Bane Broke Batman's Back – Absolute Batman Just Repaid Him A Hundred Times Over
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Spoilers for "Absolute Batman" #14 follow.
"Absolute Batman" #14 was delayed for two weeks from its initial November 12 release date because writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta wanted to add five extra pages. The pay-off was so worth it: No. 14 is the most exhilarating "Absolute Batman" issue since #1.
The issue caps off the second six-issue arc, "Abomination," pitting Batman against Bane. "Abomination" has built up Bane as an unfettered and terrifying foe who is always one step ahead. His Venom steroid doesn't just bulk him up, it gives him direct control over his cells. Bane defeated Batman easily in their first encounter, countering each martial art style Batman employed and breaking Bruce's limbs with precise strikes.
He then kept Bruce imprisoned in the underground "Ark M" for months. When Batman escaped, Bane maimed his friends Oz, Harvey, and Eddie to keep them living in as much pain as possible. In issue #13, Batman sent a message across Gotham challenging Bane to a rematch in Gotham's abandoned Veteran's Stadium. Words can hardly do this climactic fight justice: Batman's opening move is collapsing an abandoned skyscraper onto Bane, so Bane grows about as big as said building with his Venom.
With Bane's size and Batman's axe, the fight looks like a fantasy hero trying to slay a giant. Batman doesn't kill Bane, but Bane might wish he had. Batman slashes Bane's spine with his axe, paralyzing his legs then his arms. When Bane uses the Venom again, Batman targets the injector in Bane's back. Bane's body expands uncontrollably and he's left a boneless blob of meat, a horror right out of "Akira."
Batman leaving Bane literally spineless feels like Bruce's payback for how Bane won their first fight — and Snyder & Dragotta's homage to Bane's most famous story.
In Absolute Batman #14, Batman breaks Bane
In Bane's first major story "Knightfall," he defeats Batman and breaks his back over his knee. Bruce is paralyzed and has to step down as Batman for a while.
DC Comics
Even "Batman: The Animated Series" and "The Batman," cartoons aimed primarily at kids, did less brutal versions of Bane's beatdown on Batman. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" also featured Bane (Tom Hardy) breaking Batman (Christian Bale), leaving the Dark Knight in a literal and symbolic pit from which he must climb out.
Bane brought an experienced Batman with an invincible reputation back down to Earth. So, at first, I was a little perplexed at Bane being used so early in "Absolute Batman." Now that "Abomination" is over, I understand the choice: Bane is Bruce's wake-up call to what true power is and how outclassed he is against it.
Born on the South American island Santa Prisca, Bane is the son of a revolutionary. The father and son enjoyed a brief victory before being rolled over days later and imprisoned. After they escaped years later, a billionaire profiteer named the Joker made Bane an offer: kill his father, work for him, and he'll keep Santa Prisca living in peace.
Bane spent "Abomination" trying to break Batman so Bruce would take a similar deal. As Snyder explained on X/Twitter: "Bane believes [that] the only way to keep your home and loved [ones] safe is to ally with power. He needs Bruce to believe that too and accept the Bane mantle so he can retire and be with his family."
You see, Bruce was fitted with the Venom in Ark M. Issue #14 makes you think Batman will use the Venom to beat Bane, which is what Bane wants.
Absolute Batman is a Batman of the people
The ending of #14 reveals that Bruce had the Venom drained before the fight. Using Bane's weapon would mean accepting that Batman can't win.
A recurring beat in "Absolute Batman" is that Bruce tries to handle being Batman alone, but he fails at it, so he goes to his friends for help. The Bane fight cements that: He only wins with help from Alfred, Harley Quinn and her Red Hood gang, his mutated ally Waylon Jones/Killer Croc, and Selina Kyle/Catwoman. "Abomination" weaves in a flashback subplot where Brue is training Waylon for a boxing match. The fight, and Waylon winning after refusing to take a dive, plays out in parallel to him and Bruce beating Bane together.
This fight unfolds similarly to Batman's fight with Superman in Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." Bruce knows he's the underdog, so he's laid trap after trap and brought helpers. Selina shooting Bane is like Green Arrow shooting Superman with a Kryptonite arrow. In "Dark Knight Returns," Bruce turns the young criminals of Gotham into his army, the Sons of Batman. "Absolute Batman" is going for a similar message: no one can be a hero alone.
Now, with every eye in Gotham watching, Batman and his allies beat the Joker's champion. In the last page, the Joker punishes Bane by dropping a bomb on Santa Prisca, obliterating the island and "freeing" Bane from any human ties. That is why you don't make a deal with the Devil; it may reward you in the short-term, but it leaves you at his mercy.
If Robert Pattinson's "The Batman" is Nirvana, then "Absolute Batman" is Rage Against the Machine, i.e. all about fighting against a corrupt system with righteous anger.