DC Comics; $4.99

It feels like it’s been a million years and half a million reboots since writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee exploded the brains of Bat-fans with the launch of the original “Hush” storyline in Batman #608. But my doubts about lightning striking twice evaporated as quickly as my skepticism about Top Gun: Maverick dissipated as I heard the opening refrains of the music.

Both creators, of course, have many other credits – and Loeb even has many other Batman credits – but together they had added excitement, a new mystery, and a new villain to the Dark Knight mythos. It was a legitimate question as to whether they (along with inker Scott Williams and colorist Alex Sinclair) could recapture the magic.

The answer, at least one issue in, is a resounding yes. Each turn of the page was a treat. Despite the odds, the palpable energy is there once again.

It’ll be fun to see if they can maintain this through the run. I sure hope so. Like Frank Miller’s return to Daredevil, right now it sure seems like some people can go home again.

– J.C. Vaughn