My own self

By the law of my land I was born guilty. But I am innocent! I committed no crime!

Written by Chuck Dixon and drawn by Graham Nolan, this 1995 sequel to the original 1993 Vengeance of Bane origin story tells the tale of the character Bane's stay at and eventual escape from Blackgate prison after his first Batman-story arc put him there.

I've always been a great fan of the character of Bane, despite his poor treatment in every media but the comic book one. His appearance in the last of the Schumacker-travesties was even more of an affront than Two-Face's in the one before, and the less said about it, the better. Even in the otherwise generally so brilliant DC Animated Universe, if my shaky memory serves, Bane was reduced to little more than muscle, if maybe somewhat skilled muscle.

But... Bane is not that man. Let me quickly introduce you to the character. The Batman Rogue Gallery is a vast and amazing one, often said (probably truthfully) to be the best of any comic book hero, and Bane is definitely among the top tier of these. Bane is the man born in captivity - his mother serving a life sentence in a Central American prison - who then becomes the victim of a super-soldier program, wins his freedom, and sets out to make himself the master of his fears and the world that oppressed him. Aided with the "Venom"-serum that, when pumped into his body, gives him super-strength, he is the only Batman-villain ever to have Broken The Bat. At the end of the arc Knightfall, Bane literally broke Bruce Wayne's back. Sound like a muscled brute? Yes. But listen to how he did it.

He figured out who Batman was. Big whoop? Well, the amount of Bat-villains who have done this is very small indeed. There is, to my knowledge, only The Riddler, Ra's al Ghul, and Hush - all three of them villains whose main strengths are in their mental faculties, and not in any super-powers or physical attributes. Bane, then, joins this rank of thinkers in figuring out Batman's identity. Additionally, Bane weakens Batman over several weeks, arranging for the escape from Arkham of many of Batman's oldest and craziest foes. Finally Bane confronts him - in Wayne Manor, where he is at his weakest and least prepared. The fight continues out in public, and on a roof top, Bane breaks Batman's back, condemning Bruce Wayne to a wheelchair for a long while thereafter. Note, now, how he did this - he planned it out, he used other people to set the stage for him, and then he, himself, went in to finish the task off. This enigmatic in-between of the typical cowardly mastermind and the self-assured warrior is exactly who Bane is - careful, considered and methodical, but never, ever craven.

The up-and-coming hero Azrael temporarily dons the Bat-mantle and defeats Bane by pulling out the Venom-feed to his body during their fight, and Bane is put in prison. Finally, we find Bane where he is as this comic begins - in prison, without his serum, suffering heavy drug-withdrawals and being terribly out of shape. The general prison population is either in awe of him or wants to beat on him to prove they, too, by extension, could've broken the Batman. As time goes by, Bane comes to terms with his past, comes to find his addiction to Venom clouded his judgment, and his war with Batman a horribly misplaced one. When, in the end, he rebuilds himself from nothing during six months in isolation, it is a new, clear-headed and thoughtful Bane that engineers his escape. It is not with Batman he has unfinished business, but with his mysterious father who was never there for him.

Batman only appears a few times in this whole novel, and indeed, if not for marketing reasons the "Batman" in the title would probably have been removed. Bane is the main character here, and his sombre, thoughtful demeanour is very lovely portrayed. More than anything, perhaps, Bane reminds the reader of the honourable warrior who's been lead down the wrong path and struggles to reconstruct a meaning to his life. Quiet, highly ethical in his own way, and at times chillingly philosophical, Bane is a wonderful character suffering not only from strong drug withdrawal and a refound confinement behind closed walls, but a need for a purpose and an identity. Redemption is the story of how he finds it, and I've quite enjoyed reading it.