Batman 3: I Am Bane

Comic Info

Batman (3) #19

Reprints Batman (3) #16-20, 23-24, and Batman (3) Annual #1 (January 2017-August 2017).  When Batman took Psycho Pirate from Bane in order to cure Gotham Girl, Bane wasn’t going to take having his possessions taken from him sitting down.  Bane is coming to Gotham and the entire Batman Family is in his targets.  No amount of preparation can get Batman ready for Bane’s arrival…and it could be the fight of his life.  Plus, a murder in a low-rent high rise apartment has Swamp Thing coming to Gotham City to join Batman in an investigation which is personal.

Written by Tom King, Batman Volume 3:  I Am Bane is a DC Comics Rebirth superhero comic book collection.  Following Batman Volume 2:  I Am Suicide, the collection features art by David Finch, Mitch Gerads, and Clay Mann.  Issues in this collection were also featured in Batman:  Rebirth Deluxe Edition—Book 2 and Batman/Catwoman:  The Wedding Album—The Deluxe Edition.  Not included in this collection are Batman (3) #21-22 where were collected with The Flash issues in Batman/Flash:  The Button.

I got pretty deep into the New 52 Batman.  It was a nice way to reintroduce the character and level the playing field for people who didn’t always read Batman (I always found him a bit bland…something that most don’t).  Tom King’s Rebirth Batman isn’t my favorite, but it does keep moving the story forward.

A lot of series work in arcs.  You have a story arc with a few connecting pieces, but they easily are put into a collection.  In King’s story, the collections all really kind of blur.  Yes, there is a story arc, but it is so closely tied to the previous story that they almost could be one story.  Here, the battle involves Bane who (from the previous collection) wants his property back aka the Psycho Pirate.  I like that King brings in more of a classic serial aspect to the series, but it also feels like it goes a bit slow at points.

Batman (3) #24

Skipping over “The Button” storyline, the series lands on a stand-alone story involving Swamp Thing and the search for his father’s killer and the much lauded “Proposal” issue of Batman in which he finally pops the question to Catwoman after years of coy cat-and-bat play.  I’m always happy to see Swamp Thing interact with standard DC characters since he’s kind of an obtuse character and involving Batman in the search for his father’s killer ties the two together.  The proposal story was much hyped but like previously stated, kind of blends together with other issues in King’s run.

What is a nice bonus in the collection is the short story “Good Boy” from Batman (3) Annual #1 (January 2017).  The acclaimed story is about Alfred “seeing the good” in a dog broken by the Joker, and retraining him for Batman.  Ace is turned from a vicious killer into a loyal companion for Bruce (though Bruce seems ignorant of all the work it takes).  It is a good parallel for Batman and his anger and is just a nice, simple story.

Batman 3:  I Am Bane feels more like another step in King’s plan rather than having its own identity.  The validity of individualized stories within comics can be debated since they are serialized and unending, but Batman doesn’t necessarily feel like it flows like a lot of the other books on the market now.  With multiple branching stories and overlapping moments, Batman for better or worse is its own thing…but with all that work, it feels like King should strive for more.  Batman 3:  I Am Bane is followed by Batman 4:  The War of Jokes and Riddles.

Preceded By:

Batman 2:  I Am Suicide

Followed By:

Batman 4:  The War of Jokes and Riddles