The Batman: Hush storyline helped turn around DC Comics in the early ’00s, but internally it was ridiculed by staff (until it was a hit) says former boss

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission.Read our editorial policy.

In 2002 Batman: Hush was one of the hottest books in the comic industry. The 12-issue storyline featured Batman trying to uncover the identity of a new mystery enemy. The storyline, which was written by Jeph Loeb and penciled by Jim Lee, ran in Batman #608 through #619. 

In addition to exciting readers, Dan DiDio credits the storyline with revitalizing DC’s entire comic book line. During a panel at Tampa Bay Comic Convention, DiDio reflected on the legacy of Hush.

“A little book called Hush came out, and this is where Jim [Lee] and I bonded,” DiDio began. “Before Hush came out, people in the DC offices were making fun of it. They didn’t like it. The boots, the story, the bits, and the pieces. They didn’t like it because it didn’t fit the mold of what they were doing at the time. They wanted Hush to be printed in the same matter as The Long Halloween. It was supposed to be a standalone mini-series.”

“Jim Lee, to his everlasting credit, goes, ‘No, I don’t want that. I want to be the main Batman artist, and the only way I’m going to be the main Batman artist is to do the main Batman book.’ In those days nobody relaunched, so the threat thrown back to Jim was, ‘If you’re going to be the main Batman artist, that means you’re going to be on issue 608 instead of number 1.’ And Jim’s exact words were, ‘I’ll make it sell like a number 1.’” 

“They were thinking he wanted a number 1 like in X-Men, but he said, ‘No I want to be the Batman artist.’ So we launch him on 608, and it takes off. And all of a sudden, it’s cool to be a high-end artist on a mainline book. Now I have Carlos Pacheco coming onto Green Lantern. It starts to click. You feel it coming together. Jim’s Hush book was so successful and everything was sucking that ultimately every time someone pointed at something that sucked, I would say, ‘Hey, that Hush book is really good right.’” 

“By the time Hush ended, we had it figured out and we were ready to go. We put all our energy into Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Infinite Crisis, 52, and we had a machine that was running.”

Jim Lee promised to make Batman: Hush sell like a number one, but what he did was so much bigger. Today Hush is one of the most reprinted Batman stories. Hush is also one of the first titles released under DC’s Compact Comics line. In 2019 the storyline was adapted as an animated film. Suffice to say, Hush has had quite a legacy.  

Want to know what’s coming up next in pop culture? Check out our guides to upcoming movies, upcoming TV shows, upcoming comics, and upcoming comic conventions. If you’re looking for specific franchises or genres, we have all the upcoming MCU, upcoming Star Wars, upcoming Star Trek, and upcoming DC movies & TV for you. If you’re a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and upcoming superhero TV shows (and new seasons) as well.