When it comes to criminal masterminds, the casual superhero geek might not immediately think of the hulking Batman villain known only as Bane—but they should. Since 1993’s Batman: Vengeance of Bane#1, the luchador-inspired kingpin has been matching not only fists with Batman, but wits as well. Though physically imposing (especially when juiced up on his super-steroid venom), Bane’s greatest asset in “breaking Batman” in the classic superhero tale Knightfall was his intellect, not his gargantuan biceps.
Rebirth-era Batman writer Tom King made Bane the main antagonist for his series, launched as one of the publisher’s biggest flagship comic book titles at the time, and King has focused heavily on the super-criminal’s genius mind over his pulsating guns. As his 85-issues of Batman wrap up at the end of 2019, it might be difficult for casual fans to follow the clever (and occasionally convoluted) plot laid out in King’s mega-story arc where Bane actually manages to break Batman… a second time. So to help appreciate each step, we’re breaking down Bane’s slow burn master plan to once again bring the Bat to his knees, a plan that promises to leave the Dark Knight forever changed in the DC Universe—or at least until its next big reboot.
Batman vs Bane, Round One
In King’s story, Bane’s crusade to destroy Batman began not long after Knightfall ended. While DC’s current Rebirth continuity is more wibbly-wobbly than it has been in decades, the events in Knightfall are referenced repeatedly by both Bane and Batman, suggesting that while certain moments in the story were retconned, the majority of it remains intact (and due to comic book time, can only have been so long ago). To bring down the Bat the first time, Bane laid siege to Arkham Asylum, releasing many of its notorious prisoners. Knowing that the Caped Crusader’s pride would force him to recapture the inmates single-handedly, Bane merely waited for Batman to tire himself out and then met the costumed vigilante in his own home where he proceeded to beat the holy hell out of him.
The titanic terror in a tank top could have killed Bruce Wayne that night, but elected to simply break his back over his knee in a legendary comic panel that was adapted into the film The Dark Knight Rises. To quote Bane in The Broken Bat, “I could kill you… But death would only end your agony — and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply… BREAK YOU!” And so he did. But just like in The Dark Knight Rises, the Dark Knight didn’t stay broken for very long. Undeterred, Bane decided that his next attempt to “break the Bat” would require more than simply wearing down his body—he would have to wear down his spirit and mind as well.
Bane vs Batman: The Rebirth
So began the seeds of Bane’s plot to end Bruce Wayne’s war on crime once and for all. To achieve this, Bane built a team of some of Batman’s highest profile Rogues including sadistic psychologist Hugo Strange, master programmer the Riddler, oddball mobster the Ventriloquist, the emotion-manipulating Psycho-Pirate, and even Catwoman’s own BFF Holly Robinson. He also needed an ally strong enough to keep the Justice League from interfering with his feud with Batman, eventually deciding to create his own (courtesy of an extremely rare form of meta-venom). This version of his steroid would give its user metahuman powers comparable to Superman’s, but at a very high cost to the person’s lifespan. Bane created and later sold his super-serum to a pair of siblings, Claire and Henry Clover, and thus the “heroes” Gotham and Gotham Girl were born.
With Bane’s team (mostly) formed, he sent out Hugo Strange to give Batman his own Kobayashi Maru style “no win scenario” in the form of a downed passenger plane; an easy save for Superman, but for Batman the test nearly killed him. The Dark Knight is saved by Gotham and Gotham Girl, but the message Bane wanted to subliminally convey was clear—life is short, so you better get busy living. Batman attempted to train the super-siblings until Strange used Psycho-Pirate to drive the duo mad. Gotham dies in the ensuing carnage, but not before taking out most of the Justice League and leaving his sister with severe emotional scars.
Batman vs Bane, Round Two (The Wedding)
This first part of Bane’s plan forced Batman to form his own Suicide Squad comprised of several super-criminals, including Catwoman and the Ventriloquist, to engage the muscle-bound villain in his prison stronghold in Santa Prisca. Bruce managed to recapture Psycho-Pirate (in an attempt to save Gotham Girl from a life of insanity), but this leads Bane to follow Batman back to Gotham as payback for trespassing on his sovereign land. The two battle in a mirror version of their fight in Knightfall, with Bane pummeling his way through Arkham’s inmate population and Batman finishing the big brute at the end of his journey. With Bane (pretending to be) defeated, Batman comes to realize he doesn’t want to die alone and that he wants to pursue a romantic partnership with Catwoman.
