I don't think Bane was perceived as a joke in comics after Knightfall. He played an important role in Legacy and had a minor but cool contribution in No Man's Land. Maybe after NML and before Gail Simone chose him to be in Secret Six he became unimportant. In the New 52 I would say he was more of a joke even when DK Rises boosted his fame until Tom King decided to use him in Rebirth. Outside comics, he has been a joke in some adaptations even nowadays but from time to time he has stuff like Over the edge, Dark Knight Rises and Arkham Origins. I don't care about Hush, but I wouldn't call him a joke. Scarecrow is closer to have become a joke, which is sad because I think he's a pretty cool villain
"The Batman is Gotham City. I will watch him. Study him. And when I know him and why he does not kill, I will know this city. And then Gotham will be MINE!"-BANE
"We're monsters, buddy. Plain and simple. I don't dress it up with fancy names like mutant or post-human; men were born crueler than Apes and we were born crueler than men. It's just the natural order of things"-ULTIMATE SABRETOOTH
The problem with Bane is that in adaptions or during certain periods like the New 52 he got reduced down to just yelling out "I will break you Batman!" and getting easily taken out by having his venom tube cut, a far cry from the calm, collected, schemer of Knightfall.
I think there's no denying that Bane has had some pretty poor adaptations, but I don't think in comicbooks he has fared so bad. As a Bane fan, New 52 was weird to say the least. Bane featured in many storylines, making more frequents apparitions than before, but he was poorly written and/or the story was bad, with some exceptions, of course.
What Spencer is aiming for with Kindred depends on what are his final plans with the villain. Does he want to do an epic where the fate of Kindred is decided and his arc finished or will he leave the door open for the next writer to do whatever he wants with the character, like he did with Stevil? Of course, if the villain is popular, Marvel can always pull an "Elektra" on him and resurrect the character
Last edited by Chubistian; 09-26-2019 at 05:49 PM.
"The Batman is Gotham City. I will watch him. Study him. And when I know him and why he does not kill, I will know this city. And then Gotham will be MINE!"-BANE
"We're monsters, buddy. Plain and simple. I don't dress it up with fancy names like mutant or post-human; men were born crueler than Apes and we were born crueler than men. It's just the natural order of things"-ULTIMATE SABRETOOTH
Legacy also doesn't do Bane any favors as it throws away the character development he had undergone before to be portrayed as a savage loser who has delusions of godhood and was called out as a simple maniac by Batman during the fight. Not exactly a flattering portrayal of the character. As to jokes, Batman's whole rouge gallery has become a joke in King's run.
I think his portrayal in Legacy, though jarring when the story was released, makes sense after reading the story that was published later, Bane of the demon, that served as a prequel to Legacy. I won’t comment about King’s run, because it would only serve to derail the thread. Back to Kindred, I think there’s a difference with villains like Hush, Bane or Doomsday, that were created for a particular story, that with a mysterious villain that plots in the shadows while other stories are told in the run
"The Batman is Gotham City. I will watch him. Study him. And when I know him and why he does not kill, I will know this city. And then Gotham will be MINE!"-BANE
"We're monsters, buddy. Plain and simple. I don't dress it up with fancy names like mutant or post-human; men were born crueler than Apes and we were born crueler than men. It's just the natural order of things"-ULTIMATE SABRETOOTH
The spider is always on the hunt.
Thanks, I got it from Desmark.
Also, Kindred summed up perfectly why Norman Osborn is the number-one foe Spider-Man has ever had, because ultimately, he did so much more to hurt the man behind the mask of Spider-Man than the others ever did. Even Venom (Eddie Brock) in his most villainous never came close, because he had a twisted sense of honor and fair play that wouldn't let him involve those he saw as innocent. For Osborn, everything and everyone in Peter Parker's life was fair game to be used against him.
The spider is always on the hunt.