For a long time now, Batman has been written more as a crime comic than a super-hero comic. Enter Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, who seem intent on taking Batman back to his super-heroic roots, without losing the sophistication he has had over the past couple of years. This is the first part of a twelve issue arc, an event within the series not unlike the relaunch of Green Arrow, and it's off to a decent start. Lee's artwork looks great, although I found myself wishing they'd gone with a less traditional inking choice to give his work a newer look, and Loeb's story, though barely revealed in this issue, is certainly intriguing.
Within a couple of pages, Loeb and Lee have served notice that their Batman is going to be as much a physical crime-fighter as the thinker that he has been portrayed as most recently. The opening shots of Batman disabling the kidnappers, complete with first-person narration that indicates how much he has studied his adversaries, shows the physical and mental side of the hero operating at once, and also indicates his level of skill, that he's able to think so logically and calmly in the middle of a time when his adrenaline should be surging.
The first person narration in the issue is a nice touch, and one of the things I really like. We've been outside of Batman's mind for a long time, and Loeb's first-person narration puts me in mind of Frank Miller's take on the character. It's a great way to give the reader a lot of information (Batman seems to know everything) as well as giving us simultaneous insight into the character. While I enjoy the characterization, though, the plot this issue is pretty thin. A kidnapping turns into a robbery, which leads to a tease for the next issue, and in the course of it, we get three classic Batman villains. It's a story designed to show off Jim Lee's art and range, but it could have used a little bit more meat to hook the reader right off the bat.
Mind you, showing off Jim Lee's art is no bad thing. While I was a bit put off by the cross-hatching and extraneous line-work that came with the pencils and was reinforced in the inking stages, there's no denying that Lee can really draw. His take on Batman is reminiscent of Miller as well, using the more beefy and broad Dark Knight Returns style of the character, and he looks massive and powerful. When he rescues the child, it's easy to see why the child is so awed and feels so safe. Even in the face of Killer Croc, who in Lee's hands looks a bit too much like a Daemonite for my tastes but who is undeniably powerful. And Lee's take on two of Batman's sexier female foes is also a beauty to behold. Though I had my quibbles, including some overly crowded work in the first couple pages with all the fancy computer readouts (a nice effect, but the amount was overkill), in all this is a beautiful looking book.
Though the first part of "Hush" isn't the barn-burner I had hoped for, it's a solid opener for the newest take on Batman. Loeb has worked on the character before, but it's interesting to see him writing a more modern version of the character, while Lee's work on Batman has been fairly sparse, and it should be a lot of fun to see him handle a more extended run.
