Finally, the long, drawn out battle between Bane and Batman is over. It's a battle that has been raging on for five long issues for an arc that feels like it could have been cut down to two.
It might not be such a big deal if this last encounter between the two characters provided some new insight into their relationship or moved the story forward in an interesting way.
Sadly, it doesn't. The final battle between the Dark Knight and the venom-infused Bane just doesn't justify this long, drawn out "Bane of Existence" story arc. There is nothing new or surprising here. Batman evades Bane's goons with use of his various gadgets, all the while taunting an increasingly more desperate, and dangerous, Bane. The entire issue is dedicated to their battle, and the action is hastily drawn and at times confusing to follow.
This is not a strong issue for what has been a consistently strong series from out of the gate. Five issues dedicated to a story arc that doesn't seem to go anywhere is a strange decisions, especially when there are so many other interesting characters we could be following. What is Harley Quinn doing, for example? Has Commissioner Gordon decided to run for mayor of Gotham City? And last but certainly not least, what about Arkham Knight? He continues to pop up sporadically throughout the series, but so far it seems like Batman, the world's greatest detective, isn't even aware of the character's presence at all.
The only highlight of this issue is seeing how ruthless Bane becomes when he is frustrated. He throws his own soldiers into the line of fire and is more than willing to sacrifice them for a chance to kill Batman. These few moments grab your attention and remind you that Bane isn't the overly muscular, luchador mask wearing cartoon character he sometimes appears to be. He is ruthless and dangerous, and at least this issue show's that aspect of his character in a way we hadn't seen in the previous four issues of this story arc.
By this time next week many a gamer will have power-played their way through the storyline of the Batman: Arkham Knight game. It will interesting to see what revelations appear and how the dots will connect between the story of the game and the comic, because so far it seems this prequel series is fairly content with keeping its distance from the finale to Rocksteady Studio's Batman trilogy.
Not stepping on the toes of the game is one thing, but surely there is something more interesting going on in the Arkham universe than Batman dodging gunfire from Bane's henchmen for five issues.
Story
★★☆☆☆
Art
★★☆☆☆
Overall
★★☆☆☆
More Comic Book Reviews:
Mortal Kombat #22
Batman: Arkham Knight #17
Batman #41
Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1
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