1. Worst. Character. Ever.
Hush is a terrible character. Besides his incomprehensible motivation, there are numerous qualities about him that make him one of the worst Batman villains ever. Bearing in mind Tommy is a surgeon who specialises in plastic surgery, how is he able to fight Batman at all? He's presented here as a match for Bruce! Bruce Wayne, a man who has devoted his entire life to achieving physical and mental perfection and learning every single fighting style in the world all for the purpose of fighting crime. Tommy Elliott is a spoilt rich brat who became a successful surgeon. Guns or no, he shouldn't be a threat at all to Batman and yet we see him being Batman's equal in a hand to hand fight!? His name is utterly contrived. Hush is derived from the children's rhyme "Hush, Little Baby" (which Scarecrow sings as he pointlessly attacks Batman "Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird" etc) which is about a kid who can't be satisfied. So because Tommy can't be satisfied with the millions he's got and wants more and more money, he's called Hush. That's one of the stupidest reasons for a villain's name, ever. Why does he have bandages on his face besides hiding his identity? It's because in this book Tommy's plastic surgery skills makes Harvey Dent look "normal" again and no longer Two-Face, and Harvey is re-introduced wearing a trench-coat and bandages around his face. Tommy does the same thing because Loeb wants us to think Hush is Two-Face. It's a hacky piece of plotting that has nothing to do with character. And how does Hush even find out Bruce Wayne is Batman? Some of Batman's oldest foes have never been able to figure it out but Hush, a surgeon, figures it out? How? Everything about Hush the character and Hush the book, minus the art, is godawful. * And that's why Batman: Hush is a totally overrated Batman book. Have you read it what did you think? Let me know in the comments below.