It figures I chose to write about two heavy-hitters for today's entry... because after a close to 2 1/2 hour long employment group application/testing/interviewing, I ALSO feel like I've been pounded upon by a being FAR larger than I am. But I shall run my remaining energies to the blog, and be merrily content that I feel creatively productive, today. Anyhoo, for today, I offer up only two villains for conversation. But I feel like these two particular personalities are special, because if it weren't for their initial impacts, comic books would not be ANYWHERE near the same in the 90's. But that could also be considered their weaknesses, because after that initial impact, what new heights could they really achieve? I hesitate to want to call my two subjects for review "One Hit Wonders" of the villainy world, but it's also not like their encore numbers generated as much INSANE speculation as their first supreme deeds of darkness. I'll also be tackling both subjects in a case-by-case comparison, so keep those scorecards handy!
Technically he had a sneak peek in "Superman: The Man of Steel #17" from 1992, but issue 18 brought to the world Doomsday. As explained WAY later in "Doomsday Annual #1"... because he NEEDED that annual... Doomsday started off as a child lifeform on ancient Krypton, where he was unleashed onto the harsh prehistoric world, to be killed off. But every time the child was killed, it was cloned and enhanced, so that the life form could evolve, and grow in strength over subsequent deaths, trials and errors. Doomsday, deciding he had ENOUGH of this trial-some life, killed his scientist "father", hitched a ride on a supply ship to Apokolips, and began a galactic tour of mindless killing, until one such civilization sealed him in a polybagged ship... probably with a collectable card... and launched him to Earth. (The FUN factoid about Doomsday is for the longest time, his first appearance was speculated to have taken place during the "Panic in the Sky" storyline in the Superman books, as a "secret weapon" Brainiac launches at Earth. Yeah... Once that was debunked, the "weapon launch" issue plummeted in value. But you all should STILL read "Panic in the Sky", because it's an awesome Superman crossover!)
Our comparison piece said, "To Hell with appearing in an established title! I want my OWN special to make my mark on the world!". Thus, "Batman: Vengeance of Bane" debuted in 1993, introducing us to Bane. His origin was even spelled out in his first appearance: his mother gave birth to him in the prison island of Santa Prisca. The "kindly" law officials of the isle decided that since his father escaped his life sentence, the boy would serve out that life sentence INSTEAD. So Bane had a bum deal to start with. But the child turned out to be rather clever. He grew to be very studious, reading as much as the prison would let him gain access to. He also began to attempt training his body to the very physical peak. (Sounding awfully familiar to some renowned Gothamite, eh?) Bane started to gain a leadership capacity among the prison population... which is pretty easy to do when your first kill of a FULLY-GROWN MAN is when you're eight years old. But the Santa Priscan authorities thought a sure-fire way to rid themselves of such a menace would be to subject Bane to the "Venom" drug. Normally, their test subjects died under the influence of Venom, but Bane actually THRIVED on it, and upon 12 hour doses, the drug could further enhance his physical abilities. Anyways, in prison Bane cultivated nightmares about "The Bat", and he began hearing about Gotham's own "Bat-Man", so upon escaping with some loyal accomplices... Next stop: Gotham City to DESTROY the Bat!
When Doomsday arrived on Earth, and escaped his prison pod, he started pounding feet on a nationwide destruction run. Basically, anything in his way... SMASHED or KILLED. On his path, he encountered the Justice League... which at this time consisted of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Maxima, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, and the MYSTERIOUS Bloodwynd. But when Superman heard of the Doomsday rampage during a television interview, that's when he decided to intervene. What followed was a 5 issue slugfest, which ultimately ended in Metropolis, in "Superman #75". During these battles, Superman discovered that Doomsday could take just about ANY physical punishment he could deliver... and it's not like Kal-El was holding back. Plus, what disturbed Superman was that he could be hurt... rather grievously... by Doomsday. But that didn't stop him from taking many serious "bumps", leading to their final battle, where... at the TIME... Superman delivered the ultimate sacrifice play, and after supposedly battering Doomsday to a stand-still, perished. And for about a straight year... not counting the "Reign of the Supermen", the DC Universe was legit without the proper Man of Steel.
