The co-creators of Bane make a triumphant return to the character, with a twelve-issue series that will push him to the limit! Bane is seeking to create a global criminal empire with the help of his original gang, Bird, Trogg, and Zombie. The Man Who Broke The Bat moves beyond Gotham to find new cities to conquer and new enemies to crush. He won’t stop until he stands at the top of the world of crime! For Bane, it’s all about CONQUEST.
Reading Bane Conquest #1, I really wanted to enjoy the first issue, but the story and art feel like they’re out of another era giving us a Bane of old and one that’s not all that’s interesting.
Put together by Bane’s co-creators, writer Chuck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan, this first issue of the maxi-series doesn’t give us much new and if anything regresses to early incarnations of the character whose motivations were purely domination and presenting himself as the alpha of the bunch. This isn’t Bane of Secret Six or even Bane of the recent “I Am Bane” or “I Am Suicide” storylines in Batman. Instead, we get what feels like a very one-dimensional character. Remembering Bane’s debut, he felt like a real challenge for Batman, but since then other creators have added the depth the character needed. Here, that depth is void and gone giving us a cookie cutter story.
The art too feels like it’s a little bit of a throwback on the character with a metal “neck brace” design and a head and face that looks like The Walking Dead‘s Negan. Again, as we’ve seen with recent incarnations, there’s a bit more that can be done. Not to mention some of the contortion of the character in his fighting is… off. The art isn’t bad, it just feels like something I’d find in the 80s and 90s.
I really looked forward to this series, but this first issue just didn’t sell me enough. I’ll read the next to see if there’s improvement, but the comic feels like a throwback and not in a good way.
Story: Chuck Dixon Art: Graham Nolan
Story: 6.0 Art: 6.0 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Pass
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
