Hush, along with its ostensibly Purloined Letter and Final Problem pastiche (I not-so-coincidentally acquired the Strand issue later in life), temporarily revived my 1990s comic book reading. I haven't read Jeph Loeb's stories since 2005, when his son died. I did read about allegations of anti-Asian racism during the casting of Daredevil's second season.

My most pressing concern with Hush 2 is the necessarily absent transition from "great! showcase for Homage/Wildstorm's take on Batman" to "wait, there's a story, with a number of installment scripts that dare to overtake the initial showcase impetus", which made Hush 1 into a Batman mainstay.

Despite the not-so-novel-but-still-cool allusions to Reichenbachfälle, I wasn't thrilled with the second half of Hush's final act and still can't fully reconcile myself to Tommy as Hush (where did my girl Gilda's last-splash-page reveal go?), but I recall reading said final act more for Loeb's conclusion than Team Lee's art. Despite the "H" on the Hush suit, the random contribution by the Riddler (which made him Hush in other versions?), and "everything but" indicating Tommy as the mastermind, the arc still did not disappoint.

The "gimmicky" criticism plagued Hush 1 throughout its course, especially when the first act didn't really go anywhere (except for the cut rope, money, etc.), so I would sit tight...with the preceding caveat in mind.

P.S. Oh wait, spoiler-less Batman 158 review:

A surfeit of Copper Age Batman homages, quotes, and continuities, from Year One to the Killing Joke to Hush 1. Talia al Ghul shows up and talks about their son (apparently this iteration of the laughing fish are from her son's own 2013-14 limited series). Dick Grayson makes a facetious aside about the number of Robins, Batgirls, etc., in present Hush 2 vs. past Hush 1. I took it that the author and I are on same page about revisiting, or at least increasing those respect decibels for, 1980s editorial reasons for Crisis on Infinite Earths (except for Supergirl and that dog, of course). The bandaged mastermind typically speaks softly and carries big torturing devices. Hmmm...I think that sums it up. more