| Hush | |
 Art from Batman #619 (September 2003). Pencils by Jim Lee. |
|
| 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, Hand-to-hand combat expert, 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.
Contents |
Character history
Origin
Dr. Thomas Elliot is a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, and was also born into a wealthy family. Unlike Wayne, however, Elliot hated his parents, despising both his drunk and abusive father and his frail mother, who came from a background of poverty and willingly endured every abuse dealt to her and her son to keep on her lavish lifestyle. Instead of defending Thomas, she forced him to memorize Aristotle, as a way to deal in a subtle, passive way with his father, something he never forgave her for. 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. While at a summer camp with Bruce, Tommy attacked a boy and ended up in a psych ward. He irrationally blamed Bruce and Martha Wayne for his outburst, but he was soon released by an intern named Jonathan Crane. During the next few years, Elliot tended to his mother and, while at first relishing the irony that Bruce had lost his parents, his anger grew when hearing about Bruce Wayne living a life of (apparent) leisure and travel, just the situation Elliot had hoped to create for himself. Shortly before Bruce returned to Gotham to take Batman's mantle, Elliot befriended, over the common ground of their unwillingly sheltered lives, Peyton Riley, the second Ventriloquist, a relationship of which his mother never approved. Elliot's mother herself unwittingly completed their transition to true villains: when she fully recovered from her cancer, she disowned Tommy and cut him off from the Elliot fortune in retaliation for his continuing relationship with Peyton. Thomas killed her, while Peyton killed their lawyer and destroyed Mrs. Elliot's new will. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, his mother had died of a mere house accident, spurred by her weakened physical condition. Now the recipient of the Elliot fortune, Tommy ditched Riley and began traveling the world, as his nemesis Bruce had. 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 is Batman. Soon afterwards the Riddler attempts to sell Elliot the secrets of the Lazarus Pit in exchange for a large cash sum. Elliot, by this time having discovered Nigma's criminal background, instead offers to pay the Riddler to kill his childhood enemy Bruce Wayne. Realizing that they shared a common hatred for Wayne, Elliot and the Riddler decided to pool resources to bring him down. To this end, Elliot created for himself the persona of Hush (The name is said to have been coined by the Scarecrow, referencing the lullaby "Hush Little Baby" due to its subject being a child who could never be satisfied with what he had).[1]
"Hush Begins"
In their attempt to destroy Batman, Hush and the Riddler convince and manipulate several other villains to help. These include the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Clayface. Part of this includes fooling Bruce that Tommy is the latest victim of the Joker. This brings Batman to the brink of murdering the Joker; he is only stopped when former GCPD commissioner Jim Gordon talks him down by reminding him that by killing the Joker, Batman would become just another killer, and Gordon refuses to let the Joker ruin Batman's life like that.
With these villains as their pawns, Hush and the Riddler set up an elaborate plot against Batman, allowing him to realize that he is being toyed with and ultimately making him believe Jason Todd has returned from the grave to destroy him (Batman #617-618).
Around this time, Hush cures the disfigured Harold Allnut, a longtime Batman associate. In return, Harold 'bugs' the Batcave with several devices that alter Batman's mind, but nevertheless remained loyal to Batman as he was certain Batman would triumph over whatever happened. Hush then kills Harold in front of Batman, immediately engaging him in battle. Batman is at first disoriented with Hush's constant quoting of Aristotle- prompting him to briefly wonder if Hush is Maxie Zeus- and is suspicious of him being Deadshot or being trained by him, using roughly the same fighting style (with two guns) as he.
When Elliot finally reveals himself to a worn-out Batman, the Dark Knight is saved only by the intervention of Harvey Dent, whose destructive Two-Face persona had been unwittingly wiped out by Elliot when he repaired Dent's disfigured face. Once again on the side of the law, Dent shoots Hush twice, throwing him off a bridge.
Although Batman is sure that Hush indeed is Thomas Elliot, he is not able to unmask him.
"Hush Returns"
When Hush resurfaces, he does 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 carves out a niche for himself, beating his former accomplice the Riddler to within an inch of his life, and even driving the Joker out of town. Hush also ends up temporarily killing Poison Ivy in a fruitless attempt to recruit her.
