DC Absolute Universe has set the comic book world on fire with re-imagined versions of many of DC’s stalwart heroes, and that re-working has extended just as much to the villains. From making Circe into Wonder Woman’s adoptive mother to re-working Ra’s Al Ghul into Superman’s arch-enemy, the changes made to the villains of Absolute DC have been every bit the sight to behold as they have been for the heroes. Absolute Batman has also exemplified this with its monstrous, nearly kaiju-sized version of Bane, with Absolute Batman #11’s story, “Abomination Part III” a true full-circle flashback to the origins of the man who broke the Bat.
It’s arguable that “Abomination Part III” is as much, if not more, Bane’s story than it is Batman’s, the Dark Knight being seen surprisingly little in the issue, which focuses primarily upon Bane’s dark origin story in the Absolute Universe. “Abomination Part III” explores Bane’s backstory as an inmate of Santa Prisca’s Pena Duro prison, following his father’s role in the failed rebellion against the island’s dictatorial overlord. The story hews fairly closely to Bane’s traditional origin as a man who built himself to peak physical and mental condition, with a dark turn establishing the first canonical instance of Bane displaying the ability to break his enemies.
Absolute Batman #11 also recounts Bane’s villainous rise in the criminal underworld like a horror movie, framing his initial (and voluntary) subjection to the Venom experimentation and his subsequent criminal activities with the underworld legendary status his reputation demands. Yet none of that compares to the unhinged blitzkrieg that is Batman’s rematch against Bane after his initial capture that he escaped from.
With Batman in the background for so much of “Abomination Part III”, words cannot describe how simultaneously enthralling and horrifying his second battle with Bane is. With the entire issue overseen by an unidentified narrator (though Alfred Pennyworth seems like a good guess), the story’s pay-off comes in one jaw-dropping image that turns the “make Batman twice as big” mandate of Absolute DC up to eleven. Suffice it to say, the Batman readers will see in Absolute Batman #12 is assured to be one who has truly internalized the lessons of his first two brawls with the scariest version of Bane yet.
As has frequently been seen since the beginning of DC’s Absolute Universe, “Abomination Part III” also ends on a harrowing cliffhanger that one can only imagine leads into an even more ruthless Batman vs. Bane showdown after their Earth-shattering round two in Absolute Batman #11. As an Absolute Universe origin story for Bane first and a Batman learning curve second, “Abomination Part III” is a phenomenal continuation of the tale of two mega-muscled warriors with genius-level I.Q.’s that has been Absolute DC’s Batman vs. Bane story, re-introducing Bane and Batman alike with a ruthlessness and determination neither has ever known on the comic book page (which certainly says a lot for the two of them).
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Absolute Batman #11 is on sale now from DC.
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