The Significance of Bane
Work.
*Sigh*
Looks like my plans of keeping a weekly post has gone out the window. So I started working this past week and getting ready for this job the week before, so I really haven’t had time to post at all. But I guess since most of the chaos has simmered down. I can talk about video games and comics and the what-not.
But I digress. My main point is to talk about Bane. All eyes are on Tom Hardy and Christopher Nolan this Thursday night (because obviously everyone is going to the midnight showing) to see if they can accurately portray a likable and appropriate Bane to Batman’s mantle. See Bane’s character has been highly misinterpreted ever since he came out in Batman #490 (as well as Batman: Vengeance of Bane-but seriously? Who read that?). Many people used to cast him aside as a big brute who was lucky enough to break Batman’s back when Batman wasn’t looking. I mean, they had the nerve to mess him up so badly in Batman and Robin for chrissakes! POSION IVY REALLY? DAHIOUHUHLUFADHF--*ahem*…but seriously, Bane was Poison Ivy’s lackey? No, no, no, no…Bane is exactly what his name means: He’s the poison to Batman. You know how poison works? Most of the time, poison doesn’t kill you instantly. It seeps into your blood stream and takes everything out…slowly. It then can affect your body and your mental state. You begin to feel woozy, uncoordinated, and a bit feverish. Before you know what hit you, the poison has taken over and you’re powerless and then you’re dead. Even if a poison is fast at killing you, the main point is that it takes time to seep into you and kill you. Sometimes that process is in the form of paralysis or some sickness. That is how Bane worked in the comics. He slowly whittled Batman down physically and mentally. Batman was already weakened by trying to take down the Black Mask just weeks before. So Bane bites Batman by causing a prison break in the Arkham Asylum. Now think of all the criminals that Batman ever had in his career being unleashed…in one night. Batman tries ridiculously hard (alone, obviously) to corral all the bad guys for Gotham PD. For days, Batman doesn’t sleep, doesn’t eat, and doesn’t stop. All the while, Bane just watches. Bane and his crew planned out this carefully laid out trap so they could ultimately take the city away from Batman. Bane finds out Batman’s secret identity, everyone Batman works with, and most of all, where Batman lives. Batman fights all the criminals he can. But eventually he starts to understand the Batman cannot be forever put on by one human. The Batman has no limits, but Bruce Wayne does. And any human, no matter how hard they try, cannot break the limits of mortality. Bane knows this. So after days of fighting crime, Batman comes home depressed and exhausted. Though he used to get by just on thirty minute meditation breaks, he knows he needs a few hours of shuteye to get his stamina back. Sadly, he doesn't notice that Alfred is knocked out somewhere in his mansion and waiting inside his comfy room is the man of the hour: Bane. The rest is history.
See, Bane didn’t just want to cripple Batman. He wanted to utterly destroy everything that Batman every stood for and to make sure he’s gone for good. If you read the comics, Batman goes severely emo after this. He becomes terribly depressed and in a moment of weakness, elects a brainwashed half-crazy (turns to full crazy) religious nut to become the next Batman. It seemed like Bruce Wayne would never ever think he could become Batman again.
Now why did Bane want to do this? And how could Bane accomplish this? The latter question is posed because how can Bane do what other villains couldn’t? And the answer to that question is that Bane is not only super strong (which most villains in the Batman universe aren’t), he’s also super smart and cunning. He’s got an aptitude unlike no other matched with the venom steroid pumping through his veins. He’s every superhero’s nightmare. Bane knew he couldn’t take Batman head-on. Batman’s gadgetry and home field advantage would ruin Bane. So Bane out-prepared Batman(crazy right?). He tore Gotham City asunder just to take to defeat Batman. Now the first question comes in: Why? The answer to that is two-fold. Why did Batman need to be destroyed and why did Bane need do it?
Well, Batman needed to be destroyed because Superman couldn’t. See, in 1992 (the year before Batman’s back was broken), Superman underwent a similar problem. Superman has problems in his life. A new villain emerges literally from outer space and is equal to Superman in every way. The thing is that Superman was killed and then brought back to life. Let’s just say that though it was a very significant event in the Superman franchise, it certainly wasn’t unanimously favored by all critics. So when it came for Batman’s turn, a similar formula was established except having Batman die would have a more drastic effect—Batman is human. So Batman’s back was broken. And having Bane do it would be the best idea since touching any of the other Batman villains would make congruency and consistency in the universe go to hell. It was a pretty routine tradition in comics back then: Create a new villain for a new cataclysmic event. If the event goes well, you have a new villain in the hero’s universe. If it goes badly (like Doomsday in Superman), you can just toss them away. No harm, no foul.
