Batman Hush
Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee &
Scott Williams
The comic I have chosen from Leddy is Batman Hush By DC Comics. I
have never read a comic prior to taking this class, but I am familiar with
Manga. Though I have always been
interested in superheroes, I have never explicitly read about them in comic
form. It was an interesting experience
to look at how the creators display the heroes who I have become familiar with
mainly through film; it was a different experience entirely. The creators are able to give more of a
background and knowledge into the characters than they do in film. 
Batman (Bruce Wayne) is a fictional superhero owned by DC
Comics. The character was created by
artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics
#27, May 1939. He was originally named
“the Bat-Man”, also referred to as “The Caped Crusader”, “the World’s Greatest
Detective” or “the Dark Knight”. I would
like to mention that DC has depicted Batman in few different forms, including
alter egos, and future depictions. In
this series Bruce Wayne is the focus. The
DC Multiverse features worlds outside of the DC’s main continuity, and so they
are able to explore further paths for the characters. This comic remains within the main
continuity, featuring Gotham city as well as Metropolis.
The Hush series depicts a mysterious stalker called Hush,
who is intent on sabotaging Batman from afar.
The series runs through the Batman monthly series and features guest
appearance from many of the Batman villains.
Having witnessed the murder of both of his parents as a child, he swore revenge
on criminals, an oath stated with a sense of justice. Unlike most superheroes he does not possess
any superpowers, but has trained himself physically and intellectually, using
detective skills, intellect, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess,
marital art skills, fear and intimidation in order to complete his task. The series opens with Batman rescuing a
little boy from the villain Killer Croc and quickly introduces two other
villains Poison Ivy and Catwoman.
Catwoman steals the ransom money from Killer Croc and delivers it to
Poison Ivy, having been put under her spell.
Catwoman and Batman team up with Superman after tracing Poison Ivy to
Metropolis. Hush is not revealed in the
first volume, though he is seen from afar, just not named as of yet. Catwoman and Batman are intent on finding out
who is responsible for the attacks from both villains. The romantic relationship between Batman and
Catwoman is something that is emphasized in this comic as well, featuring a series
of kisses shared between the two.
I would like to take a look at coloring, as it changes
with the location of the story line, as well as the use of paneling and the
multiframe.
In regards to coloring, Scott McCloud points out in Understanding Comics that Superheroes
were traditionally drawn in primary colors to grab the audiences’
attention. Colors were iconic in
costuming as well. McCloud points out
that the coloring has an affect on the readers experience on every level. This is seen here in the depiction of Gotham,
Metropolis, and Batman’s memories. When
Gotham is being featured the color scheme has more of a grey scale quality to
it, whereas Metropilis is drawn mainly in primary and bright colors. This could be representative of the fact that
Batman is now a “boy scout” as he points out to Superman on various occasions
throughout this comic. Batman is
depicted as being of the night, and so he is mainly shown at night in the
comic, and therefore is drawn with a dark color scheme. Batman himself says, “Does it ever get dark
in this city? Even at night, it’s lit up like it’s important or
something”. Batman himself emphasizes
the fact that Metropolis is drawn so brightly.
Coloring also changes where when he is having a
flashback, making the color scheme much brighter and hazier. This made it
easier to tell what was a flashback, and what was a more current memory, or
thought of Batman’s.
The paneling within this series is mostly in keeping with
Thierry Groensteen’s theory of
quadrillage from his book The System
of Comics, with strict multiframes. There are instances where he utilizes
the full page spread, how the creators of Hush do this is interesting to me as
it represents the theme of the “double page” also discussed by Groensteen. He
states that the pages have to be aware of each other. Though the left is the one seen first, it
must be dependent on a “natural solidarity”.
Hush breaks this concept in
many cases through the use of a single page layout, on the left, directly
before a scene change on the right. The
two pages are aware of each other, but they use the single frame to create a
natural end to the previous scene. The
reader’s eye is drawn to the single page more than the regular paneling
sequence on the second page. Therefore creating more of a reveal on the second
page, and keeping the element of surprise since the eye is busy taking in the
full page.
This page appears on the left, then the scene change
is on the right
(p74-75 & 92-93 Are other examples)
Moreover, Jesse Cohn’s Mise-en-Page:
A Vocabulary for Page Layouts, discusses
the use of the grid and the control of the gaze. He states that without a grid the readers’
eyes become free to move over the whole page.
The instances with the single panel pages do not allow this; they cause
the gaze to remain on the left side of the page to take in the whole picture,
having the opposite effect that Cohn states, in my opinion.
I
enjoyed reading this comic, and found the story line interesting, even though
reviewers have taken issue with the fact that Batman’s identity is well known
by many people in this series. I enjoyed the focus on the relationship between
Catwoman and Batman. I think that the
fact that so many characters knew of the identity of Batman simply adds to the
humanistic characteristic behind an otherwise dark character. The creators are able to build on the
relationships has with other characters in the DC universe. The layouts were easy to follow and creative. I loved the use of narration throughout the
comic, contrasted with the speech bubbles and action bubbles adding an outside
voice to the story line, rather than simply watching it play out.
Works Cited:
Groensteen, Thierry. The System of
Comics. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2007.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York,
NY: First HarperPerennial, 1994
Cohn, Jesse. “Mise-en-Page: A
Vocabulary of Page Layouts.” Teaching the Graphic Novel. Ed.
Stephen E. Tabachnick. New York: Modern Language Association, 2009.
44-57.
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