Batman: The Hush Saga Omnibus

Batman: Hush

by Jeph Loeb, Paul Dini, Jim Lee (Illustrator)

Batman sets out on a simple mission to discover the identity of the mysterious villain wreaking havoc in his life known as Hush--but that was only the beginning. From master storytellers Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Paul Dini and some of the industry's greatest creators, the entire Hush saga is collected its entirety for the first time ever!

Gotham City is infected by a crime epidemic and all of Batman's enemies have emerged to throw his life into utter chaos. But little do they know that they're all pawns of the villainous Hush in an elaborate game of revenge against Bruce Wayne. As their battles continue, how personal will this fight get? And how will both Batman and Bruce Wayne keep the people he loves safe?

Born from Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's seminal classic Hush, this new villain has quickly embedded himself in the great pantheon of the Dark Knight's rich rogues gallery and one of the most complex characters in all of comics. Finally, his entire saga is collected in this oversize omnibus hardcover for the first time ever, with stories from Loeb, Lee, Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen.

Collects Batman #608-619, 685, Gotham Knights #50-55, 60-71, 73-74, Detective Comics #846-850, 852, 855, a Hush interlude from Wizard #0, and the Hush tales from Streets of Gotham #1-4, 14 and 16-21.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels

800 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2019

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

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

My journey through the Batman: The Hush Saga Omnibus was a tale of two very different experiences. The undeniable highlight is the original "Hush" storyline, which anchors this collection. Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee deliver a masterpiece here—the artwork is stunning, the mystery is captivating, and it's just a genuinely fun, absorbing read that thankfully constitutes a significant portion of the omnibus.

However, once you move beyond that initial brilliance, the quality drops off considerably. Stories like "Hush Returns" and "Heart of Hush" range from merely tolerable to downright disappointing. And then there's the truly baffling inclusion of issues like those focused on Poison Ivy that have no connection to the "Hush" narrative whatsoever. These are, frankly, awful and feel like unnecessary padding.

In short, this is a highly uneven collection. While some might manage to find a few redeeming qualities in the latter half, the truth is that the only legitimately fantastic content is the initial "Hush" story. If that's what you're after, I'd strongly recommend saving yourself some grief and just grabbing the standalone deluxe edition of the original run instead.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review)
There was a time when I thought Batman was the pinnacle of comics storytelling. Sure, he has more well known, name dropped stories than any other character in comics. But those handful of famous arc aside, I still would have thought him the most consistently written character on any comic companies roster. Sure, when DC have been increasingly beating that dead bat to death of late, having little else of value anyone wants to shake an ever increasing amount of foldin' money at for the express privilege of keeping up with his adventures. Still, pick up any Batman issue and you're going to get a bangin' read, right? Wrong. The more of this character I foolishly invite into my collection, the more and more I'm coming to realise that the majority of this characters back catalogue is average at best. Especially the further we progress away from the turn of the century. Have you valued your time and money so poorly as to read anything Batman related in the last few years. May the Bat God have mercy on you if you have.
Hush is probably the most overrated of the well known Batman stories, ever. I mentioned in my review of the book itself, but Hush is what should be expected as the bare minimum for ANY comic book. Kick ass art and a competent story. That is all Hush is and I'm being generous on the 'competent' part of the story. That this is considered noteworthy in any way shape or form is a sad indictment on post 2000 comics.
The follow up run by Lieberman was better in some places, worse in others. The art was certainly several steps down, and having all the 'Hush' character stuff smoshed together kinda goes to show how limp and languid the character really is.
Dini's run is the easily the best thing here, and puts all that came before it to shame. Not because its spectacular comic storytelling at it's finest. But its good. And in this day and age, good is nearly the new god tier. And I've already got the Paul Dini omnibus, so if I want to read his Hush arc, I'll just go there. Can we maybe get some more Batman pre 2000 in omnibus form. Maybe just cancel one of the 429 Scott Snyder books the collected editions department apparently think is the only thing worth releasing, and give us something infinitely better. 3/5


OmniBen.

