Batman Hush is not a very deep story but it summarizes everything I love about Batman. He’s versatile, he can be a detective, a master combatant, a globe trotter, a fellow hero among hero and a dark avenger. His relationships with his friends and family are showcased.

It’s the perfect starter Batman comic without being just his origin or starting years.

Riddler is Jeph Loeb's favorite villain.
Jeph Loeb was Matt Reeves' screenwriting teacher.
Riddler is the villain of The Batman directed and written by Matt Reeves.
Everything makes sense now.

The idea of Jason Todd being Hush keeps me up at night, wishing that it were true.

A friend of mine described Batman: Hush as "Baby's first Batman Comic" and I'd say that's a fairly accurate summary of it

Imagine if villains tended to recruit Riddler for their big plans, not to help them, but to distract him so he doesn't give the whole operation away. You have to lie to him about the plan and give him some useless makework to do, because in his own way he is easily the biggest snitch in Gotham.

Despite the mixed reviews, Hush is still one of my all time favourite Batman stories. Jim Lee's artwork is so stunning and recognisable.

I remember an old forum post where people were arguing about the best and worst Batman stories and I still remember one post that I thought summed up Hush's quality pretty well:

A great entry point for a Batman fan who is just getting into the comics side of things, but holds up less and less the more and better Batman stories you read.

You get great value with the Hush trade as a new comics fan: Jim Lee art, an appearance from all the classic rogues you'd know from the animated series, and the pacing is fast and full of action and excuses for splash pages (which plays to Jim Lee's strengths). The characterization is... OK for the most part, with everyone's personality again being somewhat consistent to what a casual fan would remember from the animated series. And the mystery itself isn't too bad, with plenty of twists, and to the average new reader the Thomas Elliot reveal probably doesn't come across nearly as telegraphed as it does to long time readers because the way he's talked about makes it seem like he's a long time supporting cast member who's been around a while (Loeb tells you he's Bruce's childhood friend, so naive new comics readers would probably assume that this isn't the first story he's ever appeared in), whereas long time readers who have been seasoned by lackluster writing and thus familiar with the common pitfalls of lazy mystery plotting  saw it coming from a mile away.

If it was one of the first five or so Batman stories you ever read, you probably loved it. If you'd been reading Batman for at least a few years and read a lot of the fan-favorite classics that preceded it, then you were probably at least a bit underwhelmed by Loeb's writing on this story.

If I had a nickel for every time Jim Lee's art saved a mediocre story by an acclaimed Batman writer, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice.

The most notable story where the villain's plot is driven by his childhood friendship with Bruce Wayne...and the villain isn't Black Mask?
Poor Roman can't catch a break

I have a big soft spot for Hush because it's the first Batman comic I ever read, so it's very nostalgic for me.

Hush is like a popcorn movie, it’s a thrill ride with great moments and fantastic visuals. But when you stop to think about it you’re like, “wait a minute”.
The original has the beautiful art, but heart of hush by paul dini has the awesome story.

I never notice all the details you mentioned regarding background characters and the shape of panels. Additionally I had no idea the original master planner was supposed to be Jason. This is why I love your videos so much. As I always say, THE Batman channel on YT. Thanks Salazar 🦇.

even though this story has a lot of problems the reveal of the Riddler being behind everything the fight with the Joker and the reveal of Jason Todd setting up under the Red Hood are some of the best Batman moments ever in my opinion!

As a hardcore Batman fan, I thank you so much for this video and the ending of it where you break down the fall of Batman comics after this story. You really hit the nail on the head.

Also, Paul Dini doesn’t get enough credit for what he did with Hush during his run.

33:35 Yep.

Not only did they make a new lacklustre villain in Hush, they sort of ruined the pre-existing character of Black Mask in doing so.

Roman Sionis was the original anti-Bruce Wayne, and Hush's introduction has since reduced him to being a two-bit super mobster in the comics.

It would have been the perfect Batman story if it'd ended with Jason Todd being Hush.

“The Batman of the Opera.”
Very good.

Hush is a story that's better for new fans to the Batman comic mythos. Once you've been reading various Batman stories from the prior years, you see more cracks in the story than when you first read it. I agree that it is more style over substance, but there is a degree of substance. If it hadn't been tampered with by the higher-ups at DC, it could have been a story for the ages. Agree with the last couple minutes of this video as to the consequences of the comic. Hope you're doing well man. Looking forward to when you get to Paul Dini's run on Detective Comics.

Chuck Dixon explained his frustration on this issue when writing stories when his ideas got nowhere with editors after O’Neil I feel like if we had an editor that could’ve guided the writers instead of let them do their own thing with all Batman titles we’d expect better from this story when it comes down to continuity

Something I just thought of—imagine Riddler made up the motivations of the other villains to make himself look superior, more sinister. New head cannon 😵‍💫