It is "Flashback Friday" and figured while Thursdays are a throwback to comic book issues, Friday's would be more of a focus on events that have occurred within the annals of comic book history.
For the first installment, we'll take a look back at when DC Comics "broke" the goddamn Batman. It was when DC Comics decided it was time to shake things up with the 2 top dogs of their catalog of characters. With Superman, they killed him off, brought him back as four characters (who weren't him), and then gave him his phoenix rising moment. With Batman however, they opted to go a different route, which made for a great series of stories that of course lead into a tremendous return. Not taking away anything from Superman's moment (which will likely be covered on a future Flashback Friday), as it was a massive moment in comic books that has been tirelessly repeated on a higher scale since. But, with Batman, they gave him a fate that would be worse than death to some, they crippled him and replaced him before ultimately bringing him back.
Bane was new to the scene, having come to Gotham City upon learning of the legend that is Batman. At first it was mostly a watch and study approach, learning all that he could from his future opponent, even injecting Edward Nigma aka The Riddler with some Venom to see how Batman handles himself against the added muscle and strength. Bane showed us he was a legit threat when he came out on the winning end of a battle with Killer Croc, in which he showed how dominant he could be. Bane though opted not to face Batman at 100% and caused a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum unleashing Batman's rogues gallery upon Gotham City. From "small-time" villains like Film Freak (who falls at the hands of Bane) to the "big guns" like The Scarecrow and The Joker (who actually team-up to wreck havoc on the city). The Bat-family wasn't what it is now, mainly consisting of Robin (Tim Drake), Azrael (Paul St. Valley) and occasionally Nightwing and Catwoman, and Batman staying true to hero form attempted and mainly succeeded in running Bane's "gauntlet" taking down the bad guys. 
Exhausted and ready to be broken, Bane made his move and moved in for the "kill". Hoisting Batman above his head and smashing him down back first across his knee, breaking his back, breaking the Batman. With Gotham needing someone to step up and fill the void before Bane took over the city, Azrael aka Paul St. Valley would be the one to do just that. With a new Batman came a new suit and a new style, a very aggressive, not-Batman type of style. Although it succeeded in taking down Bane, it was tarnishing the name of Batman to where even The Joker and others were noticing that it wasn't the same person beneth the cowl (read Batman: Knightquest: The Crusade for more). While this is going on, Bruce Wayne rehabilitates and is overseas trying to save his therapist and Tim's father, which he somewhat able to do (see Batman: Knightquest: The Search for how that ends). With his spine now healed, Bruce heads home to learn of how the new Batman kicked Robin out of the cave, took down Bane, and how lethal his path of destruction has been. Bruce himself is banned from the cave, and realized he needs to retrain himself before he can attempt to retake the mantle of the Bat, to which he asks Lady Shiva to assist him to returning to his top form. Bruce returns to the mantle of Batman, and amongst others, hunts Azrael down, who is almost killed at the hands of Nightwing, finally faces Bruce Wayne one-on-one at the Batcave. Outmatched "suit vs suit", Bruce uses his mental advantage to even the playing field, in the end Azrael admits defeat and acknowledges Bruce as the one true Batman (read Batman: KnightsEnd for how all this comes to an end). Leaving Bruce to restore Batman's name and relationship with Gotham City.
Although the "Death Of Superman" is more iconic in status, and they would eventually give Bruce Wayne his own "death" and "return", this was just as good if not better. Can't do much after your gone, death is more about the image we leave behind. Where in this instant we see someone who falls and claws his way back, and goes that extra mile to fully reclaim what is his. Batman didn't give up and throw in the towel like an average person would when literally broken both physically and mentally broken. Although comic books tend to be "dark" (more so DC than Marvel), sometimes we need to see our heroes in a dark place and continuing to fight and move forward, not giving up on finding that "light". Possibly went "deeper" than what was likely just a very well done money making story arc, but simply gave another way to look at things if anything. Or you're laughing and that is just as good.Be sure to come back next week for "Flashback Friday" and we'll take another look back at another moment in comic book history. Which one? Tune in and find out!
Stay Nerdy!
It was ok I guess... haven't had the chance to read everything, but though it definitely better that superman's death, still it's way overplayed and sometimes the plot drags on too much especially from the point that Bane fades out of the story and Azrael takes full reign. Azrael is a very tricky character. For me the character presents two main problems that pull me out of the stories.1) He relies to much on technology, and not on his brain. The technology depicted in the stories is also dull and full of 90's cliches (Iron armors, big guns etc) this takes a lot out of "batman" making him look like a violent "iron man" pastiche. 2)his moral issues fluctuate from leaving Bane alive to leaving innocent people to die. The dark aspect of the story is so 90's in its superficial "darkness" it pulls me out of the books every time I open them. The plus side is that the first act is very strong and that the artwork is consistent. It always looks like the best 90's books cool but still 90's...
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and weighing in! It wasn't as over-played back then as it was after. Once Superman dropped, everyone became a target. Batman was only broken, but got the Man Of Steel treatment a few years ago of course. And you're right about the 90's cliches, but again at that time it wasn't looked at like that. I was a 10 year old kid at that time so I didn't see it lol.
DeleteHowever, it is things like this that helps us identify "when" they happened, and for new generations to get an idea of how lame each generation before them was.
As for Batman and Azrael. I think perhaps that was the point (or at least the one I am thinking). Azrael with all the extra stuff and his way of doing things was showing us what Batman would be like if presented in that manner and why it wouldn't work.
Bane, I think was maybe only intended to be a catalyst to all of this.
Agree on the artwork and beginning of this story arc.
Again, thanks for reading "Flashback Friday: Breaking Of The Bat"!