Following a short-lived alliance with JLA nemesis Prometheus, Hush then begins to torment Bruce Wayne with the aid of an all-new Clayface. Exploiting the latter's shape-shifting abilities, Hush is briefly able to shed doubt on his true identity and has Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth framed for murder. Alfred's name is later cleared, albeit through trickery.
Payback
The Joker eventually returns to Gotham City with an army of trained pigeons and retaliates (in Batman: Gotham Knights #73-74). He captures Hush and keeps him sedated for three weeks, during which time he implants a pacemaker into his body, effectively gaining control of his heart. At the Joker's mercy and unable to remove the device himself, Hush turns to the one man he feels he can trust (or rather, predict): Bruce Wayne.
Wayne consents to help Hush on the condition that he allow himself to be treated in, and confined to, Arkham Asylum. Hush agrees, and then immediately escapes after being told that the surgery had been a success. He is intercepted by Batman before he can confront the Joker, and the two men debate the merits of a code against killing such vile criminals. Hush demands that Batman allow him to do what Bruce will not and finish off the Joker once and for all. Batman seems to agree and begins to leave, but then reveals that he has tricked Hush; the pacemaker is still in his body, and he had been allowed to escape the asylum. At that moment the Joker arrives, and Hush begs Batman not to leave him.
The issue (and the Batman: Gotham Knights series) ended unresolved. Hush returned in the later Man-Bat miniseries, and is later shown remembering how painful removing the pacemaker alone was, and how the time between Gotham Knights and "Heart of Hush" was mostly spent recovering from the damage suffered, confirming that Batman did desert Hush at the conclusion of "Payback".
Heart of Hush
Hush returns in Detective Comics #846-#850, in the story "The Heart of Hush", which ties together with Batman R.I.P.. In this arc, set a few nights before the events depicted in "R.I.P.," Hush is portrayed in a slightly different thematic fashion than in his prior appearances. Beyond being merely a manipulative sociopath, his past as a surgeon is made into a major aspect of his modus operandi. In the first issue, Hush reveals that his return was hastened when he began to hear whispers of the Black Glove's upcoming attack on Batman. Believeing that it is his right and his right alone to kill Batman, Elliot seeks to beat the Black Glove to the punch. In the second part, Hush has teamed up with the Scarecrow, who had contact with Elliot as a child. Hush performs routine plastic surgery on his own face, only later revealing the result is nearly identical to Bruce Wayne. [2]
Hush then ambushes and subdues Catwoman after she scratches off a portion of his facial bandages, recoiling in horror at what she sees. He then cuts out her heart, putting her on life support supplied by Mr. Freeze and delivering her to Gotham General Hospital. Hush comments to himself that it was Batman's desertion of him during the pacemaker incident that inspired this current plan.
While Catwoman is left in Doctor Mid-Nite's care, Batman squeezes the location of Hush's headquarters from Scarecrow. Hush, however, ambushes him by showing him the room containing Selina's heart, alive and pumping, at which time he pumps Batman with a paralyzing gas. He then confesses to Bruce his plan: using his newfound resemblance to Bruce, he will kill and disfigure him to steal his identity, then he will retire with the Wayne fortune.
However, Batman is able to stave off the effects of the paralysis gas, recover Selina's heart, and warn Alfred Pennyworth of Thomas' deception. Hush manages to get into the Batcave where he nearly kills Batman, but Alfred's continuing interference and the arrival of Nightwing and Robin turn the tide. Hush retreats on the Whirly-Bat (a one man helicopter), but his bandages become tangled in the rotor and it explodes.
Batman, Nightwing, and Robin can find no trace of Hush save some bloody bandages, and count him dead. Catwoman, not taking chances and seeking some form of closure for her predicament and her current condition (Doctor Mid-Nite made clear that it is unlikely she'll be ever able to regain her physical prowess), as Oracle, Holly Robinson, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Slam Bradley track down Hush's secret bank accounts and stashes of cash and cut them off. Hush, wounded but alive, limps off to plot his next move.
