My Top Ten Favorite Bane Stories

On July 20, 2012 the feature-length film The Dark Knight Rises will premiere. In honor of the new film from Warner Bros., I'll be doing a list of my top ten favorite comic book stories featuring the man who broke Batman, Bane! When telling friends about my plans for a Top Ten Bane list, a common reaction was "Really? There are that many Bane stories?!?" If it makes you feel any better, think of this as a Must Read or Bane Essentials list. If you haven't already, be sure to check out History of Comics On Film Part 4, 10, 18,19, 33, 40 and 48 which all feature everyone's favorite dark knight detective!



10. JSA Classified #17-18
"The Venom Connection"

A fairly interesting dynamic takes place when you bring together the former addict to the drug Venom and a super-hero whose abilities last only for the hour after taking the drug Miraclo. It's a way for Rick Tyler, the legacy Hourman, to see a twisted version of his methods and his very nature.

Though prior to this point Bane had conquered his addiction to the Venom drug, currently he has been exposed to a new version that becomes lethal to the user after withdrawal. His investigations lead him to Bannerman chemicals where Rex Tyler, the golden age Hourman, and inventor of Miraclo used to be employed. It turns out that Miraclo formed the basis from which Venom was originally created and Rick must team-up with Bane to stop this super-lethal and highly addictive version of Venom from running rampant in his Santa Prisca home.

So first up on the agenda is breaking into Dad's former workplace Bannerman Chemicals. There is a pretty amusing exchange between Bane and a security guard who nearly was killed that Bane chose to save.

By the second part of the story the action ramps up allowing Scott McDaniel's pencils to shine and *SPOILERS TURN BACK NOW* Bane only wishes to eradicate anyone who ever had a hand in the creation of Venom! Of course that includes Rick and his father! Overall, a pretty clever connection created between Bane and the Hourman Legacy by Tony Bedard that makes for some enjoyable reading.


9. Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight #16-20
"Venom"

Now technically this story from Denny O'Neil doesn't even really feature Bane at all. So why am I including this on a Top Ten list of favorite Bane stories? Because this is the first tale that introduces the reader to the previously mentioned drug that was the source of Bane's strength and power. It's a well told story and gives fans of Bane an added insight to his homeland and development that they otherwise wouldn't be privy to.

I recall when the press got a hold of this story the idea of Batman taking drugs and dealing with their addictive properties was played up to the hilt. But don't worry kids. Batman got off the smack even if he did end up looking like Alan Moore when all was said and done.


8. Birds of Prey #26
"The Suitor"

A fun little romp from Bane Co-Creator Chuck Dixon and artist Butch Guice that details the first encounter Bane ever has with the Black Canary. The cover may be a bit more goofy than the actual interiors.

Bane's looking to destroy one of the many Lazarus Pits that Ra's Al Ghul has stationed around the globe. It just so happens that the Canary is doing reconnaissance on that same location for her partner Oracle.

Bane is still healing from the heartbreak delivered to him by Al Ghul's daughter Talia. Bane hopes Black Canary can fill that void, but unfortunately for Bane and his nads, the feeling is hardly mutual.


7. Vengeance of Bane

You'll probably be seeing a lot of comics from the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan as they were the creators that most strongly influenced the direction of this character. Of course nothing could be more influential than the origin of the man who would go on to break the Batman. Born into prison life, we see the development from young boy into an adult force of nature.

Along with Sword of Azrael, a great lead-in to the Knightfall event which sets up the conflict between Batman and Bane.


6. Vengeance of Bane II
"The Redemption"

This sequel by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan to the original Vengeance of Bane is set after the conclusion of Knightfall that sees AzBats finally defeat Bane. As a result Bane has been incarcerated in the walls of Gotham's Blackgate Penitentiary.

The issue features many of Batman's sane adversaries such as the Electrocutioner, Rat-Catcher and KGBeast. Basically this is an outlandish episode of the HBO prison drama Oz, not that Oz is far off from being outlandish. I can just hear the Oz music cue in my head as I read this...

One might also say that it's Escape from Alcatraz with Super-Villains. It's fairly easy to get caught up in Bane's determination and the way he eventually commands such respect from his fellow inmates.


