Artist: Howard Porter
Original Graphic Novel
Bane has had quite a journey over the last thirty years of comics and in the process become a rather complex character. There's obviously the work done by co-creator Chuck Dixon. There's everything Gail Simone did with him in Secret Six. It's far from the worst thing Tom King did during his Batman run, might even be low on the list, but his time using the character didn't really reflect any of that.
One Bad Day was an initiative I rolled my eyes at. DC can harp on the Killing Joke too much as it is, making an entire initiative around the line of someone being one bad day away from snapping seemed a little too cute. The first I read, the one dedicated to the Riddler, only reinforced that feeling. But whereas the Riddler book did some dogshit things with the character on top of leaning in too hard on the "One Bad Day" tagline, Banes graphic novel suggests it might play as more of a theme with others. A focus on the things that made the characters who they are and how they shaped them.
In wrestling parlance, Bane is what we'd call a tweener, a character who sits between a good guy or a bad guy and can lean a bit either way depending on circumstances. They can have a grudge against a hero, a case where they're firmly the villain, or a grudge against a villain, which obviously puts them in the opposite position. He has a complex relationship with Batman, both foe and begrudging ally when circumstances are right for it. Tom Kings run nearly ruined this dynamic by having Bane kill Alfred, which is probably why it should just be undone already, because it's a cloud that hangs over the character*. Especially when we get stories like this, where the complexity seeps back in.
Banes story revolves around the substance that empowered him to break the Bat, once upon a time. Venom is a cloud over his life, an addictive substance that can, over time, absolutely wreck your mind and body. On numerous occasions, when he's slipped from its grasp, Bane has dedicated his time and effort to eradicating it so no one can suffer the fate he had. It's his thematic "One Bad Day", the thing that changed his life forever.
When we start, it's seemingly some time in the future. Bane kicked the habit of Venom once and for all and, as far as he is aware, has managed to eradicate the substance from the face of the Earth. He spends his time in Mexico reveling in past glory; he's a participant in a regular wrestling event where he recreates the "breaking of the bat" with whatever local wrestler takes up the role that night. He has a mansion on the outskirts and his life is rather lonely. Over his fireplace, a framed newspaper of the day he broke Batmans back. Sometimes, he will see apparitions of his mother, long gone from his life.
The obvious parallels Bruce Wayne are stark, only Banes life is far lonelier. He seemingly has no connections, just money, his matches and dark nights in front of his mantle. It changes when a small time drug dealer shows up at his door.
Banes reputation precedes him. You don't get a solid victory over Batman like Bane did and just end up forgotten. Hell, you can argue no one else ever did on the level Bane did. Batman was out for months and even required a temporary replacement. Everyone knows his story and of the drug that gave him great strength. The drug dealer has brought a vial of venom, something he thinks Bane would want. Only Bane is enraged. He thought he'd destroyed the substance entirely. Demanding to know where it was found, he and the drug pusher leave to finish the job.
The story paints a complex picture of the character, one that adds the depth that some writers forget. Breaking Batmans back is Banes greatest triumph in life, but much like some athletes, it's also a great success that he has never been able to replicate in his life. It hangs over his life like a cloud, his one moment of glory in a life ravaged by the drug that gave him the power to do it. He sees a parallel of himself in the drug pusher, a kid who got forced into the life when he was left with the debts of his dead father, a life situation the son of King Snake knows all too well. Bane struggles at moments with the temptation, obvious on his face, of reclaiming that glory while realizing it's a Faustian bargain. He has a subtextual need for Venom to die so he can be free of that temptation.
For a graphic novel clocking in at just under seventy pages, it does everything it needs to, tying back through the history of Bane himself and the very substance of Venom. There are callbacks that go as far as the Legends of the Dark Knight arc that introduced Venom a year before Bane made his first appearance. It looks to paint a full portrait of the man and I'm pleased to say it largely succeeds. It even ends up a positive note, with Bane reflecting on advice from Batman to make a change in his life. It's the closest to a "happy ending" you can picture for Bane at this point in his life, suggesting a change in life direction that could take him to a better place.
Howard Porter holds up his end artistically with some of his best work in years. His depiction of Bane is at times grotesque, always ugly, a man ravaged by time and the obvious effects using a drug that suddenly bloats your musculature might have on your skin and body. Moody colors darken the page during contemplative moments, contrasted with brighter colors in the ring, in action. The storytelling is clear, Porter will even get inventive with layout at times. He does that trick I love, where a ton of tiny panels can depict a long fight in the span of two pages without wasting page space.
The story and art synergize to make something that genuinely does Bane right. I'm unsure if it is in continuity. After all, the Riddler graphic novel was decidedly not. This one also seems to take place after much time has passed, perhaps up to a decade beyond the present day of the DCU. As such, I lean pretty heavily toward it being its own thing. But while I like continuity, it's far from the end all and be all. A good story justifies itself and hell, even if it isn't canon, this story uses past continuity incredibly well to tell its story. Continuity is a tool, it doesn't need to be a shackle.
Of the two One Bad Day graphic novels I've read so far, Bane is the first outright success. Sharply written, well drawn and respectful of its main character, it's the best Bane story I've read in a minute. I'd personally recommend tracking it down and reading it in whatever way strikes your fancy. It's worth the time.
* Speaking of this cloud, the one reference to Alfreds death, in flashback, aptly illustrated my meaning. It's took me out of the story for a brief moment, because if that event happened in this stories internal continuity it makes it harder to believe Batman will work together with the man who killed his surrogate father figure. But it's a rock and a hard place situation. The bedrock of this story is in Banes life story, so can you just conveniently leave it out to make things easier? I don't know the answer. It doesn't wreck the book, but it does remind me of what a mistake that moment was and that, whatever your thoughts on comic death or characters coming back to life, the character of Bane would be far better served if it were undone. It's a moment of cruelty that does nothing for the character.
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