A review by jakekilroy
Batman Versus Bane by Chuck Dixon, Brian Stelfreeze, Graham Nolan

4.0

Bane is a fascinating character. He's brilliant and buff, so in a low-panning way, he's sort of like Batman. The difference is that Batman acknowledges his limits. He may ignore them, but he's at least aware of them. Bane pushes ground on his intellect, which brings about arrogance. He pushes ground on his strength, which brings about elasticity. He's a late 20th Century monster who has one of the raddest origin stories around. Serving out his father's life sentence in a South American island prison where he became the evil he saw and then was tested for over a decade only to be removed from half a life of torture to have the most meditative sinister mind with a plotting confidence to fuck shit up? FUCK YES, BANE. YOU'RE AWESOME. Every major Batman villain kind of has a respect for Batman. The Joker does, Ra's Al Ghul does, everyone. Except Bane. He just sees Batman as a stupid cop. At best, he sees him as a symbol he needs to remove, like a badge ripped off an officer's uniform. How could you not want to see someone like that rev the fuck up and get buckwild? SHIT YEAH, BANE. GODDAMNIT, SHIT YEAH.