Last Rites

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

Thought the Hush issue was pretty good. I agree about Nguyen's art though, kind of comes and goes throughout the issue. It was neat to see some depth to how wealthy Bruce Wayne really is, and perhaps how he keeps his eyes on everything going on around the world by way of the companies he has stakes in.

I like how Elliot decides it would have been easier to fool the people of Gotham rather than Bruce's inner circle. The last page sets up nicely for Batman #685 - I wonder if Catwoman knows that it's Hush and not Wayne.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

Batman #685 was a pretty good issue. It started out very slow, and had actually upset me with its direction of the plot. Its not what I expected, but the ending definitely made up for it.

Last issue we saw Hush/Tommy Elliot pose as Bruce Wayne(after reconstructive surgery) and proceed to travel across the world stealing Bruce's money. He ended up in Vietnam and was attacked(shot) by random thugs who at the end of last issue we see work for Catwoman. The same woman who he left for dead in Paul Dini's Detective Comics arc...

We start this issue with a rhino ramming a giant bang hanging from a chain. Catwoman orders her men to stop the rhino from destroying the bang...which happens to contain Hush. Catwoman goes on to tell Hush that the Vietnamese thugs working for her, really believe that he is Bruce Wayne and that they'll hold a ransom for his return. When actually, Selina is simply posing as their leader to stop their smuggling operation of endangered animals, including a tiny white leopard. But now Selina can't escape the smugglers without setting free the animals. When she found out that Bruce Wayne was running around Vietnam she knew it had to be Hush because Batman/Bruce Wayne has been missing for weeks. So the plan is for Selina to use Hush's "breakout/escape" as an distraction while she frees the animals. She tells him that she while she was recovering from her injuries, Batman must have been battling the Black Glove. She says that she heard he survived that encounter but knows nothing after that.

We get a nice page of Nyguen's work with Bruce re-enacting his super punch through the window of the helicopter(see Batman #681) and Batman hooked up to The Lump(see Batman #682-3). Selina snaps for two people to enter Hush's tent. A man named Quan and his son Bao, she tells him, are to help him escape to a boat by the river. The two of them wear nothing but cloth and those pyramid shaped hats, that Raiden wears on Mortal Kombat,lol. Hush complains that after his severe beating by the rhino and the gunshot wound her men gave him that he has to rest before blowing the coup. She tells him fine, but they can't wait too long. He asks how long is too long...and with great writing by Dini, Selina says "We can give you ten seconds, that okay?" lol She throws on her now classic goggles and sneaks off into the night. Quan and Bao lead the way after dragging two bodies into the cave. Hush snatches a grenade from one of the fallen men and heads out behind them. The Vietnamese thugs quickly realize he's gone, and go on the hunt. Selina starts letting the animals go into the wild but is confronted by the former leader who she took down to get where she was. He smacks her in the back with his AK after she kicks him in the face. But just as he's about to blast her to bits, the pretty leopard jumps down from above and bites him...assumed dead.

The other thugs are gaining on Hush,Quan and Bao. So Quan shoots back towards the men, slowing them down. Hush decides its not enough. He tosses the grenade towards the men, killing them. Quan screams that it was unnecessary, and Hush warns him that he could have used it on them. He get to the boat by the river to see and hear Catwoman flying off in a helicopter. Hush vows to get his revenge, and asks if Quan and Bao would assist him. He offers 50,000 each to help, but they refuse. He says he can get them more money than they can see in their life...then the best part of the book..."Kinda doubt that,Tommy." says NIGHTWING as he removes his hat, and so does ROBIN. They explain how they heard about his every move since him messing around with the cougar back in Gotham, and how the Tasmanian Devil called the Justice League to tell them that he spotted the missing Bruce Wayne, who had an All Points Alert out on him. Hush tries to escape by jumping off the boat, and taking his chances in the jungle but Nightwing ends that idea with a swift kick in the back. Dick and Tim take Hush to Batman's private penthouse, because Arkham would think he's Bruce and the denial would raise too many questions. The have him locked up pretty tight, but that doesn't stop Hush from plotting his revenge...The End.