5. Azrael #36-40
"Angel and the Bane"

After some dealing with some conflicting loyalties, Azrael takes on the mission that will bring about the rematch between himself and Bane, Denny O'Neil and Roger Robinson bring us the first Azrael-Bane confrontation since the conclusion of Knightfall. However Bane's plans go deeper than simple-minded revenge. Bane's vengeance against the man who brought about his original downfall will be both deliberate and precise. After capturing Azrael, Bane plans to take Jean-Paul to his home island in Santa Prisca. Bane intends to have Azrael succumb to the very same Venom addiction that brought about his own original downfall.

I also enjoy and appreciate that Denny O'Neil didn't let Bane's associate from his Knightfall days slip through the cracks. Bane breaks the falcon trainer, Bird, out of a medium security prison in Florida, so he may again function as a servant of Bane.

Azrael fights off the effects of the drug and goads Bane into a one-on-one showdown on the island. Overall a highly anticipated return bout which certainly does not disappoint.


4. Bane of The Demon #1-4

Yet another piece from the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, this time in the form of a four-issue mini-series. A complex game of cat and mouse brings together two of Batman's most formidable foes. Ra's Al Ghul the Demon's Head and Bane, the man who broke the Batman.

Bane of The Demon is an interesting precursor to the Legacy storyline from the ongoing Batman titles. Al Ghul's daughter Talia, who is known to have romantic designs on the Batman, takes a brief interest in Bane. Soon enough though, the reader comes to see a crueler side of Talia then they ever would with Batman. She quickly comes to view her time with Bane as a dalliance, rather than a relationship with any serious meaning.

However, Bane is craftier and more clever than either father or daughter give him credit for. My favorite scene is where they finally realize he can understand all that they've been saying "behind his back" in their native tongue and a variety of other languages.

Much like the feelings of Ra's Al Ghul in this mini-series, Bane continues to amuse and fascinate me.


3. Batman #491 - 500 and Detective Comics #659 - 666
"Knightfall"
by Alan Grant, Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Norm Breyfoyle,Jim Aparo, Jim Balent and Graham Nolan

It's difficult to see how you could leave Knightfall off any Top Ten list of Bane comic books. Knightfall does, after all, contain Bane's claim to fame, the breaking of the Bat, as it were.

From his execution of Film Freak, to his humbling of Killer Croc, Bane became a major player in the Gotham City crime scene right away. The storyline set up the character as an implementer of brutality, but in a frighteningly controlled and concise manner. Soon enough Bane becomes so familiar with the nature of his chosen adversary, that he only need look at him once as a civilian to discern his true nature.

Even though this was done in the style of many of the ham-fisted events of the 90's, I feel like Knightfall still holds up to many current day readers as Bane took time and, even in some sense, respect in the manner with which he handles his prey. In opposition to his more obsessed fans (I'm looking at you Bruce Timm!), the way that you handle Batman is with finesse.


2. Gotham Knights #33-36,47-49
by Scott Beatty
Mike Collins, Roger Robinson, and Charlie Adlard
"The Devil You Know..."

Batman and Bane have a pretty cool rival fusion going on in the pages of Gotham Knights. Initially they team-up to bring an end to the last of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pits, but ultimately questions regarding Bane's parentage and possible ties to the Wayne family keep them close together for two major arcs in the title.

While "Tabula Rasa" covers the above mentioned arc, "Veritas Liberat" focuses on Bane's actual parentage. I realize that not everyone is a fan of the continuity or stories in Gotham Knights,but for a long time this comic was the only book out there that read like a true Batman book to me. The stories with Bane, among others, played a large part in contributing to that feeling.


1. Secret Six #9
"A Debt of Significant Blood"

This very special issue of the Secret Six by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott ties into the Battle For The Cowl storyline that went on in the Batman book in 2009. With Batman presumed dead, everybody and their brother was out looking to fill the caped crusaders shoes. Even Catman and Bane, now part of the villain-for-hire group known as the Secret Six, end up getting in on the action.

Honestly this is probably one of the best comics I read in 2009. It's whimsical, funny and deathly serious all at the same time. It reveals layers of character between the interactions between Bane, Catman and Ragdoll. Not only is this single, done-in-one, story a terrific comic book, but the entire thirty-six issue run of the Secret Six is worth checking out in my humble opinion.