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


Just How Meta Is Batman #158 Hush 2 By Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee? (Spoilers)

So just how "meta" is Batman #158: Hush 2 by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee? Bleeding Cool digs in.... (BatSpoilers)



Article Summary

  • Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee return for Batman #158: Hush 2, a sequel tackling sequel culture head-on.
  • The story revisits classic Batman motifs, with Hush torturing Joker for past crimes against the Batfamily.
  • Talia Ghul unexpectedly saves Batman, setting the stage for more family and trust dynamics.
  • Batman #158 releases on March 26, promising nostalgia and new twists for fans.

In ten days time. Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee are returning to the pool for Hush 2 in Batman #158, twenty-plus years on. Tommy Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who attempted to murder his own parents and inherit their fortune, but Bruce Wayne's father saved Elliot's mother's life. Tommy grows up to become a neurosurgeon and tries to destroy Bruce Wayne… and Batman. Thought drowned, the 20th-anniversary reprint showed that he survived… and yes, Hush 2 feels like a cash grab, an act of desperation. But how much do they admit it? Quite a lot, from what I understand. This is not just a sequel but a sequel about sequels.

The comic, as we have seen in previews, has Batman dealing with a Joker who is committing old crimes, poisoning reservoirs, Joker fish, and the lot. But why is a Batman rogue who strived for originality stuck on repeats? A bit like Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb are? Both dropped into the drink…

We have a Joker rescued from the waters by The Silence, working for Hush, whose powers suggest anything but, deafening the clown prince of crime, before dragging him off and leaving a, well, clown shoe behind.

While it is Talia Ghul, mother of Damian Wayne, who rescues Batman, saves his life and then just nicks off in a helicopter, without a buy your leave.

While Batman returns to the Batfamily in Batgirl's Gotham Clock Tower with a case and a clue shoe…

The Joker, however, is tortured by Hush, as if that will get him anywhere. But this is where other aspects of the Batman and Joker legends return.

The DC Comics Batman #158 Hush 2 ComicsPRO Preview By Jim Lee In Full
Batman #158 Hush 2 ComicsPRO preview

Because Batman follows the clue on the show to an abandoned circus fairground and finds himself fighting his way through a hall of mirrors…

Just How Meta Is Batman #158: Hush 2 By Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee? (Spoilers)
Batman #158 Hush 2 preview

Because all this is done in the manner and fashion, using the locations and imagery of primarily, Batman: The Killing Joke with just a soupcon of Batman: Death In The Family... which is all over Batman #159. Hush is punishing the Joker for his crimes against Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon and Jim Gordon explicitly, purely because Bruce Wayne, the boy he grew up with, won't. So Hush is doing the job for Batman… Hush was originally fake-teased as the returning Jason Todd, Robin II back from the dead, until DC Comics would later do that for real. Are there similar teases to be played out in the sequel? Batman #158 by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams is published on the 26th of March.

BATMAN #158
(W) Jeph Loeb (A/CA) Jim Lee, Scott Williams
THE HOTLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE SMASH-HIT STORYLINE! Jeph Loeb! Jim Lee! An all-new epic saga begins here. Hush returns! Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 3/26/2025


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from The Union Club on Greek Street, shops at Gosh, Piranha and FP. Father of two daughters. Political cartoonist.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.