When the original Batman "Hush" storyline was announced in 2002, there was a good deal of concern over whether Jim Lee could actually deliver a 12-issue monthly comic book series. Lee had not done a monthly series in a number of years at the time, and his most recent attempt at the time, Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday, had taken over two years between 1997-1999 for the 12-issue series to be completed. However, Lee pulled it off, and he and writer Jeph Loeb helped make "Hush" one of the most successful comic book storylines of all-time.
The much-anticipated sequel, "H2SH," however, has not had the same success in terms of coming out on time. As first reported by Bleeding Cool, despite launching in March 2025, and intending to be a monthly six-issue series, "H2SH" will now not end until January 2026.
What are the current solicitations for the final two issues of "H2SH"?
BATMAN #162
(W) Jeph Loeb (A/CA) Jim Lee
H2SH WITH JEPH LOEB AND JIM LEE PART 5! Batman versus the Bat-Family! Whose side are you on?
Retail: $4.99
11/12/2025
BATMAN #163
(W) Jeph Loeb (A/CA) Jim Lee, Scott Williams
The shocking conclusion to H2SH Part One with Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee! Will Batman survive Hush's revenge when his only allies are his greatest enemies?
Retail: $4.99
1/28/2026
How has the Batman universe been forced to adjust to the delays in "H2SH?"
The major issue with the delays with "H2SH" is that the intent was for "H2SH" to close out the third volume of Batman, and when it was finished, for the series to relaunch with a fourth volume in September. However, due to the delays, that wasn't going to be possible. Ultimately, DC just decided to relaunch anyway, so the first issue of the new Batman volume debuted this month, despite the previous volume still going (and yes, this has led to some funny questions, like if DC is using legacy numbering on Batman, and the start of "H2SH" was Batman #923, then is Batman #162 going to be the legacy Batman #926, or is Batman #1 already legacy Batman #926?)
The other issue was that DC planned to spin Red Hood out of "H2SH" into his own series, but it is a bit difficult to spin a character out of a storyline that is not finished. However, DC decided to go through with THAT plan, as well, and DC launched its Red Hood spinoff this week. Of course, due to some outside controversies, DC then canceled Red Hood with its first issue, so that is less of a problem.
Jim Lee is obviously extremely busy, as he is the Publisher, President and CCO of DC, so it is not surprising that he couldn't get this story done on-time, but it probably suggests that DC should have just made "H2SH" a standalone miniseries so that the scheduling could have been much more flexible.
Source: Bleeding Cool
English (US) · 