Posing as Bruce Wayne, Hush travels to Australia and Vietnam looting Wayne's cash accounts in the companies he owns there. He is captured by Catwoman who knows perfectly well he is not the real Wayne. He's then given in custody to Nightwing and Robin who, rather than bring him into police custody, keep him contained in a secret safehouse. Elliot, still wearing Bruce's appearance, decides to fake his surrender, waiting for the right moment to escape.
Batman Reborn
In Streets of Gotham Damian Wayne, the new Robin visits Elliot in his cell and they play chess. When Elliot asked why Damian is visiting him behind the Bat-family's back, Damian shrugs it off as a desire to keep Elliot company. Elliot, however surmises that Damian is rather using the resemblance to Bruce to "spend time with your old man." When Damian leaves to deal with a new crisis, Elliot surmises that Firefly is villian behind the attack, notes how Gotham has fallen apart in Bruce's absence, and ponders how to use this to his advantage.
Powers and abilities
Thomas "Hush" Elliot has no superpowers on his own. However, mirroring in a twisted way the life of Bruce Wayne he has spent a vast portion of his life, honing his skills enough to be a match for the Dark Knight. Formerly known, before his staged death during his first appearance, as one of the finest surgeon of his times, Thomas Elliot has an incredible intellect and is also a master planner, with tactical skills equal, if not exceeding those possessed by the Caped Crusader. Indeed, Hush's greatest skill is his ability to think like his opponents and use their motivations against them.
Hush is an expert marksman, able to shoot two batarangs out of the air and set off C4 using twin M1911.45 caliber pistols, his weapons of choice (his skill has been compared to that of Deadshot). While not possessing the kind of training that Bruce Wayne acquired, Hush has proven his ability to fight hand-to-hand. He shows expertise and competence, being able to fight almost on par with Batman.
Despite his advanced marksmanship, and his demeanor far distant from the one of the gimmicked villains usually rampaging through Gotham, Thomas Elliot's medical background is shown in his arsenal of choice, as he's shown using scalpels as throwing or slicing knives, and employing a large array of drugs, muscle relaxants and other surgical appliances as weapons along with his handguns.
Hush is a brilliant surgeon and has been able to perform breakthrough medical operations, thought impossible by many, like granting Harold Allnut a fully functional body, removing his hunchback and giving him the ability to speak, repairing Harvey Dent's face (with only a small scar to show for it), inventing a virus which accelerated Killer Croc's devolution, and tearing out Selina Kyle's heart without any other lasting damage.
Hush is also able to perform plastic surgery on himself, no matter how painful it may be, using minimal anesthetic and sheer force of will. He's implied to have removed the pacemaker installed on his own heart by himself, and has shown the ability to grant himself the appearance of someone else, like Bruce Wayne, without using masks but only a long series of planned surgeries on his own face, with the aid of a simple mirror.
Thomas Elliot previously had access to the vast resources of the Elliot household, putting him on par with Bruce Wayne, and so he's fully able to fund his more expensive plans, and get the cooperation of the main villains in Gotham, like Mister Freeze. However since the Heart of Hush storyline Catwoman tapped his resources, reducing him to poverty.
Appearances in other media
Television
The Batman
Hush was going to be originally featured in a planned DTV set on the animated series The Batman, along with that 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.[3]
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.[4]
Video games
LEGO Batman: The Video Game
Hush is a playable character that can be unlocked in LEGO Batman: The Video Game after rescuing all the civilian hostages throughout the game.[5] He uses two handguns as weapons, and can build objects and shoot faster than other characters. When left idle, he raises his hand to his mouth and makes a "hush" expression.
DC Universe Online
Hush is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online. [6]
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Hush will make an appearance in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Whether he will actually appear or be simply mentioned is unknown, but his biography is an unlockable extra in the game.
See also
References
- ^ Wallace, Dan (2008), "Batman", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 40-44, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5
- ^ Detective Comics #849
- ^ LegionsOfGotham.org - EXCLUSIVE: Scrapped The Batman v Hush DTV
- ^ Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter
- ^ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/908/908918p1.html
- ^ IGN
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
