I actually had something to do with Killer Moth's inclusion in this story.  Ed Brubaker had sent out a request on the DC Message Boards at the time (where I was a poster) asking for recommendations for a Batman villain to be used in an upcoming arc.  I can't recall his stipulations but whatever they were, I thought Killer Moth might not be a bad idea and suggested as much.  Brubaker responded along the lines of "that could work" and then we got that opening scene with a dead Killer Moth (or henchman dressed as Killer Moth).  I don't think Moth fit in neatly with his plans since he rebooted Paul Sloane's history both pre and post Crisis and made him his big villain, but he did include Killer Moth for about all of one panel.

I had completely forgotten about the Tarantula/Nightwing rape controversy until I saw this post. I never read those issues but I remember hearing about it somewhere when I was getting these back issues in 2011 and 2012. I didn't know there was a huge backlash from the fans.

War Crimes was a four-part story that ran in Detective comics #809 and #810 and Batman #643 and #644. I read it this morning mostly to get it out of the way because I don't like it very much.

I made a mistake in the previous post. War Crimes does not reveal that Stephanie is still alive. War Crimes ends with the revelation that Leslie Thompkins withheld medical care from Stephanie, and that's why she died. It's a terrible terrible characterization of Leslie Thompkins that makes no sense. I suppose, other than that, War Games is well written, with guest appearances by the Joker and Black Mask.

Also, Arturo Rodriguez is one of my least favorite media figures ever depicted in comics. Bleccch!

It was some time later (although I forget where) that it was revealed that Thompkins faked Stephanie's death.

War Crimes is a top candidate for stories that are best forgotten.

The question for today is: How do CCF members feel about Hush?

I'm up to Detective Comics #850 and I wanted to talk about Hush and how comic book fans feel about him before moving forward. (I don't know when I'll have time to review the last 50 issues and hit the high points that I missed lately.)

I think Hush is a great character!

But, yes, there are a lot of bad Hush appearances. And they give me pain because of how much I like the character because I was lucky that I read his best appearances first.

I didn't read comics between 2004 and 2011, so I missed the character of Hush completely when he first came out. (His debut in 2003 was in the regular Batman title, which I wasn't reading.) So I didn't see Hush until I started picking up back issues at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. And my first exposure to Hush was this:



I soon had the conclusion in Batman #685. And I love this two-part story. This arc and the Batwoman/Question issues of Detective Comics were probably the main reason I stuck with going to the comic book shops and looking through back-issue bins and learning how to order online and filling in the 2004 to 2011 gap in my Detective Comics collection and eventually deciding to work on a complete collection of Detective Comics.

I also got several issues of the Heart of Hush arc in Detective #846 to #850 when going through the bins and I ended up ordering the other issues online because I found the whole storyline so intriguing.

And also the nice art from Nguyen and Fridolfs!

Hush is yet another acquaintance of Bruce Wayne who somehow ends up as a Batman villain. (Catman, the Cavalier, Anthony Lupus the werewolf and Black Mask all come to mind.) It's tempting to say we didn't really need another one, but I find the tale of Thomas Elliott very compelling, especially the way it's told in "Heart of Hush." His revenge against Batman through Catwoman is basically pretty silly, but it just reeks of classic comic-book silliness, so I find it very satisfying.

(My one problem with Heart of Hush is how easily Hush takes out Catwoman. NO FREAKING WAY! But I just pretend there's an extra lost issue where Hush's plan to capture Catwoman is as elaborate as his revenge plot against Bruce Wayne.)

So my initial exposure to Hush was through Heart of Hush and then the "Faces of Evil" issues featuring Hush and Catwoman. These are some pretty good comics! Especially the "Faces of Evil" issues. I think part of my affection for Hush derives from how much I like the way Catwoman is portrayed.

But after I read those, I came across some other Hush appearances. Like in "War Games" where he is skulking on Gotham window ledges and acting all mysterious.

I eventually got the original Hush storyline in trade paperback form from the library. It's mostly pretty dumb but I like it anyway. NICE ART from Jim Lee and Scott Williams! Jeph Loeb is incredibly over-rated but I like "Hush" a heck of a lot better than "The Long Halloween."

So I like Hush. I sure do love those story arcs I saw when I got back into Batman in 2011 and 2012. But I don't think I've ever seen a good Hush appearance since then. Is he hard to write? Is it hard to come up with Hush ideas after he's cut Catwoman open and removed her heart and stolen Bruce's identity?

I forgot to mention that the second Ventriloquist - Peyton Riley - was his girlfriend before she hooked up with Scarface. And he dumped her. Has there ever been a story about Peyton Riley seeking revenge against Thomas Elliott? Maybe I missed it. I think it's a pretty good idea!

I'm up to Detective Comics #852 and Batman #685. This is the "Faces of Evil" two part story with Hush and Catwoman.

I love this story so much! Hush is wandering the world, masquerading as Bruce Wayne and taking advantage of that to rebuild his fortune and begin anew. But he runs into Catwoman in Vietnam, and she's not in a forgiving mood after that unpleasant business where he removed her heart from her body and attached it to a machine and was going to kill her to get revenge on Batman.

I think this story is where I finally came to terms with post-Crisis Catwoman. I love Old School Selina Kyle! The one whose father owned a pet shop and then she became a flight attendant and then got amnesia and became Catwoman just because that's what Gothamites do! And also, she had a brother who became the King of Cats in one issue.

So I wasn't really all that enamored of Catwoman for a very long time.

But the story in Faces of Evil brought me around. I read the New 52 Catwoman for a while, even though it was not really very good for a time. I love those issues where Selina is a Gotham mob boss!

I'm up to Detective Comics #870, the concluding chapter of a four-part arc about a Joker imposter who decides to turn half of the citizens of Gotham into Joker imposters.

It's one of the better Joker stories from the last ten years … and the Joker isn't even in it!

Just a few more issues and I'll be up to #881, the last issue before the New 52, when the numbering started over again at #1. I was thinking of stopping at #881, but there's a lot of New 52 Detective that I only read once that I don't remember that well, so I'll probably keep going, at least to the end of the New 52. I do remember that I wasn't much impressed with New 52 Detective, but it wasn't that bad. And I actually kind of liked that run at the end when Gordon was Batman.