Bane is easily my favorite Bat-villain thanks to this storyline. I liked that he was smart enough to wear Batman down rather than confront him directly, and that he managed to deduce his secret identity by just observing body language. His destruction of Arkham Asylum was a little contrived, but worth it in the end.

Unfortunately, Bane spent a lot of time after this sucking thanks to writers who forgot that he had a brain and who wrote him as a big bad strongman. Thankfully, Gail Simone knows how to make him interesting, and has impressed greatly with Secret Six.