Bane: Conquest #1 Review

This review contains minor spoilers.

Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, two of Bane’s co-creators, are back for the villain’s solo outing titled Bane: Conquest. How can you not be happy about this? I know I’m particularly excited for this series because Dixon and Nolan’s recent team-up, Joe Frankenstein, was one of my favorite books of 2015. Now, they’ve got 12 issues to tell their next Bane epic, which has all the potential in the world to be a barnburner.

In part one of “The Sword,” Bane takes over a ship en route to Gotham City, which he now wants to claim as his own. He discovers contraband weapons on board and realizes someone is preparing for a war – and he doesn’t like it one bit. Along with his crew of bandits, he spends the rest of the issue tracking down who’s behind it. Naturally, his methods are questionable (read: brutal) and he crosses more than a few moral lines to get the information he requires. But hey, at least he wears pants when he fights now, so that’s a good start.

The narrative here is typical Dixon. It moves fast with various bursts of action, while the dialogue shines in bringing the vibrant characters to life. Uncle Chuck has been gone from DC for several years now, but he hasn’t missed a beat and picks up where he last left off. If anything, his work in this issue makes you miss his absence even more, since it’s obvious that he still has so much to offer these characters and DC Comics.

Nolan sinks his pencils into Dixon’s sharp story and whips up a retro-looking Bane. He’s even brought back the hairy arms, which have been looking a bit too waxed in David Finch’s Batman run. There’s an obvious synergy between him and Dixon, and it translates well in this gorgeously illustrated book. Hopefully, this trend of great artwork continues throughout the series.

The best attribute of this issue, however, is the overall sentiment it evokes. Comic books have changed a lot since Dixon, Nolan, and Doug Moench first created Bane for 1993’s Knightfall arc. They’ve become far more mature and serious than before. In Bane: Conquest, Dixon and Nolan dial it back to a previous era. Their story is remarkably strong, the characters are memorable, and the artwork looks how a comic should – but most of all, it remains fun throughout. Isn’t this exactly what comic books should be?

Twenty-four years have passed since they first worked on this character, but Dixon and Nolan prove they’re still the true fathers of the Santa Prisca monster in Bane: Conquest #1. While there are other writers and artists who’ve tackled this character with style and class, there’s something special happening here right now. Also, you can’t help but feel the excitement and energy between the creators in this book, and it sucks you in as well. This is only just the beginning, but this title might end up being one of this year’s unexpected hits.