Unlike Doomsday, though, Bane turned out to be a well thought out villain. His history was thorough and his characteristics were great. Bane’s life starts off with him watching his mother get raped and beaten in one of the worst prisons in the world (which just so happens to be in like Brazil or something) and literally spends most of his time in solitary confinement. Not to mention, he’s an orphan for the rest of his stay. His solitary confinement was being locked in some cave with no light for days or weeks. He survived off rats and ground water. Much of the time he’d find bats in his stay in solitary. He ended up developing a sort of semi fear/grudge with them. He ends up breaking out of prison while taking a few new recruits with him. They tell him about the outside world and of the Batman. This is how Bane’s story starts.
Honestly, I can do neither Bane nor Knightfall justice. It’s one of the best stories of Batman ever created in my opinion. Sadly, the other parts in the saga were much worse and didn’t really have the same development and thought put into them as Knightfall did. The good thing is that Bane is only in the first part (the good part) of a very long journey that Batman goes through. I recommend reading it if you ever get time. Especially since the new Batman movie is coming out soon.
Sorry for the long post, but I really love talking Batman. I definitely didn't cover this in detail (I could write essays). If you have a favorite saga of Batman comics, let me know. If I haven’t read it, I’ll check it out. Also please forgive the formatting...I have some issues I need to take care of.
*Sigh*
Looks like my plans of keeping a weekly post has gone out the window. So I started working this past week and getting ready for this job the week before, so I really haven’t had time to post at all. But I guess since most of the chaos has simmered down. I can talk about video games and comics and the what-not.
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| Yeah, super awesome |
The Dark Knight Rises is coming out in a couple days. I thought I’d shift over to comics for a bit (though I am pretty much a noob when it comes to collecting). Batman is probably my most beloved franchises of all time. I would like to believe that I know most of Batman’s lore. It’s not true because I haven't read much of the Golden Age and Silver Age arcs, but still, I can dream. I mean, my first post on this blog was about Batman video games; Games I used to love as a kid and play to death despite how bad they were. Even the movies-my god, the movies. I remember how much I loved Batman Forever despite all the flaws as well as the bat-nipples. I got the action figures for my birthday and bought the book because it had pictures from the movie. I even had the Batman Forever wallet, shirt and shoes. I freaking exploded when that movie came out. Mostly because I was deathly afraid of Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns. They were so dark and eerie that, as a five year old, they freaked the crap out of me. Albeit, I was also scared of the X-Files too.
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| That looks like it hurts... |
But I digress. My main point is to talk about Bane. All eyes are on Tom Hardy and Christopher Nolan this Thursday night (because obviously everyone is going to the midnight showing) to see if they can accurately portray a likable and appropriate Bane to Batman’s mantle. See Bane’s character has been highly misinterpreted ever since he came out in Batman #490 (as well as Batman: Vengeance of Bane-but seriously? Who read that?). Many people used to cast him aside as a big brute who was lucky enough to break Batman’s back when Batman wasn’t looking. I mean, they had the nerve to mess him up so badly in Batman and Robin for chrissakes! POSION IVY REALLY? DAHIOUHUHLUFADHF--*ahem*…but seriously, Bane was Poison Ivy’s lackey? No, no, no, no…Bane is exactly what his name means: He’s the poison to Batman. You know how poison works? Most of the time, poison doesn’t kill you instantly. It seeps into your blood stream and takes everything out…slowly. It then can affect your body and your mental state. You begin to feel woozy, uncoordinated, and a bit feverish. Before you know what hit you, the poison has taken over and you’re powerless and then you’re dead. Even if a poison is fast at killing you, the main point is that it takes time to seep into you and kill you. Sometimes that process is in the form of paralysis or some sickness. That is how Bane worked in the comics. He slowly whittled Batman down physically and mentally. Batman was already weakened by trying to take down the Black Mask just weeks before. So Bane bites Batman by causing a prison break in the Arkham Asylum. Now think of all the criminals that Batman ever had in his career being unleashed…in one night. Batman tries ridiculously hard (alone, obviously) to corral all the bad guys for Gotham PD. For days, Batman doesn’t sleep, doesn’t eat, and doesn’t stop. All the while, Bane just watches. Bane and his crew planned out this carefully laid out trap so they could ultimately take the city away from Batman. Bane finds out Batman’s secret identity, everyone Batman works with, and most of all, where Batman lives. Batman fights all the criminals he can. But eventually he starts to understand the Batman cannot be forever put on by one human. The Batman has no limits, but Bruce Wayne does. And any human, no matter how hard they try, cannot break the limits of mortality. Bane knows this. So after days of fighting crime, Batman comes home depressed and exhausted. Though he used to get by just on thirty minute meditation breaks, he knows he needs a few hours of shuteye to get his stamina back. Sadly, he doesn't notice that Alfred is knocked out somewhere in his mansion and waiting inside his comfy room is the man of the hour: Bane. The rest is history.
