Batman: Hush — the film versus Jim Lee's comics

The clearest case of this corpus: what remains of a comic whose main argument is graphic? Decryption source by source, without disclosing the outcomes.

As in each article in this series, only verified information (creators, distribution, dates, publishers) is stated; the comparative analysis is ours, without reproducing dialogue or protected images.

Hush (2002): a comic sold by its drawing

Hush appeared in Batman #608 to #619, from 2002 to 2003, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams and colored by Alex Sinclair. It's one of the publisher's biggest commercial successes of the decade, and you have to understand why.

Jim Lee was then — and remains — one of the most popular cartoonists in the medium. Coming from the success of the 1990s, co-founder of a studio turned publisher, he joined DC in the early 2000s, and Hush constituted his arrival on the main Batman series. The event is first of all graphic: the public comes to see Jim Lee draw Batman, his gallery of adversaries and the city. Loeb's scenario is constructed accordingly, like a guided tour — each chapter brings a new major adversary, and therefore a new opportunity for the artist.

It must be said bluntly, because it conditions everything else: Hush is an excellent comic to watch, and a more conventional investigation story than its neighbors in this corpus. Its reputation rests massively on its spreads — spectacular double pages, splash pages, a monumental Batman and a Gotham of remarkable density of detail.

The problem this title poses to any adaptation

Hence the difficulty. We have established throughout this batch that an animated adaptation conveys the story and leaves the drawing behind: Mazzucchelli's line onYear One, the grid ofMiller, Quitely's composition. In these cases, the work survived the transfer because it had something else to offer—a structure, a purpose, a character.

Hush is the case where the loss concerns the essential. If we remove Jim Lee's boards from this story, it remains a competent investigation crossing the gallery of Batman's adversaries, with a final twist. The 2019 film adopts standard television animation, without trying to approach the style of the cartoonist – and therefore finds itself carrying the least singular part of its source.

This is not a trial of incompetence: reproducing Jim Lee in animation would require a budget and a process unrelated to this format. This is an observation of nature. Some works are adaptable because their value is narrative; others resist because their value is graphic. Hush frankly belongs to the second category, and this is what makes it the clearest case study of this entire corpus.

The change of identity, and why it was angry

Added to this is a fundamental modification: the film changes the identity and role of the masked character who gives the story its title. The reveal of the comic – carefully prepared over twelve issues, and based on a character linked to Bruce Wayne's past – is replaced on screen by another solution.

Reception has been frankly negative on this point, for a structural rather than a sentimental reason. Hush is an enigma story: its entire structure consists of bringing together clues towards a revelation. Modifying the solution to a riddle without rewriting the clues that led to it weakens the whole thing, and deprives the story of the satisfaction it promised. This is a different problem than those encountered elsewhere in this batch — it is neither compression as onAll-Star Superman, nor an addition like on The Killing Joke, but a substitution at the heart of the mechanism.

The film must also reduce twelve issues to eighty minutes, which forces it to delete several of the confrontations which made the comic interesting - the guided tour loses stages, and therefore part of its reason for being.

The characters, from paper to screen

• Batman— Led by a series of attacks whose logic he does not understand.
• Catwoman— Whose relationship with Bruce Wayne is at the center of both versions.
• Hush— The title character, whose identity differs between comic and film.
• The Riddler— Whose role is decisive in the construction of the comic.
• The major adversaries— Crossed chapter by chapter, in reduced numbers on the screen.

Jim Lee, Jeph Loeb and the comics of the 2000s

It's worth putting this stock in its moment, as it sheds some light on its market. At the beginning of the 2000s, the industry emerged from a difficult decade: the speculative bubble of the 1990s burst, the distribution network shrank, and print runs fell considerably. Publishers are looking for locomotives, and the return of a star designer to a flagship series is one of them.

Jeph Loeb formed one of the most effective tandems on the market at this time, with several very well-received Batman stories under his belt — includingThe Long Halloween, written with a completely different designer and in an almost opposite register. His method, on Hush as elsewhere, consists of building revealing investigative architectures, and giving his designer the scenes he will draw best.

