Batman Vol. 3: I Am Bane (2024 Edition) (DC Batman)

The previous volume, I Am Suicide, began with parallel panels showing the lives of Bane and Batman. This volume is a thematic extension of that parallel, operates like the mirror of the last volume, and in some way concludes the Bane/Batman comparison started there. In the last volume, Batman stormed into Bane's home, humiliated him, and shook him to his core; here, Bane makes it clear that he is coming to Gotham to do the same to Batman tenfold. The story is simple, Batman has to stave off Bane long enough for Gotham Girl to receive treatment, so he is on his home turf and has to play defense. But with someone as singular-minded and extreme as Bane, it's clear that simple defense will not be enough, he has to beat Bane head on fully and completely.This volume not only has incredible action scenes, but also effectively uses the Robins, Batman's rogues' gallery, and Arkham Asylum to give the story a grounded familiarity as well as stakes. There are references, obvious and obscure, to the Knightfall arc (when Bane previously arrived in Gotham and notoriously broke Batman). And Catwoman's role as Batman's ally grows and continues.To top it all off, there are also some self-contained stories at the end of the volume that are fantastic. Normally, I skim the issues like these, and at best I forget them and at worst, they feel tacked on or unrelated to the main volume. But here, there are two great short stories about Batman, one involving Alfred and Ace the Bathound and one involving Swamp Thing, that might be some of the most beautiful, well written, concise stories about Batman I've read. Really, they are a bonus to an already excellent volume.In the end, this volume tells you pretty much everything you need to know about Tom King's run, and either it will get you on board for the rest of the run or it won't. Yes, there is some heavy-handed storytelling and repetition, yes, Batman continues to be invincible for the sake of the themes set up by the writer and he is more of a powerhouse than a thinker in this iteration. But ultimately, this story is less about Batman's intelligence and more about his mental state, about examining the death wish he and others have deep down, but also the powerful will to live that ultimately overcomes that impulse and that makes Batman triumphant. I have no doubt this run will end up being one of the most well-written, if not best personal examination, of Batman in all of his canon and highly recommend it to Batman fans.

Easily one of my favorite comics in ages. Tom King's "I Am" Trilogy comes to its climatic end with Bane, back to using his super steroid Venom, launching an all out assault on Batman in Gotham in revenge for the latter's actions during the previous volume. Tom King, one of the best writers working for DC at the moment, proves not only that Bane has always been one of Batman's most formidable threats, but wonderfully explores the aspects of how their characters are two sides of the same coin. Bane paves a brutal swath through Gotham and the Bat's allies in his quest to reclaim the Psycho Pirate (who'd been using to help alleviate the pain of his venom withdrawals) and shows once again that he is more than a match for Bruce. While some bits of the story are left unseen (such as an early throw down between Bane and Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin) the effects of those unseen moments are surely felt and make Bane less of a 'roided out fighter and more of a shadowy presence striking Batman at his leisure. As a conclusion to the story begun with the introduction of Gotham Girl, this is a smash hit and the subsequent ending chapters are great as well such as the culmination of the romance between Bat and Cat, a haunting interlude between Batman and a revenge-seeking Swamp Thing, and a moment of needed levity with the Rebirth reintroduction of Ace the Bat Hound (for such a cheesy old school character, Ace's "origin" story here is both heartbreaking, funny, and wonderfully affecting).