Pretty good 2 issue arc. Which we don't see a lot in comics anymore. It was refreshing, and of course I loved the tie-in to RIP/Final Crisis. Dini did a more than acceptable job writing a Batman-less issue of Batman. I look forward to Neil's work in two weeks with another two issue arc.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

Batman #685 was a pretty good issue. It started out very slow, and had actually upset me with its direction of the plot. Its not what I expected, but the ending definitely made up for it.

Last issue we saw Hush/Tommy Elliot pose as Bruce Wayne(after reconstructive surgery) and proceed to travel across the world stealing Bruce's money. He ended up in Vietnam and was attacked(shot) by random thugs who at the end of last issue we see work for Catwoman. The same woman who he left for dead in Paul Dini's Detective Comics arc...

We start this issue with a rhino ramming a giant bang hanging from a chain. Catwoman orders her men to stop the rhino from destroying the bang...which happens to contain Hush. Catwoman goes on to tell Hush that the Vietnamese thugs working for her, really believe that he is Bruce Wayne and that they'll hold a ransom for his return. When actually, Selina is simply posing as their leader to stop their smuggling operation of endangered animals, including a tiny white leopard. But now Selina can't escape the smugglers without setting free the animals. When she found out that Bruce Wayne was running around Vietnam she knew it had to be Hush because Batman/Bruce Wayne has been missing for weeks. So the plan is for Selina to use Hush's "breakout/escape" as an distraction while she frees the animals. She tells him that she while she was recovering from her injuries, Batman must have been battling the Black Glove. She says that she heard he survived that encounter but knows nothing after that.

We get a nice page of Nyguen's work with Bruce re-enacting his super punch through the window of the helicopter(see Batman #681) and Batman hooked up to The Lump(see Batman #682-3). Selina snaps for two people to enter Hush's tent. A man named Quan and his son Bao, she tells him, are to help him escape to a boat by the river. The two of them wear nothing but cloth and those pyramid shaped hats, that Raiden wears on Mortal Kombat,lol. Hush complains that after his severe beating by the rhino and the gunshot wound her men gave him that he has to rest before blowing the coup. She tells him fine, but they can't wait too long. He asks how long is too long...and with great writing by Dini, Selina says "We can give you ten seconds, that okay?" lol She throws on her now classic goggles and sneaks off into the night. Quan and Bao lead the way after dragging two bodies into the cave. Hush snatches a grenade from one of the fallen men and heads out behind them. The Vietnamese thugs quickly realize he's gone, and go on the hunt. Selina starts letting the animals go into the wild but is confronted by the former leader who she took down to get where she was. He smacks her in the back with his AK after she kicks him in the face. But just as he's about to blast her to bits, the pretty leopard jumps down from above and bites him...assumed dead.

The other thugs are gaining on Hush,Quan and Bao. So Quan shoots back towards the men, slowing them down. Hush decides its not enough. He tosses the grenade towards the men, killing them. Quan screams that it was unnecessary, and Hush warns him that he could have used it on them. He get to the boat by the river to see and hear Catwoman flying off in a helicopter. Hush vows to get his revenge, and asks if Quan and Bao would assist him. He offers 50,000 each to help, but they refuse. He says he can get them more money than they can see in their life...then the best part of the book..."Kinda doubt that,Tommy." says NIGHTWING as he removes his hat, and so does ROBIN. They explain how they heard about his every move since him messing around with the cougar back in Gotham, and how the Tasmanian Devil called the Justice League to tell them that he spotted the missing Bruce Wayne, who had an All Points Alert out on him. Hush tries to escape by jumping off the boat, and taking his chances in the jungle but Nightwing ends that idea with a swift kick in the back. Dick and Tim take Hush to Batman's private penthouse, because Arkham would think he's Bruce and the denial would raise too many questions. The have him locked up pretty tight, but that doesn't stop Hush from plotting his revenge...The End.

