Detective Comics #848 review

Heartstrings: Heart of Hush part three (Batman RIP tie-in)

It starts off sexily enough. Hush walking in on Selina Kyle putting on her shirt. Lovely back. So they fight and Selina loses. The rest of the issue is dominated by a fight between Batman and the kid that was abducted by the Scarecrow at the end of the last issue.

Because of that, the issue felt very fillery. Oh, some cool stuff does happen, and the ending is a shocker, but...Batman fighting a kid? Even if he is hopped up on venom and all Baned up, it's way too silly for me. There is, however, a decent flashback scene further showing Tommy Elliot's resentment of Bruce Wayne. It was interesting not so much for the fact that Elliot is/was a completely narcissitic prick, but that he runs into Peyton Riley, the current Ventriloquist. Iiiinnnnteresting!

I can tell Paul Dini loves women. He seems intent on making as many women as possibly be factors in Batman's life. Harley, Zatanna, Kyle, Riley.....come to think of it, the stuff with the ladies is probably the best stuff in Dini's run on this book. I guess that's one reason why the ending is such a shocker. It's not so much that it happens, it's that it happens to who it happens to. Spoiler? Catwoman's heart is removed.

Heart of Hush my ass! This is quickly becoming a story about the heart of everyone to some degree or another. The issue itself might be okay, but reflecting on what Dini has been doing, it takes on an importance all its own. I think I like it more now.