It's all been building to the big brawl!Story: So, obviously Tom King had a lot to prove when he took on the main Batman title from the super successful, probably impossible to follow Scott Snyder. Could he do it? Of coarse. I mean, it's possible. Has he done it? Short answer: Yes. Here we have the culmination of this three volume arc, and there's a lot to love, as well as some room for improvement. I could just be my normal DC superfan, and give this book about DC's most popular character 5 stars and say there's nothing wrong with it, but I'd be doing a great injustice by not being critical enough of the number one comic book that needs to be scrutinized to insure the best quality. Batman realizes that Bane is coming to Gotham to finally exact his revenge upon him, and orders his Bat family to get out of Gotham while they can. Bruce doesn't want Bane to be able to get to him by using his Robins. This book kinda starts off on a weird note. Bruce and his Robins meet at a fast food restaurant, "Batburger", (WTF?!), where the employees cosplay in superhero costumes, and the menu is themed around Batman and his villains. The cashier asks Bruce if he'd like to Jokerize his fries (have them put some seasoning on them), and Bruce reminds the cashier that Joker is a maniacal killer. It's all just weird when you read it. The dialogue that King writes here just seems a little off, particularly with Jason Todd and Damien interacting. Since when does Todd worry about his hairline? I mean, we all know that the quickest way to get under Damien's skin is to call him short (because he views physical height as a desirable trait), but when was it established that Todd worries about losing his hair? Did I miss that in the New 52? It's hard to explain the writing style here, but when you read it, it seems as if King doesn't know how people actually talk to each other, at least in this one opening scene. I did like the bit about them ordering Damien the Batburger equivalent to a Happy Meal, and he gets a small toy Red Hood figurine. lol Bruce eventually puts his foot down, but his team quietly agrees that they won't listen to Bruce and just abandon him to the wrath of Bane. Dick says they wouldn't have been very good Robins if they always listened to Bruce. Batman's entire goal is to prevent Bane from reacquiring the Psycho Pirate, who Bane had Hugo Strange deliver to him in Santa Prisca so Bane could be done with the life he had before. One thing I really liked about this book is that it's actually easy to understand why Bane is super pissed and wants revenge on Batman. As Batman prepares for Bane's arrival, Bane has his right hand guy, Bird, incapacitate and capture some of Batman's closest allies including Catwoman and Bronze Tiger. Bane actually makes his way into the Batcave and hangs the three Robins. How they don't die, I don't know. Because...reasons? On their torsos is a message, each of them with one word. I.Am. Bane. Batman gets them down, and brings them to the Fortress of Solitude and asks Superman if he'll watch over them in stasis pods of some kind until the matter is handled. Batman waits for Bane atop the clocktower of Arkham, knowing Bane will come there to get Pirate. From several rooftops away, Bane reveals Batman's allies tied up. They meet each other, and a big fight ensues. Batman reveals to an overconfident Bane that this fight is just a feint while Catwoman gets free and then frees the rest of Bruce's allies (Duke, Gordon, and Bronze Tiger). Batman gets his butt handed to him. While this is going on, we get two sets of flashbacks, side by side to one another, showing the importance of Bruce's and Bane's mothers after their deaths and how the memory of their mothers helped in their training to build up their skills and abilities. This is actually one of the best aspects of the book as it shows that Batman and Bane aren't too dissimilar. They're much more alike than most people know, and each of them knows this. They both represent the power of will, both determined to show the other that they can't be brought down. They are the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. After the fight, Batman wants to use Alfred to get into Arkham with Claire Clover, Gotham Girl, and use the Psycho Pirate to fix her. It'll take some days. Batman lures Bane into Arkham through the front entrance and eventually sequesters himself in the cell built to hold the Joker, which was designed by Mr. Miracle using New Genesis technology. What we get next is an all out onslaught where Bane has to run the gauntlet of Arkham Asylum and beat up the host of dangerous inmates which Batman purposefully lets free and even arms with their usual weapons. I just realized the poetic justice in what King devised here. He basically had Batman pull a Bane on Bane. When Bane first broke the Bat, he wore down Batman by releasing all of Arkham Asylum onto the streets. Batman had to go out and recapture all his supervillains. Of coarse he could, but the point wasn't for Batman to fail at catching them, but rather to be physically worn down by the time he was finished so that he'd be an easier target for Bane to finish off. Then, when Bruce was prime pickings, Bane invaded Wayne Manor and broke Batman's back. Batman came up with the perfect plan here as he has Bane run through the various Arkham inmates including Solomon Grundy, Amygdala, Man Bat, Mr. Freeze, and it all comes down to the big door that Bane needs the Riddler to open. I was impressed by Riddler's intelligence in being able to open the vault designed by Mr. Miracle, especially since Riddler seems to criticize the lack of intelligence by the New Gods compared to his own. King takes this brief moment to set up his next arc, a flashback to the War of Jokes and Riddles by having Riddler tell Bane to remind Batman of that time all those years ago. Bane and Batman meet once more, but this time, it's a little more even. Even with Bane wounded by this point, it's an all out slugfest as Batman and Bane try to prove who's will is stronger. It's a big fight, though I was unimpressed with how Batman handled it. I don't know if King gave Finch direction on how he wanted the fight portrayed, or if Finch just drew a fight as he saw fit, but it seemed to mostly come down to Bats and Bane punching each other back and forth until one cracks...and of coarse one epic headbutt! I would have liked to see Batman be more like the master