Pretty good 2 issue arc. Which we don't see a lot in comics anymore. It was refreshing, and of course I loved the tie-in to RIP/Final Crisis. Dini did a more than acceptable job writing a Batman-less issue of Batman. I look forward to Neil's work in two weeks with another two issue arc.

Wait, so does this take place AFTER Final Crisis? If so, wouldn't they "know" that Batman was dead (I'm assuming they would be unaware of the epilogue to Final Crisis)?

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

This takes place at the start of Final Crisis. After RIP, and DURING the same time Batman is captured by Granny/Krakken.

[JME2 Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close JME2]

And it also positions Hush for entry into the Battle of Cowl nonsense. Good work from Dini, as usual.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

We don't really know what the story of Battle For The Cowl is. Its kinda hard to call it nonsense, when you haven't read an issue yet isn't it? It positions Hush, right back where he was before Dini brought him back this year. A guy who is out for revenge...only this time its towards Catwoman, than the dead Bruce Wayne.

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

After part one in Detective, this issue was a real letdown for me. The art quality is even worse than Detective 852. I liked the page where we see the flashbacks to the helicopter and the Lump, but overall, this story was kind of lame to me.

[JME2 Corps Honor Guard Find all posts View Profile Close JME2]

Its kinda hard to call it nonsense, when you haven't read an issue yet isn't it?.

I believe my feelings on the current state of the Bat books and the plans for 2009 are well documented, West. I'm not enthusiastic about this all; that's just my opinion on the matter.

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

I believe my feelings on the current state of the Bat books and the plans for 2009 are well documented, West. I'm not enthusiastic about this all; that's just my opinion on the matter.

Wait, wait, wait just a minute JME. You don't like the current state of the Bat books? Well, this is the first I've heard about it.....

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

Not a Last Rites labeled book but definitely Bat-related.

GREG RUCKA FINALLY BACK ON THE BAT BOOKS, SPECIFICALLY DETECTIVE COMICS #854...and he's bringing Batwoman along with him.(JH Williams II on the art)

Preview here at Newsarama...

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multime...gid=847&page=5



I've got mixed views on this...I'm sue Rucka won't disappoint but this style of art/inking/coloring will take sometime to grow on me.

So, knowing that its definitely not Batman on the last page...who do you think it is?

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

Looks interesting. I kind of like that art and coloring.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

So, knowing that its definitely not Batman on the last page...who do you think it is?

This may be a dumb question, coming from somebody who doesn't really follow the Bat books, but how do we know that ISN'T Batman? Couldn't this be a flashback sequence? Or is there something in the sequence that lets us know it is "present day"?

[methos Kyle's Backup Artist Find all posts View Profile Close methos]

looks good... i actually really like that style of artwork...

the only thing i don't like is why Batwoman's nipples are pushing through her outfit on every single image...



jesus woman, get a bra... or some nipple tape... or something lol

i just don't see why the artist has drawn them so prominantly on every single image

M

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

This may be a dumb question, coming from somebody who doesn't really follow the Bat books, but how do we know that ISN'T Batman? Couldn't this be a flashback sequence? Or is there something in the sequence that lets us know it is "present day"?

Not dumb, but unlikely. The bat books have been on a consistent timeline for the last year and a half. And there has been no previous contact between Kathy and Bruce...EVER. So for Greg to just make a situation that does specifically that would be in poor choice. Especially for me, since I still don't know the reason why SHE dons the costume/name that she does.

Because Detective Comics #854 does not release until after the events of Battle For The Cowl, I am assuming...scratch that...giving an educated guess() that this will be released sometime before or along side Grant Morrison returns to the Batman title, which will be the return of Bruce Wayne. Batwoman's coyness just strikes a bit of familiarity that she shouldn't have unless Rucka is adding to her history or that just isn't Batman.

jesus woman, get a bra... or some nipple tape... or something lol


M

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

Hey give her a break M, she picked up her costume at a Madonna garage sale.