All throughout April and May, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…all paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from artist Jacob Edgar…enjoy!

I'm going to recommend a book that's not exactly an unknown indie, but it has a special place in my heart. I also happened to just re-read it during my own quarantine time...it's Batman: Hush! Maybe it's not as well known as it once was — we're coming up on almost twenty years since the release of the first issue! To set the scene for how long ago that was, I was at the time getting the monthly Batman title from DC by SUBSCRIPTION. In the MAIL. Which is how we're all getting comics now, right?

I was eleven years old when the first issue of Hush came to my mailbox, in October of 2002. I had grown up on Batman the Animated Series and all the other great superhero cartoons of the 90s. My parents used to buy me comics at our local grocery store off the spinner rack, mostly Batman and Bat-related titles. After a lapse of a few years as those spinner racks went away, Batman #597 caught my eye in a Kroger. Another comic that has a special place in my heart, because that's where the subscription came from. My dad pointed out the blurb inside and explained to me that I could get a Batman comic EVERY MONTH, delivered right to ME, and he would pay for it. DEAL!

Between issue #597 and Hush, I don't want to downplay how much I loved those issues by Ed Brubaker, Scott McDaniel, Karl Story, Andy Owens and the rest of the team. But that's another story (psst, read those too!) The reason that Hush is so important to me, is that Hush inspired me to not just want to read comics, but to make them.

Hush had everything an eleven year old that had grown up on Batman could have wanted. Mystery, big bold action scenes, villain after villain and plenty of Bat-allies as well. An entire issue of Batman fighting Superman?? All of this drawn in awe-inspiring dynamism and detail by Jim Lee, who was brand new to me at the time. I had never seen comics that looked like this, but I wanted to draw comics that looked just like them. Over the years as I studied and practiced, my style evolved into something very different from his, but whenever the question is asked: "what made you want to make comics?" I always point to Hush and specifically Jim Lee's art.

To sum up the book itself, Hush is a mystery that in Batman's words "reaches as high as Superman and as low as the Joker." A mysterious figure is haunting Batman from the shadows, manipulating those around him and causing all kinds of chaos for our Caped Crusader. Batman has to face a gauntlet of A-list villains as well as some dark secrets from his past. In re-reading it this past month, for the first time in years, I was happy to find that eighteen years later the ride is still just as fun as ever. Jeph Loeb is probably on the Mount Rushmore of Batman writers, after Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Hush to complete the hat-trick. I think he nails the characterizations and there are far too many great lines and moments to mention, including some genuinely great comedy. The art team of Jim Lee with Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair is for my money doing their career-best work in this series. Richard Starkings' letters round out the team and complete what will forever be one of the best looking comics on the shelves.

Nostalgia may be a huge factor in my enjoyment of this book at this point, but if you haven't read it, I definitely highly recommend it. You'll be hooked by the art, you'll be caught up in the mystery, and you get to see Batman punch Superman. What more could you ask for? And if not for yourself, give it to some eleven year old in your life...you never know what it might inspire. -Jacob Edgar

Jacob Edgar is a comic book artist, having illustrated Army of Darkness, Red Sonja, Fantastic Bandits, Moneypenny.

Batman: Hush
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Jim Lee
Publisher: DC Comcis
Gotham City is infected by a crime epidemic and all of Batman’s enemies have emerged to throw his life into utter chaos. But little do they know that they’re all pawns of the villainous Hush in an elaborate game of revenge against Bruce Wayne. Pushed past his breaking point, Batman will need to use more than the world’s greatest detective skills to uncover the true identity of this mysterious mastermind before it’s too late.

Looking to buy some comics? Jacob would like to give a shout out to Savannah Comics in Savannah, Georgia. They are open every day and taking orders at https://www.savannahcomics.com/store/ with some free shipping options available.

Get it from a local comic shop with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!