The man who broke the Bat is officially back. And somehow, Bane is stronger than ever despite being all on his own.

After facing off against a massive swarm of bats and the new Man-Bat leading them, the eponymous heroes of Batman and Robin #10 are met with an even more shocking figure. Thankfully, this latest interruption comes in the form of a message courtesy of Maya Ducard, though not necessarily a good one. As it turns out, Maya has uncovered the secrets behind the one mystery that has been nagging Robin for years, and the hard truth of the matter is that Bane is still very much alive.

Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON Art by NIKOLA Čižmešija and SIMONE DI MEO Colorists REX LOKUS and GIOVANNA NIRO Cover by SIMONE DI MEO Variant Cover Artists GLEB MENIKOV, GUILLEM MARCH and SERG ACUÑA

DC Comics’ original iteration of the hulking costumed criminal known as Bane was introduced in 1993’s Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan. Effectively born to carry out the rest of his own father’s sentence in the infamous Peña Duro prison, Bane eventually rose through the ranks of its inmates until he was considered untouchable. When Bane was subjected to experiments involving the drug known as Venom, Bane’s superhuman strength gave him the edge he needed to escape and wage war on Gotham City’s Dark Knight.

Bane’s most infamous moment came during the iconic “Knightfall” storyline in the pages of 1993’s Batman #497 by writer Doug Moench and artist Jim Aparo. After weeks of facing off against other Gotham mainstays, Bane finally got his chance to take the Dark Knight down as he had intended from the start. This culminated in Bane lifting Batman up over his head and bringing the Caped Crusader’s spine down onto his knee in a genuinely horrifying moment of unhinged violence.

The current iteration of Bane has been believed dead by most of the rest of the DC Universe since an attack on Arkham Asylum seemingly claimed his life along with those of dozens of otherwise innocent victims. From the looks of things in Batman and Robin #10, however, Bane has instead been left to carve out a life for himself in the wilderness of the classic if obscure DC Comics locale of Dinosaur Island.

Batman and Robin #10 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics