[Spoilers] Batman 80 Preview and Discussion Thread

[Restingvoice]

I thought he had Bruce Wayne's face.
He did have his face in Heart of Hush.
Dick held him prisoner to protect missing Bruce's reputation.

Oh, that was like 10 years and a continuity ago. New 52 Hush only appeared a year after Dick became Batman and I don't know which Hush they're using since Rebirth.

The last time Hush showed up was in Prelude to the Wedding where he crashed Bruce's bachelor party and then they were trapped in another dimension by a Kryptonian teleporter damaged in the attack (Dick's plan of bachelor party is to use a Kryptonian teleporter so he, Bruce, and Clark can just hang out and fishing in a different dimension where there's no trouble).

Hush revealed that he's changed his face to be Dick because he realized he didn't want to be Bruce, he wants to be Bruce's best friend like Dick, a twisted attempt to be just like the old times when Bruce and Tommy were still kids. In the end, Bruce and Clark managed to track Dick and got him out but Hush was trapped in the dimension.

I'm assuming he doesn't reveal his face? Hush having Dick's face and continuing that best friend storyline is an angst fodder considering what's happening to Dick at the moment, but that's too much of a side plot for a City of Bane climax so I'm expecting nothing.

[ermac]

Bane did considerably more than Thanos did in all the MCU movies. But about as much as he did in Knightfall.

More than killing half of the universe? lol

[Pohzee]

Bane did considerably more than Thanos did in all the MCU movies. But about as much as he did in Knightfall.

Bane's appearance in #50 was analogous to Thanos's MCU appearances. But he had less of a presence in Fall and the Fallen and City of Bane then Thanos had in Infinity War and then Endgame.

[Inversed]

I feel like Bane has done a lot...just most of it happened off-panel and was told to us rather than shown. Like his entire plan was explained in a monologue by Thomas and him taking over Gotham all happened off-panel. So we never really get to see how he actually does anything which it why it feels like he's done next to nothing throughout the story.

That's why I think there's the possibility of more going on. Like for the monologue, its Thomas explaining his entire plan back to Bane right before the wedding, which brings up the question of why exactly he would be saying all this back to him. Even the plan itself which was supposedly to bring Bruce and Selina together just to split them apart, is reliant from a couple unaware factors, namely like how that initial encounter with Thomas in The Button was a major push for him. Could maybe the breakup have been Thomas' idea and he essentially incepted this into being Bane's plan all along, I feel like it being his idea would fix any of the plot holes and inconsistencies it had if this was always Bane's intention.

I could very easily be wrong, that's just my interpretation, especially with all the puppet imagery in the later covers. #84 is when we find out how he got here and what else he's been doing since, so we'll most likely get some confirmation then.

Was Bane behind Booster Gold's actions? I can't remember if that was said when his plan was revealed in that prior issue.

They say they got the Riddler to hack Skeets so that Booster would end up in that bad future and then tell Batman & Catwoman about it, which would lead Selina into her "doubting" phase. And if I recall, they don't explicitly say if Thomas was around during this planning or not, which is why I'm not sure if this was Bane's idea or Thomas' (or even Psycho Pirate since we know Riddler was under his control).

[AnakinFlair]

Is anyone else kind of annoyed at how convenient it is that Gotham Girl is suddenly weakened? The biggest deterrent Bane has, who beat the crap out of Captain Atom like 3 issues ago. But as soon as Batman and Catwoman shows up, she's suddenly sickly?

[Korath]

Is anyone else kind of annoyed at how convenient it is that Gotham Girl is suddenly weakened? The biggest deterrent Bane has, who beat the crap out of Captain Atom like 3 issues ago. But as soon as Batman and Catwoman shows up, she's suddenly sickly?

Yeah, it's poor writing from King (who would have thought, right?).

I suspect the shipment of Venom that Catwoman and Batman stopped from reaching Gotham was actually for Claire so she could use her powers , since Thomas mention that she doesn't have a dose of whatever. But it falls flat for two reasons

-It was never established that Claire needed several shots to have her powers usable
-It was never established that her powers were waning, in fact the last time we saw her, she was awfuly confident that she could get Damian, until he pulled a deus ex machina on her

But, then again, Bane seems utterly absent and pathetic in his City of Bane arc also, doing almost nothing save breaking Alfred's neck. An act which may or may not be a fake-out if Alfred truly reached a safe place before Damian could reach him.

[Fergus]

Is anyone else kind of annoyed at how convenient it is that Gotham Girl is suddenly weakened? The biggest deterrent Bane has, who beat the crap out of Captain Atom like 3 issues ago. But as soon as Batman and Catwoman shows up, she's suddenly sickly?

Very convenient since Robin isn't available to take her down again. On the other hand, Selina took down 3 Flashes at once sure she can take Gotham Girl

[Pohzee]

Is anyone else kind of annoyed at how convenient it is that Gotham Girl is suddenly weakened? The biggest deterrent Bane has, who beat the crap out of Captain Atom like 3 issues ago. But as soon as Batman and Catwoman shows up, she's suddenly sickly?

Is it possible that Gotham Girl’s sickliness has to do with Damian trapping her by magic in issue #77?

[Desmark]

The way this story is progressing I won't be too surprised if the ultimate battle comes down to Bane, Flashpoint Batman, Bruce, Selina and all the assorted heroes and villains teaming up to take down a crazed dying Super charged up Gotham Girl.

[millernumber1]

Is it possible that Gotham Girl’s sickliness has to do with Damian trapping her by magic in issue #77?

That was what I was thinking, too.

[bob.schoonover]

Is it possible that Gotham Girl’s sickliness has to do with Damian trapping her by magic in issue #77?

Or how much power she had to expend trying to get out of it

[Pohzee]

Whelp, I guess unless it is explicitly spelled out exactly like was absolutely necessary in issue #71, I guess we'll never know for sure.

[ngroove]

Absolutely. He's supposed to be one of Batman's greatest foes and King seems content with treating him like an afterthought. Makes me wish he wasn't featured at all.

He's a "bad guy", whom Batman has whumped him hundreds of times already. Batman has to beat him, get him out of his way, to reach Bane.

"Deserved better" would be bringing Two-Face back to KILL him. Batman only socked at him, meaning he could come back to be used by King, or someone else, any time, whether stronger, weaker, or just the same depiction, but him being a regular Bat-Foe, of course he'll be back, and again, and again.

[Desmark]

I was just joking around (but just so you know linguistics isn't prescriptive)

Guess you don't know prescriptive grammar aka Linguistic Prescription. XD.

[Bullonir]

I think I quit this run after TWoJ&R. Ugh. Where the all war happened in a double page spread or something if I remember correctly. I totally saw what King was going for but it still did not work for me. I stayed that long on the run cos I kept thinking that I would « get it ». But nope.

It seems that CoB is the same format or something. The whole run? Really happy that some of you are enjoying this. Really. But holy crap does the execution not work for me.

I also wanted to point out that I would totally buy a Romita western story where he wanders around after curfew... especially as written by Grant Morrison. ��