This is where Bane breaks Batman’s spirit. Finally accepting their mutual feelings for each other, the Dark Knight popped the question to his cherished femme fatale in Batman#24. With Bruce Wayne’s heart softening, Bane (while still in Arkham) delivered a volley of blows to their relationship by sending Joker (under the influence of Psycho-Pirate) to kill Catwoman, Booster Gold (under the advice of his reprogrammed robot sidekick, Skeets) to show Bruce a world without Batman, and Holly Robinson (Selina’s Maid of Honor) to suggest to her friend that making her fiancé happy might actually rob the world of Batman. In the end, Bruce is left waiting on a rooftop for a bride that never comes in Batman #50.
Batman vs Bruce (Thanks To Bane)
Getting stood up on your wedding day would be spirit-breaking enough, but when Batman’s former sidekick Dick Grayson attempted to cheer up his mentor, Bane sent Russian assassin KGBeast to shoot Batman’s old chum in the head. With his fiancée gone and his surrogate son in a coma, Batman quickly spiraled down a path of violence and anger, going as far as punching his buddy Commissioner Gordon in the face and nearly killing Mr. Freeze for a crime he didn’t commit. With his spirit broken, Batman isolated himself from his teammates and friends.
At this point in the story, Bane could probably just walk into Wayne Manor, kick Batman in the stomach, and call it a day. But for Bane, this isn’t just about beating the world’s coolest superhero in a fight; he’s painting a full on masterpiece of pain and the Dark Knight is his canvas. After ruining Batman’s love life, the macho mastermind then moved on to ruining Batman’s mind.
Flashpoint Batman Begins Bane’s Breakdown
With the help of Batman’s father from the Flashpoint Universe, Thomas Wayne, Bane turned Bruce’s mind into a piñata that he pummeled with psychotropic drugs, subliminal messages, and good old fashioned gaslighting. Over time, even Bruce began to question his sanity, which is only made that much more fragile when his dead father, an alternate-Earth Batman, repeatedly torments and belittles him into hanging up the cape and cowl forever. Though the elder Wayne was not originally in Bane’s plot to break Batman, Thomas Wayne joined the luchador after an encounter with his son in the Batman/Flash crossover event The Button. Believing that playing the role of Batman was destroying his son, Thomas urged Bruce to give up his war on crime. When that didn’t work, he stopped asking nicely.
Knowing Bane had little interest in actually killing the Caped Crusader, Thomas agreed to help him “break Bruce of his Batman addiction.” By humiliating Batman and tearing him down so thoroughly, Thomas hoped his son’s epic loss at the hands of Bane would be the final kick-in-the-ass he needed to settle down and live a normal life free of masks, capes, and endless bloodshed.
With Batman’s spirit and mind already broken, breaking Batman’s body was easy. Clearly feeling a tingle of nostalgia, Bane recreated his original fight with Batman in Wayne Manor and concludes it with the same, back-breaking climax. Satisfied with his victory, Bane then convinced the President of the United States to keep both the military and the Justice League out of Gotham with the help of his fellow Rogues as well as Gotham Girl, whom at this point has beaten the chrome out of the JL’s heaviest hitter, Captain Atom.
The City of Bane Begins…
One might think America wouldn’t stand for one of its major cities falling under super villain occupation, but this is Gotham—the one city in the world whose only domestic export is crime. It’s no great loss, many people conclude. Gotham was already a cesspool of evil to begin with—does it really matter that Bane is running the city like Khal Drogo? Can anyone really tell the difference?
Tom King’s run on Batman has only a few more issues to go until its conclusion. At this point Batman has had to endure his son taking a bullet to the noggin, his fiancée dumping him at the altar, his father beating him senseless in a hole in the desert, and having his brains scrambled like a test subject in a CIA mind control experiment. And none of this is arguably the worst thing Batman will face by the end of City of Bane since his loving and loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth was murdered by Bane in part 3 of the saga.
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How Batman will react to the news (if indeed Alfred is dead) is anyone’s guess. But even though January 2020 solicitations from DC already show Batman on his next grand adventure, it is clear that Tom King planned to leave his mark permanently on the Caped Crusader’s mind, body, and spirit. And picking the only bad hombre smart enough to “break the Bat” as the big baddie for this mega saga was the best way to get that difficult task done.
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