For the collector, this context is essential: the prints from the early 2000s are incommensurable with those of previous decades. A 2002 issue can be much rarer than a 1988 issue, even though it is three times more recent — a counter-intuition that the market is gradually integrating.

The double page, this invention that no screen renders

It's worth clarifying what exactly the film loses, because "the drawing of Jim Lee" remains a vague phrase. The loss concerns a specific device: the double page.

In a comic, opening an album reveals two pages simultaneously. A designer can therefore compose a single image extending over this surface - and the reader discovers it in one go, by turning the page, without transition or editing. The effect is physical: there is a before and after the gesture of turning, and the author controls exactly what the reader sees at that moment. Hush uses this device extensively, with monumental compositions - Gotham overhanging, an adversary revealed on the surface, a gallery of characters deployed.

A film has no equivalent. He can show a wide image, but he brings it through a camera movement or a cut, in a continuous flow that the viewer does not control. He has neither the gesture, nor the surprise of the unveiling, nor the possibility of letting the gaze linger. The double page is not a large image: it is a large image whose appearance is an event.

This device joins the list established elsewhere in this lot — the grid ofMiller, Quitely's plate composition — and confirms the observation: what resists adaptation is not the style of a designer, it is the use he makes of the page as a physical object. For the reader, this means that a large-format collection brings something to Hush that no filmed version will replace.

Collection side: what numbers to aim for after the film

Batman #608(2002) is the key to the arc: Hush's first chapter and Jim Lee's first issue of the series, which gives it double interest. This is the number on which demand is concentrated, supported by the enduring popularity of the designer.

Batman #619 deserves a separate mention: as a concluding issue, it was published with a fold-out cover bringing together the adversaries' gallery, which became one of the most reproduced images of the period. It exists in several cover variants, and precise identification is the decisive point in the market here.

Intermediate numbers can be found easily and at low prices, which makes it possible to build the complete arc at low cost. Collections and luxury editions, regularly reprinted, are the economical way to read - and the large format is particularly useful for double pages. OURguide dedicated to the value of Hushdetails the forks. As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.

Where to start reading

Batman #608(2002) is the entry point, and the twelve issues can be read in one go. It is, of all this lot, the title for which the reading brings the most in relation to the film - since it is precisely what the film could not carry which makes the value of the comic.

Timeline to know

• Late 1990s— The industry is emerging from the speculative bubble, circulations are collapsing.
• 2002-2003— Batman #608-619: Hush, by Loeb and Jim Lee.
• 2019— The animated film, with a modified Hush identity.

Its place in the saga and for the collector

Batman: Hush will remain as the clearest textbook case of this entire corpus: that of a work whose value is graphic, and which an adaptation cannot therefore take away. The film carries out the investigation and loses the boards – that is to say the opposite of what the comic book audience had come to look for. The modification of the final revelation, to an enigma story, aggravates the problem. For the collector, the bow remains one of the most attractive of the modern era, with two well-identified pieces and prints from the early 2000s that are rarer than one might imagine.

The verdict: the investigation carried out, the boards lost

• Loyalty: the crossing of the gallery of adversaries, the relationship with Catwoman, the manipulator behind the scenes, Bruce Wayne's childhood friend and the investigation structure come from the comic.
• Freedoms: the identity of Hush modified on an enigma story, twelve issues reduced to eighty minutes, several confrontations deleted - and the drawing of Jim Lee, which was the main argument of the comic, not reproduced.
• Collectible numbers: Batman #608 (2002) and Batman #619 (fold-out cover).

Batman: Hush adapts Jeph Loeb's investigation and leaves behind Jim Lee's boards – and it is for them that the comic sold. This is the case where the graphic loss concerns the essential, and not something extra. For both the reader and the collector, this is the article in this lot where reading brings the most.

Frequently asked questions