- Title: Batman #17
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Tom King
- Artist: David Finch
For one of the smartest people on the planet Batman is sometimes pretty damn dumb. The second chapter of “I Am Bane” begins with the Dark Knight Detective enlisting the help of Superman to keep his Bat-Family out of harms way while he attempts to deal with Bane alone. I guess taking the super-villain down as a team would have been too easy? With the Bat-kids off the books, Bane targets others close to Batman including Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon, and Duke Thomas. Maybe if Batman had help finding Bane they would be safe.
The issue also offers an odd scene of Gordon watching Batman let Catwoman go (to almost immeadiately be turned into a hostage). So… Batman cares enough to lock his foster kids up in the Fortress of Solitude but not enough to stop Catwoman from walking into the same danger? Kind of a dick move.
Despite some of Batman’s decisions here, the comic does do a good job in presenting Bane as a legitimate threat. The need for Batman to have access to the Psycho-Pirate for a period of five days in order to fix what the villain did to Gotham Girl also presents an accelerated timetable for Bane. For fans.
[DC, $2.99]