Thursday, October 25, 2018

Throwback Thursday: Batman '66 #67 Review (2015)



King of The Ring


Written By: Jeff Parker
Art By: Scott Kowalchuk
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: August 19, 2015


*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's get back to the 60's where Batman might have just met his match with the introduction of Bane.  That's right the virtue-less venom vacuuming villain has made his debut into the Batman '66 continuity and as much as you just rolled your eyes at that alliteration, that shit was hard and I did it all for you....... don't roll your eyes at gifts!  Not only do we have Bane making his debut, but it seems that he's teamed up with The Riddler and besides for the theft of a crystal skull, it seems that Bane might have taken a cue from Knightfall and broken our wholesome Batman's back.  Let's jump into this issue and see how bad the damage to our Caped Crusader is and what The Riddler and Bane have planned with their new acquisition.  Let's check it out.



Explain It!:

While we all stared gobsmacked at Bane raising Batman above him in the previous issue about to go for his patented backbreaker, Jeff Parker leaves us wondering a little too long for my liking to find out the fate of our Caped Crusader......(2 pages).  As this issue begins and we see Riddler and Bane return to Bane's home in Mexico, Skull City, where he proclaims himself the Super King now that he's returned the crystal skull to his people........ but the people don't seem to happy to see their "Super King's" return.  Well, even though I said that it took too long, we immediately see that Batman is fine and that Robin, Batgirl and him are Bat-boating their way to Skull City to take down the monstrous menace.  Through a brief explanation, we find out that Batman escaped a broken back by having a batarang in the back of his utility belt that took the brunt of Bane's knee and I guess Bane took off back home before really determining the brokenness of Batman.


While our trio of heroes makes their way to Skull City, it appears that Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara have already traveled down to the city in disguise to try and find Riddler and Bane, but of course, a couple of gringos dressed as mariachis are going to stick out and the two are captured.  It's at this point where we all find out that the reason Riddler and Bane stole the crystal skull is because it allows Bane to create a serum that when drank allows him to have great strength for a limited amount of time.  Our hero finds this out because he first finds the Chief and Commissioner locked up before challenging Bane to another fight within the ring.


In the end, with Batman's new knowledge, he throws an apparatus at Bane that covers his mouth and without him being able to guzzle down his serum, Batman might actually have a chance to take him down.  This part is great because the Bat-face hugger when wrapped around Bane makes the character look like his Nolan-verse version, so not only do we get to have Bane in Batman '66, but we get two different versions of him in it and it's spectacular.  While Batman softens up Bane, he ultimately decides that the people who want to be liberated from this devious dictator should be the ones to take him down and as our issue closes, our Gothamites leave with Riddler as Bane feels the power of a ring full of luchadors who are willing to give their all to get their freedom.


That's it for his issue of Batman '66 and Bane's introduction to the continuity and even though it feels a little bit too short for Bane's first outing in this Universe, I loved the hell out of it.  Having all these aspects to the Bane character show up here that we've seen through different media was really fun and wrapping them around this continuity's wrestling super Dictator really made this a unique look at Bane and I hope this wasn't a one time deal.  I'm happy that I got back into this book and I hope that Jeff Parker can keep up the fun because I look forward to what he has in store for us next.

Bits and Pieces:

You get so many different versions of Bane that you've loved throughout your comic and cartoon enjoying experiences that this is an issue and even a story arc that anyone who digs the character should get in on.  We get all the camp and fun that we expect from this series and with Chief O'Hara disguised as a mariachi singer...... well, that should be enough for even the stingiest of buyers.  Go finish up your Bane introduction and get this issue.

8/10

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