Brutal Farewell To An Old Villian!
Story So Far
The last issue saw Batman's rouge gallery at a meeting orchastrated by Scarecrow and The Arkham Knight in the hopes of joining them in killing Batman, with the rogues gallery somewhat skeptical of Arkham Knight's abilites. Elsewhere Bane (under the influence of Scarecrows fear toxin) go into a frenzy with Batman and the GCPD, before being promptly snared by a tank, coming face to face with none other than: The Arkham Knight.
About Bane
Before I go into the review I've got to mention about Bane. Chuck Dixon and Dennis O'Neil were the ones who helped bring the character to life first in #1 - Vengeance of Bane, then in the Knightfall series. He was written as somewhat of an equal to Batman and would ultimately defeat The Dark Knight, being the only villain to break Batman. The best thing was while Dixon and O'neil wrote him as The Man Who Broke the Bat they weren't pridefull or stubborn enough to build the character up too much. They were willing to give the character a weakness that worked with the story and have the character lose, while still making him a formidable foe. Over the years Bane's had different treatment from different writers, some writing him as Batman's equal , whilst others wrote him as a masked thug who needs to be cut down to size by other characters. In the Rocksteady Arkham Games , Bane pretty much was over exposed but at the same time underapreciated, not really showing that much to impress and making him seem like an incompotent brute. That is until Arkham Origins , which actually managed to highlight the characters strengths and actually pose a threat to Batman.
Synopsis
As Batman's rogues gallery wait to see the full extent of The Arkham Knight's abilities ,Bane engages in a confrontation with the Arkham Knight where only one man is walking out victorious.
Review
The fight between Arkham Knight and Bane feels somewhat one sided (in favour of the Arkham Knight). While it was never going to end with Bane on top it would have been good to at least have the character dish out just a bit more offense on Arkham Knight before his defeat, considering in the past encounters with Batman he was able to dominate or hold his own against The Dark Knight. That being said the fight is particulaly violent with no punches held back, which work especially well for the shocking outcome.
The artwork in the story while not stella , is decent and feels appropriate to the story. It feels suitably brutal during Bane's fight with the Arkham Knight, and fits well with Bane's delusions.
The dialogue and the way the story's written pretty good to,. with Arkham Knight making comparissons between himself and Bane both having fathers that lied to them (In Arkham Knight's case Batman, In Bane's case a jesuit priest) you can almost sense he has sympathy for the villian.
Overall
What really gives this story the edge is the compelling aftermath. While I wasn't suprised with who came out on top I was surprised just how brutal it was going to be , this comic actually makes us somewhat sorry for Bane . Fans who hate Bane will find this awesome and marvel at a somewhat badass moment from the Arkham Knight that'd put Marvel's own Punisher to shame, while fans who enjoy the character Bane ( including myself )will be left feeling somewhat hollow and speechless, either way it does leave an impact with the readers and fans , which is why this story gets four stars.