Friday, July 20, 2012

Breaking of the Batman (A Brief Look at Knightfall and Bane in Batman Comics)

I've not yet seen 'The Dark Knight Rises'.  I'll probably end up waiting a week to avoid the crowds, the midnight opening ugliness notwithstanding.

That said, I've tried to avoid spoilers and really any info on the movie altogether.  Knowing the comics, I probably know where they are going to go with the plot, but I don't want to go into the theater certain of the outcome.  After all, Bane was only really features in one storyline in Batman.  The Knightfall storyline.  Bane was smarter and stronger than Batman, and held a major vendetta.  He was a force to be reckoned with.  I hope they capture this in the film.

Christopher Nolan can obviously do whatever he'd like with the story.  He's been amazing thus far.  However, I am hoping he keeps in the major end element of the Knightfall storyline... The Breaking of the Batman.


The culmination of the Knightfall storyline in the comics.  Batman #497.  Over the course of Knightfall, Bane orchestrated attacks from all of Batman's major adversaries to drain Batman both physically and mentally, culminating in Bane's ultimate defeat of Batman... breaking Batman's back and putting him out of commission.  It laid open Batman's vulnerabilities and self-doubts about being the Caped Crusader.  Made him a more human character once his mortality was exposed, and helped to shape the Batman of modern comics.

Growing up in the 90's when comics were a HUGE deal, this was a major event.  I still consider this as a key point in the Batman mythos.  And I consider this issue to be a classic cover in Batman comics.



I'd love to see at least an homage to this panel in the movie.

Anyone else out there read the comics?

1 comment:

  1. I've not read Knightfall and I still find it odd to remember that Bane is supposed to be a genius as well as incredibly strong. I think he's only been portrayed in the movies once before and that was as a drug addled musclehead who couldn't think. He was that way in the TV series' a lot too. At the very least, I'd like a Bane like the one in the comics. Given how dark and gritty Nolan's Batmans have been (and I've heard that this one is pretty dark) I wouldn't be surprised if someone ended up with a broken back.

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