Batman: Vengeance Of Bane II, page 9 (1995) - Knightfall Epilogue

In the wake of any major event, there is always an aftermath. A moment when you take stock of what has happened and then figure out where you go from here. In literature, it's known as "the epilogue." And this one-shot special was just that for my all-time favorite event storyline: The Knightfall Saga!

This story shows you what happens to Bane after his savage loss and recovery at the hands of the Azrael-Batman. In this moment, Bane is confronted with the legal fallout from the failure of his grand schemes. And it goes about like you would expect.

What I really like about this page, is how, even as a broken man, who has sunk to the dregs of defeat, he still remains defiant in the face of certain doom. His concluding statement about himself and his life in the last panel, perfectly sums up the mentality of the character. Chuck Dixon's script gives you an excellent view into the heart of this villain. You can see the hardness and pride of the man, which hides the pain of a little boy, who never really had a chance in life. You feel an almost begrudging sense of pity for a man who, up to this point, has done nothing but evil in the service of himself and his quest for power. It's a moment like this, where Dixon shows he can shine, without needing big action on the page to do so!

Artists Graham Nolan and Eduardo Barreto, who drew the first Bane special, reunited to bring this concluding chapter to Bane's rise and fall. I'm very impressed with Nolan's layout for this page, with his use of small panels, consisting of shifting camera angles and perspectives, leading you right up to that fantastic final large panel of Bane's stone cold face. It brings a sense of dramatic tension, to what would be an otherwise mundane scene of two people talking in a room. It gives a feeling of fluidity and urgency to what could easily have become a boring scene, and gives it much more weight and depth. Nolan and Barreto prove why they are masters in the art of visual storytelling, by showing how a page that isn't loaded down with physical action, can (and should) have just as much impact as one that does!

The Knightfall Saga wasn't just your typical comic book event storyline. There was something quite special about it and one of those things that made it so, was the head villain of this tale. Dixon and Nolan didn't just make a new foe for Batman, they created something significance with the character of Bane and added something of real substance to Batman's world. It's no doubt a big part of the reason I so love this story... and, of course, why I am very pleased to add this piece to my personal comic art collection!