Et tu, Bane?

[chocochuy]

Greetings, Mortals!

Today I welcome this day by opening another Pandora Box of the DCnU. What you are about to see may produce some shocks into your system as a revelation is done in the newest issue of Batman : The Dark Knight.

Batman and Bane duke it out with the latter gaining the upper hand as well as mocking the caped crusader with breaking Gotham City`s city spine as he did once with Batman, thus making a reference to Knightfall. Bane, enjoying his victory, decides to make a revelation.





* Looks confused, takes a huge drink of lemonade, washes eyes and re-reads those 2 pages *

Ok, I am gonna try not to make a huge deal out of this but....really, DC Comics? Am I to believe that Bane was just a dumb muscle that suddenly got smart by taking this new Venom? The guy is supposed to be a Genius Bruiser on par with Batman, for Pete`s sake!

When I was much younger I used to believe that Venom was the DC version of the Super Soldier Serum, that it was not only a way to enhance physical skills but to improve one`s intelligence. Further readings proved me wrong and made me respect Bane more since he was keeping his genius intelligence even when using Venom while Batman was reduced to a hulking addict (but since he is Batman, he beat that addiction). It is Bane`s harmony of lethal force and genius intelligence what has always appealed to me and it should not come as a surprise that I did not enjoy how the media portrays him as a hulking henchman. I am not going to lose faith yet on the DCnu but I think they should think deeper the way they are gonna develop their ideas.

Then again, maybe this new Venom has made him Super-Smarter. We will know for sure on issue 7.

Responses?

Comments

[dr_archeville]

Is it wrong that I had a LotR/Éowyn moment? "It'll turn a lesser man's brain to jelly. But it doesn't work the same way on me, you understand... for I am no man!"

[chocochuy]

There is nothing wrong with it. In fact it could work if used as part of an April Fools` joke.

[leoboiko]

BUT IT DOESN’T WORK THE SAME WAY ON ME, YOU UNDERSTAND?… FOR I AM A VERY BIG MAN! [unzips, showing Batman the size of his manhood] [Batman gasps]

[shadowpsykie]

.... Damn you... Damn.you.

[deleonjh]

"It only turns your brain to jelly if you have a small penis."

Bane immediately chugs a 2 litre bottle of Venom and finishes his Sudoku puzzle, then whistles innocently.

[nezchan]

I knew Sudoku was evil.

[darkknightjrk]

Yeah, I took it to mean that he was even smarter than before.

And while I can see why some people might not like this portrayal, I don't think it's completely out of left field--yes, Bane is smart, deadly intelligent, but one of his biggest tools is an addictive steroid, and it is something that can make most people lose their rationality if they use it long enough.

[chocochuy]

Now that you mention it, a version of Venom that does grant superhuman strength and keeps increasing the intellect seems like a perfect mix for Mr. Bane.

[blake_reitz]

Perhaps the new Venom is making Bane dumber, but with the side effect of making him think he's smarter.

"BANE BEST AT SMASHING BAT! BANE THE SMARTEST THERE IS!"

[biod]

As far as I'm concerned, this is canon.

[stubbleupdate]

"Bane is so smart! S-M-R-T!"

[superfangirl1]

*lol*

I would like that kind of Bane.

[grazzt]

"BANE IS ELEGANT IN BANE'S SIMPLICITY"

[icon_uk]

Yeah, not seeing a problem with this to be honest (beyond my usual levels of apathy towards Bane)

Bane never said he was dumb before, he simply saying that however smart he was before, he's SMARTER now, and that DOES make him more dangerous.

Yes, Bane was smart in the past, but his primary sense of smarts was a vicious sort, he was cunning and could think strategically, but he wasn't a towering intellect. Now he is.

It's not a " strong-but stupid Blockbuster to supergenius Blockbuster" situation, it's "strong and intelligent Bane to strong and SUPERintelligent Bane".

IMHO

[kenn_el]

Next Jeopardy Tournament: Bane Vs. Batman Vs. Grodd!

[crinos]

Now I'm reminded of that weird manga that was posted a while back with the guys alternating between playing chess and beating the crap out of each other.

[filthysize]

It's been said already, that it just means he's smarter than before, but my problem with it is you gotta justify statements like this. Show me, exactly, how Bane is now smarter than previous portrayals, which was already damn smart. Can he now build a time machine out of bottle of ketchup? No? Then you might as well be spouting random Dragon Ball Z shit.

"My smartesness is now OVER 9000."
"What... What does that mean?"
"It means I'M SMART."
"How?"
"It's over 9000!"

[cainofdreaming]

That and an addiction is a weakness, even if the addictive substance has benefits, which will always come to bite you in the back somewhere along the storylines. Bane already went through that. This just feels like it'll end with a rehash.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

"It makes me smarter!"

Yeah, because juicing up Batman's enemies without any direction is real freakin' genius.

It's like Jenkins is half assing a Knightfall redux.

[icon_uk]

We don't know what Bane's overall plan is yet though, do we?

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

We have seen at least part of it, though. All the muscled up Rogues running around are thanks to him.

[icon_uk]

Knightfall had Bane releasing villains to weaken and exhaust Batman so he'd be an easier target.

In this case, I suspect the juiced up Rogues are a distraction for something else completely.

[akodo_rokku]

My problem isn't so much the content as the way it's presented. It's just badly written.

[omgwtflolbbqbye]

"And then I threw a rock at him!"

...

"It was a big rock..."

[sinisterlink]

"...it makes me SMARTER. It also makes my eyeballs turn completely red and glow in the dark. Pretty cool, huh?"

[jcbaggee]

Thank God for the reboot. I was really hoping Bane's characterization as a strong, honor driven man with an ultimately noble soul would be reduced to a blathering, insane 90s caricature.

[eyz]

^that!


:(

[icon_uk]

Bane WAS a blathering, insane 90s caricature when he was created, his ability to overcome Batman was hardly demonstrated, depending more upon Batman acting like a complete idiot and Bane being unstoppable by editorial fiat.

So in effect, it's the "strong, honor driven man with an ultimately noble soul" (a description I would disagree with) that was more or less a reboot required to keep him a viable character AFTER Knightfall.

My apathy is tempered by relief that they didn't go for an "I AM your half-brother after all" option (Or at least, haven't AS YET)

[eyz]

Like they're merging the dumb Bane we got in cartoons, games, movies with the comic book!Bane that was always smart since his original appearance throughout other books (Gotham Knights/Chronicles, Birds of Prey) to Secret Six...
Blah...

[apexpredator]

Ah, to hell with it. Its still funny to read this in Tom Hardy's voice.