martial artist who uses ninja techniques to outsmart his opponent instead of trying to match Bane's ferocity. It just seemed to me like Batman was trying to be the greater animal than Bane. I wanted a fight much more akin to the fight between Batman and the Mutant Leader at the end of the first half of The Dark Knight Returns animated movie. In this final fight in this book, Batman and Bane were very much even for most of it, but I don't think I would have minded if Batman gained a big upper hand toward the end by using superior tactics, like pressure points and stuff. Bruce eventually has a sort of vision or dream where he explains to his mother that he didn't want to save Gotham Girl because he saw her as his successor or anything of that nature, but simply because she needed help. Bruce then acknowledges his mother's words that she never wanted him to have a great death in order to be proud of him. The book then goes to the epilogue with Batman talking to the newly cured Gotham Girl about happiness and why Bruce does what he does. Bruce tells GG that even though he tries to be happy by fighting crime, he isn't happy. They have a little talk about what people want vs. what they need, so Bruce makes the decision. He chases Catwoman across some rooftops, and Bruce mentions that soon after he thwarted a diamond heist years ago that Selina was committing, he ended up buying the diamond as Bruce Wayne and kept it knowing that one day he'd need it. What happens next is a huge shock and seemingly is a culmination of 80+ years of continuity between these two! Not sure how I feel about it. It almost seems like Bruce is throwing Talia under the bus, and I always thought that Talia meant more to Bruce than Selina, but Selina was the one woman who always held Bruce's attention. Either way, this is a very interesting new chapter in both their lives. The book moves on to a sort of origin story for Ace, the Bat Hound. I believe this is the short story that won the Eisner Award, though honestly, I don't know why. It was good, but not jaw droppingly so. It moves onto another short story which features Batman and Gordon looking at a recent murder. Swamp Thing comes into this apartment, revealing that the murdered man was actually his biological father. His father had left when he was young, and he took the last name of his stepfather when his mother remarried. Bruce invites Swamp Thing back to Wayne Manor and they talk while sitting on the couch which is an interesting sight. Swampy tells Bruce that he and his father were never close and Alec just basically threw away his father's letters into the swamp, never reading them. They're eventually able to track the killer to an art museum and Swamp Thing loses control and runs vines and various plants throughout the man's body with Batman screaming for him to stop. Once the man is finally dead, Batman criticizes Alec for killing him, as well as using Batman's skills as a detective to find the killer. With Swamp Thing now knowing why he was even there to investigate in the first place, despite the emotional distance between him and his father, he retreats back into the Green with Batman calling him a coward. I'm glad for DC to use Swamp Thing in anything because I'm such a fan of the character, but I don't particularly care for Batman calling Swampy a coward. It was cool to see Swamp Thing lose control and kill his father's murderer the way he did, but perhaps it would have been better to see Alec turn over the killer to the proper authorities and maybe give the killer a small plant in his cell by which Alec could periodically torment him with while he pays for his crime. Overall, there's some stuff to love about this book: two huge fights, some great side by side character examination of two great wills in the DC Universe, a great smash 'em up running of the gauntlet, Batman pulling a Bane on Bane, and some good cameos from Ace, and Swamp Thing, as well as the culmination of many years of pent up romantic tension between the Bat and the Cat. I would have preferred Bane to be depicted as having something more of a plan than just physically beating up Batman, even though he could. This guy is supposed to be a master strategist and tactician. I don't feel as though that was conveyed enough with Bane's more or less simple plan to get revenge on Batman for destroying the peace he finally attained. A more mastermind kind of Bane would have appealed to me more, but at least we did get the wrathful Bane that tears crap up!Art: It says that this is David Finch's finale on Batman. I hope not, but if it is, I'd like to say that his art here is phenomenal. His penciling quality improved so much toward the end of the New 52, where most of his pencils were sub par. His faces here are also much improved, and you can tell by his style that this guy is going to go down as one of the greatest Batman artists ever! He draws everyone pretty much perfectly, and Bane probably never looked so intimidating. Books by David Finch are naturally very gritty and dark in visual tone, and the same holds true here. I would have liked a little more vibrancy in the colors, but the tone is appropriate for the narrative I suppose. I was disappointed with Clay Mann's penciling work in the epilogue. I know he's better than that! Mitch Gerads does the story with Swamp Thing and I rather liked his art there. That's good, because I didn't like his art in the previous volume, and I want to like his art because I really want to enjoy the Mr. Miracle book when I get it. If this truly is David Finch's finale on Batman, then I can say he really went out strong and I've been impressed with this quality since the start of Rebirth.Overall: A fun beat 'em up that maybe should have had more strategy involved, but it's too epic and beautiful in appearance not to like. Batman shows his fight I.Q. by putting Bane through the same kind of gauntlet that Bane succeeded in years ago. Bane is too desperate to win to see the trap unfold. Fantastic art, and bonus stories round out a nice finale to this three part arc. Of coarse you should get this. I'm only giving it 4 stars because I would have preferred Bane to be more mastermind rather than like the Hulk.

This book in particular gets a little messy with the details (no spoilers). It's pretty confusing towards the end there, but overall I think it's a powerful story and outshines the shortcomings. Definitely an iconic book.