's gonna take a full year to do six issues, or just the first half, of this story...