See, Bane didn’t just want to cripple Batman. He wanted to utterly destroy everything that Batman every stood for and to make sure he’s gone for good. If you read the comics, Batman goes severely emo after this. He becomes terribly depressed and in a moment of weakness, elects a brainwashed half-crazy (turns to full crazy) religious nut to become the next Batman. It seemed like Bruce Wayne would never ever think he could become Batman again.
Now why did Bane want to do this? And how could Bane accomplish this? The latter question is posed because how can Bane do what other villains couldn’t? And the answer to that question is that Bane is not only super strong (which most villains in the Batman universe aren’t), he’s also super smart and cunning. He’s got an aptitude unlike no other matched with the venom steroid pumping through his veins. He’s every superhero’s nightmare. Bane knew he couldn’t take Batman head-on. Batman’s gadgetry and home field advantage would ruin Bane. So Bane out-prepared Batman(crazy right?). He tore Gotham City asunder just to take to defeat Batman. Now the first question comes in: Why? The answer to that is two-fold. Why did Batman need to be destroyed and why did Bane need do it?
Well, Batman needed to be destroyed because Superman couldn’t. See, in 1992 (the year before Batman’s back was broken), Superman underwent a similar problem. Superman has problems in his life. A new villain emerges literally from outer space and is equal to Superman in every way. The thing is that Superman was killed and then brought back to life. Let’s just say that though it was a very significant event in the Superman franchise, it certainly wasn’t unanimously favored by all critics. So when it came for Batman’s turn, a similar formula was established except having Batman die would have a more drastic effect—Batman is human. So Batman’s back was broken. And having Bane do it would be the best idea since touching any of the other Batman villains would make congruency and consistency in the universe go to hell. It was a pretty routine tradition in comics back then: Create a new villain for a new cataclysmic event. If the event goes well, you have a new villain in the hero’s universe. If it goes badly (like Doomsday in Superman), you can just toss them away. No harm, no foul.
Unlike Doomsday, though, Bane turned out to be a well thought out villain. His history was thorough and his characteristics were great. Bane’s life starts off with him watching his mother get raped and beaten in one of the worst prisons in the world (which just so happens to be in like Brazil or something) and literally spends most of his time in solitary confinement. Not to mention, he’s an orphan for the rest of his stay. His solitary confinement was being locked in some cave with no light for days or weeks. He survived off rats and ground water. Much of the time he’d find bats in his stay in solitary. He ended up developing a sort of semi fear/grudge with them. He ends up breaking out of prison while taking a few new recruits with him. They tell him about the outside world and of the Batman. This is how Bane’s story starts.
Honestly, I can do neither Bane nor Knightfall justice. It’s one of the best stories of Batman ever created in my opinion. Sadly, the other parts in the saga were much worse and didn’t really have the same development and thought put into them as Knightfall did. The good thing is that Bane is only in the first part (the good part) of a very long journey that Batman goes through. I recommend reading it if you ever get time. Especially since the new Batman movie is coming out soon.
Sorry for the long post, but I really love talking Batman. I definitely didn't cover this in detail (I could write essays). If you have a favorite saga of Batman comics, let me know. If I haven’t read it, I’ll check it out. Also please forgive the formatting...I have some issues I need to take care of.
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| Bring it. |
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