quoted for truth. besides, I'm really not a fan of Jim Lee's lackluster and boring storytelling capabilities. If I want to see pretty pictures that use the same perspective over and over again, I pick up one of the many pin-up artbooks out there. But I want my comicbooks, a visual medium, look more dynamic than that.
the story is uninteresting and repetitive to say the least, and worst of all, it's Long Halloween all over again. Just in 'bad'. Batman beating up Superman and squeezing around with catwoman while having swordfights with ra's al ghul in the desert? I'm sorry, good and well thought out storystructure this is not. these are the dreams fanfictions are made of. reading it for the first time, I was just waiting for the page in which the joker is raping harley violently on a children's clown bed while she's enjoying it. the comicbook is all about the payoffs, said relationship between bats and cats und superman getting the crap handed to him, but the build ups were ridiculous and unimaginitive. just fanfiction stuff.
but I don't care much for jeph loeb in general. If you'd have asked me what's my favorite batman comicbook around 10 years ago, I might have said 'the long halloween'. as of today, I don't like it that much anymore either. it's a good, entertaining little crime story, I give it that. but it's definitely not the end of days of batmancomicbooks. it doesn't help much that jeph loeb is, basically, writing the same story over and over again. dark victory and hush read like the long halloween, just with a different layout.