Swole Bane Makes His Terrifying Debut in Absolute Batman

The moment fans of Absolute Batman have been waiting for is almost upon us… the debut of Swole Bane. When it comes to members of Batman’s rogues gallery, Bane is on the somewhat newer side of the curve when compared to the likes of Joker, Riddler, and Penguin. Created in 1993, Bane made a name for himself by breaking the Dark Knight’s back in the Knightfall story arc that saw Bruce Wayne choose Azrael to replace him as Batman. Bane has made several appearances in Batman comics since then, along with video games, animated series, and feature films. Next up for Bane is DC’s Absolute Universe.

DC released a preview of Absolute Batman #9 by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles. It opens in the neutral territory of Alegab, Biala, where the leaders of Kahndaq and Qurac have just agreed on a peace treaty. They’ve both lost loved ones because of their war, but now they will bring the violence to an end. Just as they make their way to an elevator, they step onto a pool of blood spilling out of it. When the elevator door opens, they are greeted by the massive presence of Bane.

Bane is so huge that he breaks part of the doorway and wall as he enters the room. We can see the tubes running from his back to his arms and head, supplying Bane with the Venom drug that enlarges his body. Bane has arrived to end these treaty talks, declaring that one of the gentlemen will betray the other. He leaves it up to the two leaders to decide who will betray whom, with one of them speaking up. Bane grabs the other man and crushes his head in the palm of his hand.

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The preview of Absolute Batman #9 ends with Bane receiving a phone call from his mysterious benefactor to make his way to Gotham City. The first part of this opening story arc is titled “Abomination,” and a one-page spread features what looks like a massive muscle taking up the entire page. Is this supposed to be Bane, with what looks to be his masked head engulfed in the muscle tissue, or another Batman villain like Clayface?

DC first teased Buff Bane in the epilogue to Absolute Batman #6, the end of the book’s first story arc. With Black Mask and his Party Animals defeated, Absolute Batman started teasing even more foes to come. We got our first look at Absolute Joker, who puts a call into Bane. A character with Joker’s white skin is getting an update on Black Mask’s efforts in Gotham City. Absolute Joker appears to be covered in body parts, as we can see the heads, faces, and arms on him as if they were clothing. It’s all very spooky and scary, which matches Joker to a tee.

If Joker and Bane are working together in the Absolute Universe, that spells bad news for Batman.

Graham Nolan, the co-creator of Bane, chimed in on social media’s reaction to the Absolute version of the character popping up in solicits for Absolute Batman. Nolan called the Bane redesign “a terrible abomination” in a viral social media post that racked up over 1.6 million views.

“After being asked countlessly for my opinion on this version of Bane, I gave an honest answer,” Nolan wrote in a subsequent post on X. “I’ve been called everything from a ‘has been,’ to ‘bitter,’ to ‘old.’”

“Relax! It’s just my opinion,” Nolan’s post continued. “It shouldn’t affect how you feel about it. 1.6 MILLION people viewed the post and it seems that many had their own opinion. If every one of you were buying comics instead of reacting to the opinion of one guy, this business would be in better shape. I’m now issuing you all a challenge. Why get mad at me, when you can get even with me? BUY THIS BOOK! Tell your friends and get multiple copies. Prove me wrong with your wallets instead of your keyboards and give this artist a HUGE royalty pay day! Let’s get this book to 1.6 million in sales! That’ll show me.”

“The latest development in saving the derelict and despondent of our society is a facility known as Ark M — a fully operational institution that has played a rather sizeable part, on purpose or not, in the creation of evil. And it’s active,” the description of Absolute Batman #9 reads. “So when Bruce tries infiltrate it and distill its secrets, a new villain from Gotham City arrives to deal with the problem… an old adversary of Alfred’s… a man known only as Bane.”

Absolute Batman #9 goes on sale Wednesday, June 11th. Let us know your thoughts on the preview in the comments below!