Bane, however, was a BIT more clever than the blunt instrument Doomsday was. His plan, upon arriving in Gotham, was to study Batman in action. And if the Bat was worn down in the process, then all the easier to deliver the final blow. So, Bane and his troop produced a breakout at Arkham Asylum, where an already weary and ill Batman had to sequentially track down some of his usual worst foes, growing more and more worn down in the process. All this eventually led to "Batman #497", where Bane had gathered enough information on Bruce Wayne, knew the Bat was at his weakest, stormed Wayne Manor, and beat the LIVING TAR out of Batman. As if that wasn't a punctuation mark enough, then came the knee backbreaker heard around the world, as Bane "broke" the Bat. Bruce Wayne DID live from this physical trauma, but like Clark Kent, it took him about a year's publishing time to recover, and Bane was in turn thrust into a confrontation with the Batmantle filler, Jean-Paul Valley... formerly Azrael. That rematch for the fate of Gotham... really didn't go so hot for Bane. BUT at least Bane escaped with his life, which Bat-rael NEARLY took. However, Bane was a proud man, and essentially slunk into obscurity for a time.
As it turned out, Doomsday wasn't QUITE as "dead" as we considered him being. BUT the same could be said for Superman, and we had one solid rematch on Apokolips in the "Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey" miniseries. Such highlights from this series included:
- Superman actually having some PSTD about the prospect of facing Doomsday for a second time. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that his Kryptonian system DID recover, he legit thought he was DEAD. So what would happen in he faced such physical trauma AGAIN?
- Darkseid squaring off against Doomsday. Sad to say, the Apokolyptian Supreme Ruler didn't fare so well against Doomsday. BUT something in this issue proved key to the resurrection of a major foe featured in "Reign of the Supermen" that Darkseid gained access to.
- Doomsday had a further fleshed out origin story.
But with some "Mother Box" technological assistance, Superman was FINALLY able to put the threat of Doomsday to rest. But what Clark didn't realize was that this WASN'T exactly the punctuation mark he would've wanted it to be.
Bane had a rather twisty-turny path after his recovery from the battle against Az-Bat. First he had to go for therapy for his Venom addiction. He then goes on a "daddy" quest to find his lost pappa, and essentially passes on a legit Bruce Wayne-Batman rematch for a while. On this quest, Bane encounters "The Demon's Head", Ra's al Ghul, who is so impressed by Bane that he sends the now "Straight-Edge" assassin off to Gotham to destroy the city and also battle the Bat. The prize for success? Becoming heir to the "Demon's Head" title... and winning the bodacious presence of Talia al Ghul. (YUMMY!) But that actual rematch... doesn't favor Bane, as this time Batman is well-prepared for the fight, and takes down Bane. Ra's disowns his "potential heir", and he doesn't even get so much as a conciliatory hug from Talia! (I've been THERE for some lousy dates in my life...) The next real moment of note for Bane is being hired as a enforcer for Lex Luthor during the "No Man's Land" period of Gotham. After a talking-to by Batman, Bane was... for lack of a better word... kind of aimless. He had scattered appearances in other titles, DID figure in a last-battle sequence in "Infinite Crisis", gets pulled in by Amanda Waller for a run with Suicide Squad, and is part of the "prison planet" scheme that was other DC Villains were subjected to in the "Salvation Run" storyline. But Bane REALLY found his true calling... up until the "New 52"... as the chief loyal bruiser of "Secret Six". There he resided as a valued member of the team from the launch of the 2008 ongoing series.
Back to Doomsday for a moment. After "Hunter/Prey", he did feature in another story arc that was called "Doomsday Wars", which had its own mini-series, and involved Brainiac transferring his intelligence to Doomsday's body. This time out, it took Superman and the assistance of the "Big Seven" era of the JLA to defeat Doomsday. The bestial bruiser also figured into the "Our Worlds at War" storyline, where Doomsday was used by the alliance formed by Lex Luthor... who WAS President of the Yew-nited States of 'Merica at this time frame... to tackle the alien threat of Imperiex. Doomsday, in as valiant of a "last stand" a mindless mass murderer COULD have, battled against Imperiex to the very end, before being atomized. Of course, the DC Universe could not let THIS be the end of Doomsday, so he was resurrected... yet AGAIN... and popped up for occasional special events. (Such as "Infinite Crisis".) The last REAL appearance of Doomsday of note before the "New 52" was for a Superman crossover called "Reign of the Doomsdays". Ugh... Okay... So remember how there were FOUR Supermen for their "Reign" storyline? Well, the same copy treatment carried over to the Doomsdays of MANY flavors. Want that Cyborg Doomsday? You got it! It... just wasn't very good of a story, and I'm leaving it at that. But I cannot comment on the "New 52" involvement of Doomsday... which according to crossovers happening in some of the Superman books IS a "big deal"... but I've heard that though Clark has undergone many evolutions to his character's history, his death at the hands of Doomsday IS still in continuity.
The "New 52" adventures of Bane I DID sample... and it tasted like I stuck a "horse apple" in my mouth. Now I've also heard-tell that in the building up of "Forever Evil", Bane was granted a more suitable background in line with his first appearances. But I first ran into him through the Paul Jenkins/David Finch "Batman: The Dark Knight", where he was a pawn of the "Lemme Show You My BUTT!" female criminal, White Rabbit. Cue the wet fart noise.
