The Dark Knight Rises – A Brief(ish) History of Bane

Bane first appeared in a one-shot titled The Vengeance of Bane.  That should have been a clue that there were plans afoot for him.  With four monthly Bat-books (at the time), they had ample opportunities to trot out a new villain without having to premiere him in a self-titled special.  We learned that Bane grew up in prison in the Latin American (and also fictional) nation of Santa Prisca – he was serving out his notorious father’s life sentence.  Granted, that’s an unusual approach to criminal justice, but that’s how Santa Prisca rolls.

The boy who would be Bane (if he has a real name, it’s never been revealed) was haunted in his dreams by a demonic bat.  In prison, he read everything in the prison library and trained ferverishly, eventually becoming “The King of Pena Dura”.  When he finally escaped the prison, he’d been hardened into a physically powerful master strategist.  And in order to make a name for himself, he set out to beat The Bat. Thus, in the multi-part Knightfall arc, Bane systematically took Batman apart.  He engineered a massive breakout at Arkham Asylum, so that Batman was pushed to his limit, rounding up his most dangerous enemies one after another.  Mentally and physically exhausted, he was easy prey for Bane when, bolstered by a steroid called Venom, he faced off against Batman and broke his back. With Bruce Wayne out of commission, he was replaced by Jean-Paul Valley.  Previously known as Azrael, he was the mind-controlled assassin serving an ancient religious order that Batman had taken under his wing to rehabilitate.  (You guys, Batman comics in the 90s were really weird.  There was also a hunchback who lived in the Batcave, but we’ll save that for another time.)  Azrael, wearing the traditional Batman costume with the addition of metal gauntlets with finger claws, brutally defeated Bane.