DC’s Absolute Universe has introduced a new and extremely fearsome version of Batman’s gargantuan nemesis Bane, but even Absolute Bane’s outstanding debut can’t quite surpass the gripping shock and crippling pain of his original DC debut. First introduced in Batman’s Knightfall story, Bane is a supremely strong and highly intelligent villain whose already massive strength and impossibly huge muscles are enhanced by the steroid known as “Venom”. Knightfall culminates with Bane infamously defeating Batman by breaking the Dark Knight’s back over his knee, taking Bruce Wayne out of commission for a long stretch of time and forever cementing Bane as one of Batman’s all time greatest enemies.
As part of the Absolute Universe presenting an entirely new DC Universe with new versions of every hero and villain alike, Absolute Batman has introduced its own version of Bane who is easily the most ruthless, monstrous, and out-and-out largest version of the character yet. Bane’s debut in the Absolute Universe has already set up an electrifying Batman story with the Dark Knight forced to overcome his strongest enemy imaginable. Still, Bane’s introduction in the Absolute Universe is built on the shoulders of his debut in the Knightfall story arc, and while matching that story narratively is one thing, equaling the sheer impact of Bane’s first battle with Batman is all but impossible.
Absolute Bane Is the Best New Version of Bane Yet
When it comes to the Absolute Universe’s take on Batman, the clear mandate from the outset has been “make everything bigger”, a trend clearly reflected in the first eight issues of Absolute Batman. The Dark Knight himself is given the dimensions of the world’s strongest power lifter, while his vehicles (especially the Batmobile) and apparel have all been illustrated with hulking dimensions. Then with Absolute Batman #8, along comes Bane as the most fearsome and domineering adversary possible.
Built to the size of the standard version of Doomsday with his Venom-distributing tubes the size of fire hoses, the enormous Absolute Bane‘s first confrontation with Batman shows him defeating the Caped Crusader with terrifying ease, Bane disabling Batman with pressure point strikes before carrying him off “for surgery”. Bane’s confidence and intellect are both as refined and sharp as his traditional comic book origins, and his defeat of Batman with such precision-based attacks as pressure-point striking displays a strategy and level of combative perfection one would not immediately associate with such a machine of pure muscle (though it certainly fits in with Absolute Batman‘s level of violent intensity). Still, as horrifying as it as it see Batman taken down so easily by the Absolute version of Bane, the villain’s comic book debut is high bar to meet.
Bane’s First Battle With Batman Is His Most Iconic Moment
In his comics debut in the Knightfall story arc, Bane is shown to be not just a massive mountain of a man, but one with brains to match, recognizing that Batman is a tough opponent even with all of Bane’s advantages. Bane strategically devises a plan to wear Batman down by unleashes dozens of inmates, including many of Batman’s rogue’s gallery, from Arkham Asylum, with Batman severely drained from the effort of rounding them back up. This leaves the exhausted Caped Crusader easy prey for Bane, with the villain infamously breaking Batman’s back.
The iconic shot of Batman dropping Batman over his knee is an image that communicates absolute pain and definitive defeat. Like The Death of Superman story that would follow, Knightfall shocked the world with the unthinkable idea of Batman being truly defeated by an seemingly insurmountable enemy. Even with Batman eventually healing his back, building himself back into fighting shape, and facing and defeating Batman again on many occasions, Batman has never truly recovered from his first battle with Bane, and neither he nor comic book readers himself have ever forgotten the day where Bane became the man who truly broke the Bat.
Bane Is One of Batman’s Greatest Enemies, but He Can’t Break the Bat Twice
Bane is an enduring Batman villain because of the sheer challenge he presents in not just matching Batman intellectually, but possessing equal fighting skill and vastly greater size and strength. Absolute Batman has been the first time DC Comics has truly managed to emphasize all of Bane’s advantages over Batman since Knightfall, through the means possible of making Absolute Batman the size of regular Bane, Absolute Bane the size of regular Doomsday, and Bane’s method of defeating Batman that of a expertly trained kung fu master. While it was certainly wise for Absolute Bane to have a different methodology of victory compared to Knightfall, there are also only so many ways to show the same arc of Bane defeating Batman and the Dark Knight learning from his loss before emerging victorious in their rematch without it getting repetitive.
Moreover, the act of Bane breaking Batman’s back is such an iconic and terribly painful moment that going the pressure point route was the smartest choice simply in the interest of showing Bane’s victory from the other side of the spectrum. Put simply, Bane can’t just break Batman’s back twice, which makes finding ways for alternate versions of Bane to defeat Bane difficult. Other than Bane’s pressure point method in the Absolute Universe, the only way to really top the impact of Knightfall‘s back-breaking panel might well be for Bane to kill Batman outright. With DC’s Absolute Universe still pretty fresh and no superhero death ever lasting forever, the right call was made in having Batman attack pressure points to gain the upper hand over Batman, that method undoubtedly being deployed with the understanding that Bane breaking the Bat will always be his most iconic and impossible to top moment.
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