If there's one thing... that is, until DC's RECENT animated movies, which are utter bollocks... DC usually had a great grip on, it was their animated universes. Doomsday never did appear PROPER in "Superman: The Animated Series", but he DID figure into both "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited", and his battle with Superman was the focus for DC Animated's first direct-to-video production, "Superman: Doomsday". The actual half of the feature that focuses on the Doomsday conflict is GREAT! The other half that TRIES to squeeze and compact down the "World Without A Superman" and "Reign of the SUPERMAN" portions... that felt rather rushed. But as a whole, I feel that Doomsday was used sparingly in the Animated Universe, and that made his appearances all the more special.
Bane would pop up in... I believe it was four total episodes... on "Batman: The Animated Series". He would ALSO change appearance between the first three seasons, and the final fourth season. The first appearance was more in-line with his comic fashion statement. The last appearance... Well, if you hooked up various tubes and hoses to "Pulp Fiction's" Gimp, and steroided him up, there's your Bane! (But what makes Bane REALLY fun for those first appearances was that he was voiced by the AWESOME Henry Silva!) Bane also figured into the semi "early years" series "The Batman". There, he kinda resembled one of the titular "Golden Army" members of the second "Hellboy" film. As if that wasn't enough for Bane, he ALSO had his own DC Animated direct-to-video appearance in "Justice League: Doom", as member of the... really ODD Legion of Doom.
We comic readers do enjoy our video games, don't we? Well, Doomsday has put in his digital appearance times! He first appeared in the "Death of Superman" video game, which was a pretty fun "Final Fight" style brawling game, with some side-scrolling shooting levels. Of course, you only see Doomsday for the lead-in, and final Metropolis confrontation with Superman. And from this screenshot I grabbed for reference, Doomsday DID put in an appearance in "DC Universe Online". I wouldn't know... and I can ASSUME Bane did the same... because I personally never chose to play online games. (Even now, where it literally feels like I have nothing BUT time on my hands, I cannot seem to justify the time commitment that online games engender.) And I believe it's safe to assume Doomsday... and by proxy, Bane... put in appearances in "Scribblenauts Unmasked", because I've heard that that game basically is a DC Universe ENCYCLOPEDIA, under the guise of a puzzle game.
It may have taken Bane longer to be part of the digital world, but considering he has figured predominantly in the "Batman: Arkham Fill-In-The-Blank" gaming series, the wait was well-deserved. But we'll touch on something that Bane DEFINITELY has the upper-hand on at this point... though it depends on your definition of "upper-hand".
To date, the ONLY live-action appearance of Doomsday in an DC-related material is a story arc based around the character in the television series "Smallville". What can I tell you about it? NADA. I never have watched an entire episode of "Smallville" to date. ... Which is odd, considering how much I enjoy Superman. But I believe it's the stigma of how BLOODY AWFUL the Lana Lang story stuff got that has made me avoid the potential highlights of "Smallville" to explore. So if anyone wants to recommend a viewing path that WON'T make me want to tear out my shrinking amount of hairs upon my head, feel free to drop me a note!
Like all first-time actors, Bane wasn't exactly a stunner for his big screen debut. In "Batman and Robin", Bane was given a VERY glossed over version of his origin story, but instead of retaining his intelligence after the initial Venom treatment, he is turned into Bane-Hulk, a gullible brute that is easily led along by Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy. (Thought Uma Thurman could lead ME along just as easily... Just sayin'!) My feelings towards this film have mellowed over the years, especially since I primarily view it as a bizarre Batman comedy piece. But I STILL cannot 100% let go of the feelings of sorrow over seeing Bane mishandled so blatantly.
... But as of 2012, Christopher Nolan finished off his "Batman" trilogy with the return of the intelligent Bane. Forget the fact that he sounding like Darth Sean Connery, and the fact that his plan for "breaking" Batman was more about concentrating on breaking Bruce Wayne spiritually, with the physical break of Batman being a fun sewer combat romp. This WAS essentially the Bane that became my cinematic highlight. (And between Tom Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, I NEEDED those highlights in a film that I still have not revisited in full since my first theater run. Personal opinion: outside of those two character turns, this movie is FAR too long, not effectively told, and pretty darn depressing.)
So, I hope you enjoyed the spread coverage of two specific DC villains that helped put the company in the 90's spotlight, when them boys from Image were looming LARGE in the horizon! Tomorrow, I aim to discuss another sparingly-used element of villainy, but this time in the "House of Ideas". Hmm... Guess away...
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