How important is the Bat Family to Bruce Wayne? What happens when an old foe returns to take them out in the cruelest ways possible? Where does Bruce’s story go from there? Those questions seem to be the focus of the newly-returned Tommy Elliot in Batman: Hush 2.
Now three issues in, Hush 2 places a much stronger focus on the Robins – most notably Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne. This isn’t surprising, since the Bat Family has gotten a lot bigger since the original Batman: Hush in 2002. But there’s a reason why the Robins are a bigger deal as Tommy Elliott makes his return.
“[Hush 2] evolved out of us talking together about what we wanted to do,” writer Jeph Loeb said in a DC Comics Q&A. “The best way to describe it is it’s Hush’s revenge, and will sort of set the stage for how Batman is going to deal not just with Hush, but with the entire Bat Family.”
According to Loeb, the original Hush focused more on how Batman deals with the various members of his rogues gallery. For the sequel, Loeb and artist Jim Lee are looking to explore how Batman deals with the individual members of his Bat Family – especially since he’s a father figure to various Robins. Furthermore, Loeb and Lee confirm that Hush 2 is set in the current DC continuity, which means it’s building on every storyline that’s been happening up to this point. But that’s not the only thing Loeb and Lee confirmed.
“I think you’ve seen just from the first issue that Talia is going to play a big role,” Loeb confirmed in the same Q&A. “We’re not just doing cameos here, guys. When someone shows up, you know it’s going to mean something.”
When discussing Damian’s role in this week’s Batman #160, Loeb very coyly teases that Damian may not survive Hush 2. Loeb even ominously confirms that in Hush 2, he and Lee are “going to do something about this Robin problem.”
While Loeb’s comments seem to suggest a Robin culling, another comic from the Dawn of DC era already showed which Robins Batman just might lose in the future: Geoff Johns’ and Mikel Janín’s Justice Society of America: The New Golden Age.
JSA: The New Golden Age Confirmed Which Robins Leave the Bat Family
Courtesy of DC Comics.
The New Golden Age one-shot from 2022 depicted a future that saw the birth of the original Huntress as the daughter of the Prime Earth Batman and Catwoman. In that same future, Helena was shown to be the sole child at Wayne manor and was completely unaware of her father’s other Robins. She didn’t even know about Damian, who (in the Prime Earth continuity) is her half-brother. She only became aware of their existence after she stabbed her father inside the mansion after mistaking him for an intruder.
After learning her father was Batman, Bruce told Helena about the other Robins, with Helena asking why they chose a life of crimefighting alongside the Dark Knight. This revelation angered Selina, who then scolded Bruce for discussing these other sidekicks given their tragic fates. Though Selina does not confirm what happens to each, she does suggest that Bruce eventually left them behind after a horrific event from their past caused each to “break.” In this case, she named Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne as the casualties of Bruce’s crimefighting lifestyle. Furthermore, at Batman’s own funeral, only Dick Grayson is present.
Though Helena Wayne’s future has been erased as a consequence of Per Degaton’s actions in “The New Golden Age,” this doesn’t mean any of the Robins are safe. Since Loeb and Lee already confirmed they are going to “fix” the Robin problem, fans already have a pretty good idea of who the likely targets will be, especially given what’s already happened in the main continuity. Outside of Nightwing and Damian (who have ongoing storylines in the main DCU), the other Robins like Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, and Tim Drake have been pretty directionless for a while.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
Even when these Robins earned their own ongoing series, they weren’t given bold or definitive storylines on the caliber of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman: The Court of Owls, or even Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s acclaimed Nightwing run. Likewise, when these characters appeared in the flagship Batman book, it was often in a supporting role, and rarely in a substantial role. This very much speaks to Batman having more sidekicks than DC has any actual storylines. It thus makes sense that Loeb and Lee would bring back Hush to help reduce the size of the Bat Family.
From a narrative standpoint, culling the excess of Robins would make Hush a more impactful villain than in the past, especially if some Robins do get killed in the process. Doing so would establish Elliot as a more sadistic killer, and would essentially offer him his iconic Bane moment of “breaking the Bat.” The fact that he’s also Bruce’s childhood friend would give his revenge arc a much stronger emotional weight. What exactly will happen to the Robins in Batman: Hush 2, however, remains to be seen.
While fans can speculate Tim and Stephanie will likely get axed, Loeb and Lee may still choose to go the shocking route of sparing Jason and killing Damian, most likely in the second half of Hush 2 in 2026. Aside from the fact that this would make Hush 2 a more consequential storyline for Batman (and possibly even exceed the original story in this regard), there may be another reason for this downsizing of the Bat Family: it will clear the slate for Helena Wayne’s return to the present DCU. (Especially since she’s already set to appear in the Justice League Unlimited’s “Quantum Quorum” storyline from Mark Waid.)
Culling the Bat Family May Restore Helena Wayne’s Iconic Status Quo
Courtesy of DC Comics.
