Book Review: Batman Streets of Gotham - The House of Hush

Batman Streets of Gotham: The House of Hush is the final volume in Paul Dini’s story arch centered around Thomas Elliott aka Hush. Serving as a compilation volume, the contents of the graphic novel include Streets of Gotham issues #12 to #14, which follows the escapades of the Architect and her work in constructing lairs for many of Gotham’s rogue gallery. It also includes issues #16 to #21, which primarily follows the final arc in the Hush storyline as he sought to bring about his final revenge on Bruce Wayne and the Bat-Family. Paul Dini’s got a long, illustrious career in writing for both the comic and the larger media of Batman including the animated television show and the Arkham video games. Accompanying Dini’s writing approach, was the illustrative contributions of Dustin Nguyen who brings to this story a very unique and angular artistic interpretation.

The volume opens up by covering a small opening narrative following The Architect. A self-proclaimed constructor for hire, The Architect’s narrative follows her as she tries to seek successful work in Gotham building obscure and thematic lairs for its line of super villains. After a few failed enterprises, she get’s a promising contract from movie producer who wishes to set a trap and film the demise of the Batman. While initially a low-stake endeavor, The Architect soon learns the producer plans to leave no loose ends behind after filming wraps and she and Batman end up teaming up to take down the producer and put a quick end to his grim production. Following on from this opener, the remaining portion of the comic follows Thomas Elliot/Hush as he continues to inhabit his present disguise of Bruce Wayne in his mission to destroy the Wayne name and further his own criminal interests. This subtly layered plan comes under threat however when an old-age criminal called Judson Pierce sets out to kill Bruce Wayne as revenge for something his mother and father did to him in the past.

I will admit on a personal level, it was an odd choice for me to pick this graphic novel up when it primarily focused on the final segments of a large-scale storyline. But that being said, the structure of this volume is made weak considering the notable irrelevance of the Architect storyline. It’s a very separate story which has little to no bearing on the Hush narrative and its placement in this book feel superfluous at best. The real meat of this story comes from the Hush narrative however, and despite coming into it with little context of the larger plot, this final arc is structured well enough to be easy to follow. I like how Hush’s ability to surgically alter his face has put him in arguably his biggest seat of power, in the role of his most hated rival. Living the life of Bruce Wayne is shown to not be so easy for Hush however and I like how the narrative shows the sensitive balancing act Hush has to play to keep the performance up with his allies and enemies. The introduction of Judson Pierce serves to tie Hush and Batman’s past together in some enlightening ways. It’s interesting to see more of the era of Thomas and Martha Wayne as it portrays a more grounded Gotham, one where mafia and criminal gangs ran the streets as apposed to the larger-than-life characters of Bruce Wayne’s era.

Dustin Nguyen does a really nice job visualizing Paul Dini’s narrative. His choice of colour and angular lines gives this interpretation of Batman a very unique flair. I really like Nguyen’s character design in this story. Every character is uniquely proportioned and constructed in a way that they leave a firm impression on whatever panel they are on, whether they are the center of focus or not. Ngyuyen’s artistic style proved to be quite popular it seems as he has illustrated a great number of DC comic in recent years.

Overall, The House of Hush is an interesting slice into the world of Batman and his fight against Hush. While its opening narrative fails to have much relevance in the larger plot, the main storyline that unfolds is captivating in its own right. It’s a nicely layered story which showcases the more grounded villain ensemble of Gotham.