[Olivia Plasencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I picked up my first Jeph Loeb graphic novel, I have been obsessed with getting my hands on more. I just started reading Batman graphic novels this year. I am more a Superman kind of gal. But Loeb's writing raises the bar not just in comics but also in mysteries. Set with the main character as Batman and in the gritty city of Gotham Loeb is free to let his imagination run wild and with the gallery of villains that Batman has acquired over the years the sky was the limit and Loeb pretty much hit it. What sends this book into outer space is the amazing artwork of Jim Lee. I confess this is the first of Lee's work I have seen on anything other than a poster. His knowledge of human anatomy and the way he has the characters move gives a great sense of movement and action. I would find myself looking at panels for a bit even though I wanted to rush faster into the story and the crime wave that was targeted this time at Batman himself. Alot of twists and turns and plenty red herrings for good measure this book had me guessing but for once I knew who was behind it, well sort of.... I was let's say half right. A great read and also a wonderful chance to get an eyeful of amazing art. A must buy for any Loeb or Lee fan. A HUGE must if you like Batman.

Also, I found this book while on vacation in Dallas and I am thrilled because I almost had to order it!

[Langston Lardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 4.5/10 imo. Love some good Batman stories and this one is of course up there. There’s a lot of stuff in this book that develops Batman as a character that is still with the character to this day, I see a lot of people either love or dislike the book for the whole “Batman can do anything” type trope, but honestly I didn’t get that vibe from this book at all. It feels like classic early 2000 Batman stories. I never realized how long hush stuck around with all the stories post the main Hush book issues. Heart of Hush being one of the absolute stand outs. Jim Lees art still stands as some of my favorite to ever exist, the guy can just draw some solid Batman and I eat it up every time. It was nice also seeing big story beats I’d had always heard about, like the first “kinda sorta” return of Jason Todd that most certainly planted the seeds for under the red hood, and the iconic cover pages you see on just about every Batman/dc social media accounts. Overall solid Batman stories that give me more of the character and city that I love.

[Sean Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this entire collection Hush blossoms from a one-note mystery villain to a classic rogues gallery troublemaker then under Dini to a nuanced and interesting foe with the face of Bruce Wayne but operates in plain sight like his dark, warped, intolerant shadow.
Like Hush before it, the follow-up comics are light and fast to read, pleasant, classic bat-family stories not too bogged down in darkness and lore.
I was never a huge fan of Hush, but I enjoyed it as a beautiful, broad, brisk colourful splash and as a kitchen-sink modern entry point to Batman. So the darker follow-ups, while varying in quality and entertainment, are nice little niche components that build Hush to be an iconic and lasting Batman villain.

[Joakim Ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always return to this story. But maybe not necessary this book. While the main Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb story is what got me into hush. The stories of heart of hush and house of hush is something I wanted to rediscover, with now more DC batman knowledge. But it is still those main 12 issues that defines the character for me. I kept my Absolute Hush for that very reason. But in the greater Batman readathon-scope. This is a fine edition indeed. Now hush...

[Hoch Hech]

No entiendo si esta edición al final se publicó o no. El hecho de que supuestamente haya salido hace dos años pero no haya ninguna reseña me da a entender que no. De todos modos, yo me guardo la mía para cuando relea alguno de estos polémicos números.

[TheMadReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This omnibus has been a long time coming. I’m probably one of the few that isn’t a fan of the “Hush” story by Loeb but I am a fan of Dini’s “Heart of Hush.” Also nice to have all of AJ Lieberman’s issues on the character in one big book.

All in all, essential for the Batman mythos…

[Caio Folger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the dynamic and developments between Catwoman and Bruce, but the overall conflict and mystery was very underbaked and honestly a little too obvious. I always enjoy the rogues working together for a united goal though.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5