It didn’t take long for Hush to come back.
Not even a year. 2004 was a bit of a shuffling year for the Batman Book creative team. Three new creative teams took over three major titles, but the secondary title also showed a bit of refresh and a bit of new direction. We returned to the gritty crime drama while they picked up the film from the “Hush” event. of seeds.
Perhaps it can be argued that the Brubaker/Racca era that preceded it was somewhat similar to the TV police procedure, but in 2004 he took more clues from “Hash” and the big movie action. Michael Mann and Michael Bay are more than Stephen Bochho and David Simon. The confluence of supervillains came together and it felt as if Gotham had been split into anyone’s land.
“I thought you were dead.”
The new creative team from AJ Lieberman, Al Barrionuevo, Francia Portela and Clem Robins began with #50 published in Batman: Gotham Knights with ARC Pushback. (Noel Gidding, at a heroic age, will provide colour to the first issue, and Brad Anderson will take over the rest of the arc. Javier Pina and Jimmy Palmiotti will help art in Chapter 5. ) In Riddler, Nigma is looking for a safe haven from the Joker. It leads to some revelations about the Joker backstory.
It cannot be said that Lieberman and Barrionuevo have abandoned Hush’s previous traits here, but that moves from attacking Batman directly to revenge against Riddler. The characters are much more raw, giving up more of Tommy Elliot Persona’s medical skills. Perhaps because previous narrative plans have failed. Again, the design of tranquility is a scar, transformed into a bare chest, and bandages that appear to float in the wind no matter what, sometimes giving him an almost owl-like look.
The style of the Al Barionuevo is a bit of accustomed to. His characters are a bit exaggerated, some with big heads, while others have angular features. In some respects, it reminds me of Jose Munoz, but there’s more push towards the North American superhero style I can’t necessarily place. Many dark shadows and thick lines are maintained through the ink of Francis Portella. From both Gidding and Brad Anderson in the first, the interesting use of colours keeps the relatively calm base colour of the characters and buildings, allowing only bright colours for the central villain characters. Like a change in appearance, Clem Robbins doesn’t use any kind of whispering word balloons here, so it makes me wonder a bit.
“If you ride on either side of Gotham, you’ll need far more than what I can make you.”
“Pushback” of Gotham Knights by Lieberman, Barionuevo, Pina, Portela, Palmiotti, Giddings, Anderson and Robins is a two-year title that brought the High Stakes Supervillain War to Gotham City It was the first gambit in the run . It erupted into a crossover of Line Wine with war games and war crimes, but it returned to a continuing narrative of tranquility until the end of the Gotham Knights series.
Also, Mike Henderson of Lieberman and Nailbiter have a new series, The Hive from Image Comics. It will be released in just a few days on February 12th, 2025.
Classic Comic Computation: Batman: Gotham Knights – Pushback
Batman: Gotham Knights – Pushback
Author: AJ Lieberman
Pensyler: Al Barionuevo & Javier Pina
Inkers: Francis Portella and Jimmy Palmiotti
Colorist: Noelle Giddings with Heroic Age & Brad Anderson
Letter: Clem Robins
Publisher: DC Comics
Release date: February 18th – July 21st, 2004 (original issue)
Also collected in Batman: Hush Saga Omnibus
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