Batman is up to his cowl with supervillains in this graphic novel which collects the earliest issues of the the Batman: Hush comic book series. The adventures kicks off with Batman on the trail of Killer Croc, who has uncharacteristically kidnapped a Gotham City boy with the hopes of getting a ransom. The authorities planned to just pay him off, but Batman knows that won't guarantee the boy's safety. He arrives on the scene shortly after the money is delivered. Batman is there just in time to save the day and capture Killer Croc, who seems to be mutating even further away from his humanity.

During the battle, the bag of ransom money is taken by someone else. After a short chase, Batman realizes that the thief is actually Catwoman. While she is known for thievery, it is not usually in the form of picking over other people's prizes. It quickly becomes clear that someone else is pulling the strings in this situation and that person proves to be Poison Ivy.

Once he figures it out, Batman finds himself working with Catwoman as they chase down Poison Ivy, who has made her way to Metropolis, Superman's turf. That is clearly going to lead to an epic fight when considering all the names involved, but the cast won't play out quite like one might expect, particularly as it becomes clear that Ivy is not necessarily at the top of this villainous pyramid. Someone named Hush, who is covered in bandages is really the one directing things.

As all of this is going on, Batman is also confronted with a bit of Bruce Wayne's past when a childhood friend turns up just in time to save the day. Dr. Thomas Elliott is called in to perform surgery on Bruce after a particularly difficult crime fighting spree. For Bruce, this brings back a series of childhood memories that are foretelling in the direction that the comic book series is going to go.

The crisp and detailed illustrations really capture the mood of the tale as it progresses. This is most evident as the story shifts from the shadows of Gotham to the eternally bright Metropolis. Each city's heroes exemplify their cities.

The story is great, though, the one disappointment is that DC does not seem to have continued with collecting the Hush storyline in later graphic novel volumes so the reader is left hanging without the situation being totally resolved even as this stage of Hush's plan is concluded.