Batman Prelude to the Wedding: Part Two Nightwing vs. Hush

I'm already iffy on this premise with Hush but let's see how it goes.

SPOILERS AHEAD


Much like James Gordon Jr. few if any writers seem to get Hush right after his intro arc. Tommy shouldn't give a damn about who's Bruce's BFF. With Ra's I can at least believe he'd be interested in what the marriage does to his family since he considers it an insult. In a restructured story I could buy Ra's trying to mess with Damian to turn him against his father by using his insecurities against him. I can't see Hush, who's pretended to be Bruce's friend since he set up his parents accident, deciding to attack because he believes he deserves the title of best man. It's embarrassingly bad and really feels contrived just to make a parallel about Dick wanting to be best man.

Speaking of which the issue underlines Dick being Bruce's friend instead of his son. Last issue has Ra's dismiss the Robins as false brothers, Damian feeling threatened by a biological sibling and wanting to remain the "true" heir. I don't know if it's intentional but it feels like it's really under playing the family angle.

The issue really goes down the drain for me when they go into Betwixt. In a different story the set up might be cool. But it's all so forced and I just can't find myself caring about those pages. In fact they made me annoyed for taking up space instead of focusing on something more interesting. It just felt like it could be edited out without making much of a difference. Hush becomes creepier and I guess he's being set up to be Dicks' future foe. The ending message he has is that Dick is so much stronger than him which doesn't really feel earned. Actually the whole section felt pretty rushed to me.

The fact Dick and Bruce don't even mention Tommy afterwards makes it feel even more out of place. Tommy is possibly dead and turned himself into a Dick Grayson copy. You'd think that would be mentioned. Yet all Dick cares about is who gets to be best man and he doesn't get it because he's been distant? Does that feel off to anyone else?

We end with Dick talking to Babs and getting another shot of dead henchmen Joker somehow managed to defeat all at once while sparing Riddler. The Joker plot alone is becoming increasingly ridiculous and he hasn't even been seen yet.

I didn't enjoy most of this and I honestly thought I'd like it a lot more. I explained  a good chunk of why above but there's more that irks me.

The bachelor party was horrible and I don't mean because it's not wild. I mean it because only Bruce, Dick and Clark attend. Bruce might want a small gathering instead of a party. I could buy that but if this is just some bonding then it should have involved all of his sons. We never hear why it's just the three of them and it just feels very odd. Yes it's about Dick but his siblings could still be in the issue. The league too for that matter. I'd happily read an issue just about Bachlor Party bonding and general silliness.

Dick says he rented the fast food restaurant for a private party...yet it's still filled with other customers. How does that work? There are no private rooms, Dick claims he rented the entire place yet they have to share it and their "party" is just the three of them.

Bruce claims it's good to spend time with them especially Dick since he doesn't see Dick much. Yet he also has a somewhat estranged relationship with Jason and Tim doesn't even have an issue. Part two doesn't feel as put together as the previous part. This felt like a waste of an issue to force a conflict with a character no one cares about in the end of the book. Does the wedding affect Dick beyond getting to be best man? Apparently not but I think there could have been more of a story if it explored what his relationship with Selina is instead of this. As is the premise is paper thin.






Say What?: "It makes sense." No, it doesn't. Batman and Catwoman get married not Bruce and Selina. Meaning it's not legally binding not in the way that the full commitment of "marriage" implies. King didn't hint at this take before Seeley wrote this, right? It makes it obvious that DC has an easy way to undo this making the event pointless. Think about it, would Bruce STILL have to date other women to keep up his image? Is this an open "marriage"? If it's too much of an effort to explain why Bruce would marry Selina why bother with any of it?

I get that Bruce is saying to just keep it normal but would anyone really want to have dancers with their father figure in the room?



Questions Asked?: Who told Joker about the wedding? I hope it's not something rage inducing like a hero telling him. They claim only the family knows but that's not true. Their superhero friends know and Selina's non-powered friends know.