Not only is Helena returning as one of the Justice League’s recruits for the “Quantum Quorum” storyline, but the story is reportedly setting up Apokolips’ invasion. With Waid clearly taking inspiration from the Bronze Age Justice League and Justice Society crossovers, it’s sounding more and more likely that he’ll do his own version of the 1980 “Apokolips Now!” storyline from Justice League of America #183-185. That’s also a storyline in which Helena teamed up with the Earth-1 Batman to help defeat Apokolips.
This may not be the only reason Waid is bringing Helena back in JLU, however – he could also be looking to restore some version of her original pre-Crisis status quo (especially since he’s also working on New History of the DC Universe). Historically originating from Earth-2, Helena was originally born into a smaller Bat Family comprised of only Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Dick Grayson, and Alfred Beagle (Pennyworth on Earth-1). Because Helena only had one “older brother” in the form of Dick, she didn’t have any other competitors for continuing Batman’s legacy. She also didn’t have another Huntress named “Helena” preceding her, with her only predecessor being Paula Brooks’ Huntress (a Golden Age Wildcat villain).
On Earth-2, an adult Dick eventually succeeded Bruce as Gotham’s protector in the 1960s, and joined the Justice Society in that same decade. This was also the time that Bruce was raising his daughter with Selina. It wasn’t until 1977 that Helena Wayne became the Huntress to avenge her mother’s death at the hands of a former henchman. She then avenged her father’s death two years later after he was killed by a common criminal named Bill Jensen, as part of a sinister plan by a sorceror named Frederic Vaux.
Up until 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Huntress was Gotham’s sole protector on Earth-2, with Dick focusing on his career abroad. Helena was also a lawyer who was romantically involved with Gotham’s district attorney, and worked alongside Power Girl (who also resided in Gotham on Earth-2).
Getting Helena Wayne to reclaim her place in the mainstream DC continuity as both the original Huntress and as the original Bat child preceding Damian was always going to be a challenge. Not only has the Bat Family evolved in a way that was meant to exclude her, but Wayne was herself rebooted as Helena Bertinelli post-Crisis. In fact, Wayne’s return in JLU may explain why Bertinelli is only set to appear in Batman: Hush 2.
Helena Bertinelli May Be Another Casualty of Batman: Hush 2
Courtesy of DC Comics.
Since Bertinelli never truly shook off her status as “Helena Wayne, but if she was a mafia princess” (though DC has tried), this may explain why she’s been largely absent from DC stories since 2022 (except in a cameo capacity). Not only has the focus shifted back to Helena Wayne as the main continuity’s Huntress for the past three years, but Bertinelli herself never truly recovered from DC’s New 52 reboot in 2011. Despite efforts to restore Bertinelli to a more familiar status quo with 2016’s DC Universe Rebirth, the fact is the character hasn’t truly been the same.
Attempts to restore Bertinelli to her more familiar post-Crisis status quo have been pretty surface level at best, and creators haven’t been able to give her any definitive storylines. Kelly Thompson opted not to use Bertinelli in the early part Birds of Prey due to a lack of story ideas, and later confirmed she was no longer available for her to use when she finally did. Could this actually be hinting at Bertinelli’s own fate in Batman: Hush 2? It could also potentially explain the significance of her sporting Helena Wayne’s New 52 Huntress costume.
While Bertinelli is yet to appear in Hush 2, the odds are currently not looking in her favor. Even more so if Waid is already looking to more explicitly streamline the main DC canon, and Wayne is the Huntress he’s looking to use in a future storyline. Furthermore, within the context of Prime Earth, there has to be a reason Bruce and Selina name their own future daughter “Helena,” since Wayne now has a predecessor for the Huntress identity on this world.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
If Bertinelli is one of the casualties of Hush 2 given her own proximity to Tim and Dick, this would be the only reason a future version of Bruce would name his daughter in her honor. He wouldn’t do so otherwise as Bertinelli is not a Huntress that Bruce worked well with in the past – even if their relationship has improved over the years. It would also give more weight to Helena Wayne’s comment about Bertinelli being “a family friend” who was also “an inspiration.”
Though removing the other Bat Family characters is not the ideal way of restoring Helena Wayne’s more iconic status quo in the DCU, it is necessary for her to be re-developed back into the character her fans know and love. (This is especially true as she’s no longer the pre-Crisis Huntress from Earth-2.) While plenty of DC fans still want to see Helena interact with her other “siblings” in the Bat Family, the fact is Helena already has a well-defined history and is not truly a blank slate. This also means that her staying power is entirely dependent on her having that history restored.
The other reason Helena needs her original status quo restored is because, without it, she becomes a gimmick instead of a character. Her original pre-Crisis developments are what allow her to be her own unique character. That’s where the focus for her character needs to be in order to provide her with any longevity in the main DC canon. Once Helena Wayne has a more solid foundation for moving forward, and is back to a more familiar status quo, DC can then work on reintegrating the other members of the Bat Family, including Helena Bertinelli.
Be sure to read AIPT’s review of the latest Hush 2 chapter, Batman #160.
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