Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman #158, Hush

Batman: Hush 2 Will Begin With Batman #158 in March 2025

Batman: Hush 2 Will Begin With Batman #158 in March 2025, to follow Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez and Mike Hawthorne's run on the title.

We know that Batman: Hush 2, or H2SH, as the kids have it, will see its four-page prelude in Justice League Unlimited. Which may just be what appeared at the end of the Hush 20th Anniversary volume. But as for the actual Hush 2 series? Bleeding Cool's scoop initially said that Hush 2, like the original Hush, would run in the ongoing Batman monthly comic book, but we didn't know if a) it would get a relaunch with a new #1 or b) continue the title's numbering like the original Hush did with Batman #608. Well, Jim Lee has announced on Instagram that it's the latter. He writes, "Yes, coming March of 2025–we are bringing the band back together! Starting with @Batman 158 in March of next year—writer @jephloeb3 inker @scottwilliamsinks @colorist @sinccolor and @richstarkings and I will be returning to the depths of Gotham City as Hush returns! More to come in the interim but here's the progress shots of the first cover, a page from a 4 page prelude that will exclusively debut in Justice League Unlimited (in comic shops end of November) and the double page spread (pages 2-3) of Batman issue 158 to tide you over. All part of the @dcofficial ALL-IN initiative! We have extremely big shoes to fill in the current Batman creatives Chip Zdarksy and @jorge_jimenez_art who are bringing their outstanding, nearly two year tenure on our flagship title to an epic, climatic conclusion. Thank you gentlemen for your critically acclaimed, character redefining run!" Expect a six-issue run for Hush 2 in Batman and a further six issues to follow to resolve the Hush story for good.

Batman #158 by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams. in March, then. This means that, yes, the Chip Zdarsky/Jorge Jimenez/Mike Hawthorne run will, as we suspected, and is now confirmed, will be coming to an end for Batman #157 in February.

At the beginning of the month, I ran the news that all other comics news websites seem embargoed from suggesting that Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee will return to DC Comics' main ongoing Batman comic book next year, following Chip Zdarsky's run on the series. And we suggested that it would likely be a sequel to their Hush storyline from the 2002, as Hush 2. And at New York Comic Con, DC Comics confirmed our scoop.

I originally mentioned that the current Batman comic book by Chip Zdarsky was meant to be released every two weeks. Then it wasn't, and it has been pushed out to every month again. But what comes next? And why the change in schedules? The Batman Hush team of Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb are returning to the ongoing Batman comic book next year, in March or April 2025. They were originally expected to return in November/December, hence the increased schedule for Chip's run to get it out of the door… then schedules changed again.

I also reported that Jim Lee has been drawing comic books since spring, and a number of issues have already been completed. But clearly, DC Comics would now like to get a few more under the belt, so we don't get problems that have plagued Jim Lee's comics in the past, especially considering his duties as Chief Creative Officer, Publisher and President of DC Comics. However, working on this comic is a major part of the reason that Jim Lee signed up with DC Comics for a considerable period rather than jumping ship to Marvel Comics for the X-Men relaunch. They just don't want to have to have Ryan Benjamin take over with the third issue. I have been pretty good about this kind of thing in the past.

In 2002 Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, ran in Batman #608 to #619. And indeed, DC Editorial would have preferred it if it had been a separate mini-series, but Jim Lee insisted that it be the regular Batman comic, like Year One and Uncanny X-Men. And back then, DC Comics were less keen on a relaunch. Jim Lee said that he would make his first issue sell like a number one instead. And it did. And has continued to sell like a number one since.

In 2002 Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, ran in Batman #608 to #619. It was a monster of a sales hit featuring Thomas Elliot, an example of what Batman could have been had he used his intellect and wealth for malice. A childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who attempts to murder his own parents and inherit their massive fortune, Dr. Thomas Wayne, saves his mother's life. Tommy grows up to become a gifted neurosurgeon and allies with the Riddler to ruin Bruce's life when he discovers Bruce is Batman, wrapping his face in bandages to conceal his identity as Hush, manipulating many of Batman's other villains to his own machinations.

For the twentieth anniversary edition of Hush, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee reunited for a new coda to the series that suggested that Hush had survived being shot and drowning.

Finding a place to hide in Gotham's rivers, an abandoned lead-lined boat…

… a place to heal himself, treat himself and recover.

Before jumping out of the fat and into the fire with The Joker and Harley Quinn, who he had also wronged… and now, twenty-plus years later, it's time to pick it up again.

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