First, I'm still not 100% convinced that we're dealing with Hush, at least when it comes to his role in coordinating everything happening in Gotham. But, I'm willing to accept that he's at least the front-man for the person actually doing it. Moreover, Snyder and Tynion are doing a better job of showing how the various stories are related. Putting aside the ridiculousness of the charges against Jim Gordon, we now understand that Hush had to remove him to put Bard in place to declare martial law. (Of course, we don't yet know why the imposition of matrial law is key to Hush's plans, but I assume that we're getting there.) The authors have also done a pretty solid job of showing why the city would be ripe for martial law being imposed. Cluemaster and his gang clearly filled the keg with powder through the disruptions to daily life that we previously saw them manufacture, and the keg was lit by the major events that we've already seen happen, like the train accident that Gordon "caused," the ongoing gang war, and the destruction of Beacon Tower. (Snyder and Tynion conveniently have Bard review these events to remind us.) At this point, the only two plots that still don't seem to have a home in the story are the nano-virus that Tim is researching and the super-natural activity under Arkham, though, again, I'll assume that we'll get there.
Though we now have a better sense of why we're where we are and where we're going, as I said in the opening, I'm not sure that I like it. First, it's not clear whether everything is connected to Hush striking against Batman. The attack on Alfred, for example, is clearly a strike against him, but the strike against Gordon has a larger purpose (in terms of putting Bard in charge). If someone else is in charge, it seems that Hush is just taking care of the parts that incapacitate Batman, even if they have a dual purpose (like Gordon or even the destruction of Wayne Enterprises' Beacon Tower). Meanwhile, the mastermind might be playing the bigger game. If Hush is in charge, then I'm confused why he's even bothering with the larger plan. If he's really only motivated by striking against Bruce, why not just hit Alfred and be done with it? Why the elaborate plan? If we're going to reveal that Hush is in charge, we're going to need a better sense of why he's going for the TPK here.
Perhaps more importantly, Snyder and Tynion haven't really done anything to show us why Bruce is falling apart so completely. As I've said throughout this series, Bruce has barely lifted a finger, letting his surrogates do most of the work. Beside the fight with the Architect on Beacon Tower (one that he essentially loses), I'm actually hard pressed to think of anything that he's directly done in this series. He's a mess in this issue, totally unraveling as a result of the revelation that it's Hush behind the attack and the fact that Alfred is injured. He doesn't even remove Alfred from the hospital, knowing that Hush is looking to strike against him; it allows Hush to steal him and give him to Joker's Daughter in the hellish Arkham. It's almost impossible to believe that Bruce would be so easily played, and it's starting to be the major problem with this series. If Snyder were telling this story as "Zero Year," I might be able to believe it, seeing it as the errors of a new superhero. But, Bruce is the experienced crime-fighter and detective that we've always known him to be. How is he getting so pwned? Unless Snyder and Tynion reveal that Hush managed to inject Bruce with the same fear toxin, I just think that it's going to be hard to believe wherever we find ourselves at the end, 26 issues from now, since it's going to be hard to believe that Bruce would've let us get there in the first place.
** (two of five stars)
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