Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Jim Lee, Batman: Hush launched one of the most fascinating villains in the caped crusader’s publishing history. Unlike his other adversaries, Tommy Elliot a.k.a. Hush actually has a connection to the DC hero’s inner world, from when he was just the young Bruce Wayne. The focus in this story arc is on the reveal— everything is about the build up to who could be the man in the bandages.

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Batman: Heart of Hush, written by Paul Dini and illustrated by Dustin Nguyen, is where we get a deeper look into the man called Tommy Elliot and how he began to hate Bruce so much that he wanted to completely destroy his life. Both storylines are incredible— where Hush has an air of mystery to it, Heart of Hush has an emotional side to it that has a quite shocking reveal of its own.

10 Heart Of Hush: Tommy & Bruce Literally Fight For Selina Kyle's Heart

Batman Looks At A Heartless Selina

In the most dramatic of moments, Hush kidnaps Selina Kyle/Catwoman and performs surgery on her, taking out her heart in the process. He doesn’t kill her; he wants to taunt Batman, not cause him immense rage. Instead, he plugs her to a machine and keeps her alive. And she is later transported to Gotham General Hospital.

When Batman comes to know of the entire ordeal, he visits Selina at the hospital first and then heads to confront Hush. Hush, it appears, knows that the two are in a relationship, and so he steals her heart (literally) as a form of poetic vengeance.

9 Hush: Batman Gets Into A Fight With Superman

Batman And Superman Fight

Batman and Superman are the two of the mightiest heroes in the DC pantheon. So on the few occasions they decide to take up arms against each other, it’s a guarantee that the fight is going to be exceptional.

Such is the case in Batman: Hush, where Superman is under the influence of Poison Ivy, and is after both Batman and Catwoman for trying to attack Poison Ivy. Batman is well prepared; he takes out the Kryptonite ring from his multipurpose utility belt and prepares himself for a stand-off. In the end, after many punches are thrown around, Superman is finally shaken out of his stupor when Catwoman poses a threat to Lois Lane.

8 Heart Of Hush: Catwoman Gets Her Revenge

Selina's Revenge On Hush

A couple of months after things have been resolved in Heart of Hush, Catwoman sends a video message to Hush. In it, she outlines how she had someone hack into his family account and steal all his money from him.

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She didn’t keep all that wealth for herself though, as she sent a sizable portion of it to charities and those in need of monetary help. She knows, by way of Batman, how obsessed with money he is. And so she knows this is the perfect form of revenge for what he had done to her.

7 Hush: Tommy Elliot Is Introduced

Hush Saves Batman's Life

The most important aspect of Batman: Hush is that it acts as a launchpad for the selfish and arrogance of Tommy Elliot. When he first appears, he comes across as a savior who saves Bruce’s life on the operating table. It is stated that they are childhood friends, and so readers are left to assume that Elliot must be like Bruce in some way or the other.

The assumption is completely wrong, of course. For, even though he works as a neurosurgeon, he seems to hold a lot of disdain and hatred for Bruce.

6 Heart Of Hush: Tommy Elliot's Reaction To His Parents' Accident Is Revealed

How Hush Lost His Parents

Batman: Hush had made it clear that Tommy Elliot had planned his parents’ accident and had wanted the money from the inheritance that would fall to him after their death. And that he blamed Bruce’s father for bringing his mother from the brink of death and creating a hurdle in his path to wealth.

In Heart of Hush, this incident gets told in much more detail, and we get to see Tommy’s annoyance at seeing his mother survive, and his trepidation when a detective starts to ask too many questions about the accident.

5 Hush: Riddler Is The True Mastermind

Batman Meets Riddler

Even when Bruce has figured out all the players of the latest ruse, he still feels like he is missing a piece of a puzzle. He hasn’t, he soon realizes, come across the actual mastermind behind it all. He still doesn’t know who told Elliot that he was Batman.

RELATED: Batman: Hush - 5 Ways The Comic Aged Well (& 5 Ways It Hasn't)

But he finds the crumbs and soon comes to Arkham Asylum, where the Riddler has been waiting for him. After realising Batman’s true identity, the Riddler had wanted to cause a commotion in Gotham and found the perfect in Tommy Elliot to accomplish his task.

4 Heart Of Hush: Tommy Elliot Changes His Face

Hush Looks Like Batman

When Hush attacks and captures Catwoman, there is a moment when she rips apart some of the bandages on his face and sees the face he’s been hiding. She seems startled at the reveal, but his back is to the readers so they don’t get to see what’s so shocking.

Later, when Hush and Batman fight for control of Catwoman’s heart, he finally takes off the rags and shows his face. Batman is just as startled as Catwoman, for Hush has seemingly had plastic surgery done to look just like him. Hush’s plan, as he reveals to Batman, is to take over Bruce’s life and place in society.

3 Hush: There Are Many Red Herrings

Jason Todd Returns

Throughout the narrative of Batman: Hush, a mysterious man in bandages is seen stalking the pages. He appears on rooftops, he watches from afar, and he waits for the right moment to reveal who he truly is.

There are a lot of red herrings that lead up to this moment. From Harvey Dent to Clayface and Jason Todd— there are quite a few people who seem to have the potential to be the man behind the bandages. In the end, though, it turns out that the villain is someone new, yet old. A man who Bruce has known for a long time: His childhood friend, Tommy Elliot.

2 Heart Of Hush: Tommy Elliot Has Hated Bruce Since Childhood

Hush And Batman As Kids

At a camp after his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization, Tommy spends some time with his best friend Bruce. He tells the young Batman how abusive his father had been and how calculating and sly his mother’s reaction to it all has been. But just as he begins to settle down away from parental control, Tommy’s mother arrives to take him away. Upset by her appearance, and angered when a kid makes fun of him, he lets out his violent side and makes a scene at the camp.

Later, during a number of sessions with a therapist, Tommy comes up with a theory that everything that had happened to him and was happening to him was the fault of a trio consisting of his father, his mother, and Bruce. He vowed, then, to hate them forever.

1 Hush: Batman & Catwoman Start Their Romance

Batman And Catwoman Kiss

Their first kiss in Batman: Hush comes about in a reflexive manner. Catwoman is so happy, and so thankful to Batman for helping her that she kisses him. And Batman, though not expecting it, moves in closer.

It’s a moment that stays with him for many days, making him realize that his feelings for her are quite strong. So much so that he even reveals his true identity to her. Unfortunately, due to the shock of the entire ordeal he has gone through, when Catwoman comes in to comfort him at the end of the story, he pushes her away.

NEXT: Batman: Hush - 5 Ways The DCAU Film Differs From The Comic (& 5 Things That Are The Same)