My two theories about HUSH 2
Either HUSH 2 is terribly written, or there is more going on under the surface.
My theory is that the Batman in H2SH is either not Bruce but a Thomas Elliot who has developed a split personality and believes he is alternatively Bruce and Hush, or the reverse. Bruce somehow has taken on both personalities and is setting everything up for himself unknowingly - there IS no Hush.
I'm leaning more towards the first option. A few things that jumped out on me that things aren't as they seem:
The missing time from the first chapter when Bruce was offline and no-one could reach him. This is a big smoking gun. This is where either something happens to Bruce, or where he gets 'replaced'.
Bruce is never pulling a gun on Jason and shooting him like that if he's himself, come on. Don't do that to us, writers!
His weird belief that it is all tied to Hush without proper investigation. He's tying it to Hush because he 'knows' on a subconscious level that Hush is involved.
The comment about things being compromised leans a little more towards the Bruce is Hush theory, as others knew things they shouldn't because Bruce-as-Hush shared them.
The very careful wording throughout. For example, Jason never confirms he is working with Hush because he is not. Jason never says he is there to kill the Joker, and he only talks about his death when BRUCE brings it up and makes it deeply personal. Rather than going there to kill the Joker, he's there to save him - and likely to save him from Bruce.
The very weird scene between Barb and Dick, which feels like it came in mid-discussion to deliberately hide what the conversation was actually about before we came in. Barb is weirdly harsh to Dick with the comment where she basically insults Dick and then says that people don't give HER enough credit. We've missed something big here - the tension is pretty damn thick, and I think it ties back to Barb being more concerned about Bruce disappearing than Dick was and them (but not us) now knowing what happened during that time.
The Riddler thinks Bruce needs help. There is something either wrong with Bruce, or he's being held captive somewhere. The reason why different villains get involved during this arc is either because a mad!Bruce is both trying to kill and save them, or a mad!Thomas is trying to do the same.
There is also something very odd about the fact that the batfamily can't connect up with each other and have to work alone, although I am guessing that this is because the communications are now all compromised because Batman has access to them (Whether that is Hush!Batman or Bruce!Batman)
There is also the title. HUSH 2/H2SH feels an unusual name for the sequel, especially given the authors. I think that this is in itself a clue: that there are 2 versions of Hush, or Hush is playing 2 roles. What is also interesting is how they write the 2 in H2SH. Two things here: that the two is hidden within the name Hush (the two personalities in one person angle), but also that the 2 replaces U. This is a Batman comic, the U - or you - is the title character. We go from a singular U to a 2, so, two Batmans :)
Am I trying to make sense of what might just be absolutely terrible writing? Why, yes! But so little in the current world make sense.
