Hush (comics)
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| Hush | |
 Art from Batman #619 (September 2003). Pencils by Jim Lee. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Tommy: Batman #609 (November 2002) As Hush: Batman #619 (September 2003) |
| Created by | Jeph Loeb Jim Lee |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Thomas "Tommy" Elliot |
| Abilities | No superpowers; Master surgeon, Martial arts, Hand-to-hand combat training, Expert marksman. |
Hush is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics and appearing as an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee, the character first appears in Batman #609 (November 2002). Following his 12-issue debut arc (Batman: Hush), Hush resurfaced in Batman: Gotham Knights, where he appears as a recurring villain up until that series' cancellation in 2006, due to the sweeping changes of DC's Infinite Crisis.
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[edit] Character history
[edit] Origin
Dr. Thomas Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Like Bruce Wayne, Elliot was born into a wealthy family. Unlike Wayne, however, Elliot hated his parents. Driven by his desire for independence and wealth, he cut the brakes on his parents' car, causing a crash that killed his father. His mother was saved in an emergency operation by Dr. Thomas Wayne, which enraged young Elliot. His anger was fueled further by the subsequent murder of the Waynes, which put Bruce Wayne in just the situation Elliot had hoped to create for himself. Elliot's mother later succumbed to cancer, leaving him with the family fortune. Although he went on to Harvard and became a successful surgeon, Elliot continued to hold an irrational grudge towards his childhood friend.
At some point in his career, Elliot became the doctor of Edward Nigma (also known as the Riddler). Nigma, diagnosed with terminal cancer, eventually hijacked one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits to regain his health. During this mystical treatment, which renders the participant temporarily insane, the highly intelligent Nigma experienced an unexpected epiphany, realizing that Bruce Wayne was Batman. After discovering that they had a common hatred for Bruce Wayne, Elliot and the Riddler decided to pool resources to bring him down. To this end, Elliot created for himself the persona of Hush.
[edit] "Hush Begins"
In their attempt to destroy the Batman, Hush and the Riddler convinced and manipulated several other villains to help. These included the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Clayface. Jason Todd(a.k.a. Robin II), presumed dead at the time, also took part in the scheme in a limited capacity.
With these villains as their pawns, Hush and the Riddler set up an elaborate plot against Batman, allowing him to realize that he was being toyed with and ultimately making him believe Jason Todd had returned from the grave to destroy him (Batman #617/18).
When Elliot finally revealed himself to a worn-out Batman, the Dark Knight was saved only by the intervention of Harvey Dent, whose destructive Two-Face persona Elliot had unwittingly wiped out by repairing Dent's disfigured face. Once again on the side of the law, Dent shot Hush twice, throwing him off a bridge.
Although Batman was sure that Hush indeed was Thomas Elliot, he was not able to unmask him.
[edit] "Hush Returns"
When Hush resurfaced, he did so with a vengeance. Still out to destroy Batman and determined not to let the rest of the villains get in his way, Hush quickly began to carve out a niche for himself, beating his former accomplice, the Riddler, within an inch of his life and even driving the Joker out of town. Hush also ended up killing Poison Ivy in a fruitless attempt to recruit her.
Following a short-lived alliance with JLA nemesis Prometheus, Hush then began to torment Bruce Wayne with the aid of an all-new Clayface. Exploiting the latter's shape-shifting abilities, Hush was briefly able to shed doubt on his true identity and apparently also had Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth framed for murder. His name has since been cleared, albeit through trickery.
[edit] Payback
The Joker eventually returned to Gotham City with an army of trained pigeons and retaliated (in Batman: Gotham Knights #73-74). He captured Hush and kept him sedated for three weeks, during which time he implanted a pacemaker into his body, effectively gaining control of his heart. At the Joker's mercy and unable to remove the device himself, Hush turned to the one man he felt he could trust (or rather, predict): Bruce Wayne.
Wayne consented to help Hush on the condition that he allow himself to be treated in and confined to Arkham Asylum. Hush agreed, and then immediately escaped after being told that the surgery had been a success. He was intercepted by Batman before he could confront the Joker, and the two men debated the merits of a code against killing such vile criminals. Hush demanded that Batman allow him to do what he would not, and finish off the Joker once and for all. Batman seemed to agree and began to leave, but then revealed that he had tricked Hush - the pacemaker was still in his body, and he had been allowed to escape the asylum. At that moment the Joker arrived, and Hush began begging Batman not to leave him.
The issue (and the Batman: Gotham Knights series) ended unresolved. It remains to be seen what decision Batman made, although Hush returned in the recent Man-Bat miniseries.
Hush will return in Detective Comics #846-#850, in the story "The Return of Hush", which ties together with Batman R.I.P.
[edit] Appearances in other media
Hush was going to be originally featured in a planned DTV set on the animated series The Batman universe, along with the universe's versions of Riddler, Catwoman, Joker, Clayface, Mr. Freeze and Penguin. However, the project was later scrapped by DC and WB. There is some sketch art of Hush in Legions of Gotham.[1]
Hush was also going to be introduced in the episode "Rumors", written by Joseph Kuhr. However, DC didn't like the idea, and the villain "Rumor" was created in his place.
[edit] References
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