DC Comics’ Absolute Universe was marketed as the antithesis of Earth Prime, and they’ve succeeded at every step, especially in Absolute Batman. Scott Snyder’s Gotham City is even worse than before. For example, in his first story, “The Zoo”, regular citizens became arsonists, thieves, and killers for money.
Then, we meet Absolute Bane in issue No. 9, and he's a beast of a man with the mind of a genius. Now, in issue No. 11, we learn how and why he’s more than the “abomination” Graham Nolan called him, and how he came to be.
In Bane’s Earth Prime origin, he was left alone in a prison and forced to survive on his own. In the Absolute Universe, he comes from a long line of freedom fighters who warred to set Santa Prisca free. And, in prison, he wasn’t alone. He had his father (the leader of the freedom fighters) and his soldiers with him. They kept him motivated and sane for the eleven years they were incarcerated. When the time came, they escaped and went back to Santa Prisca to free their people.
When they arrived, instead of a resistance on the beach, they found a man in white. He says to Bane that he has an offer for him. We don’t know what the offer was, but it was enough for Bane to accept the offer, and turn to his father, a man he loved, and crush and kill him. That person in white was Joker, and Bane has been working for him for decades.
The venom in Bane’s body does more than make him stronger. The cocktail gives him total control of his muscles and cells. On a mental level, there appears to be no limit to the amount of knowledge he can hold.
During Alfred's narration, he says his brain can hold the knowledge of entire libraries. He knows every fighting style, all of the world's wars, and has a mastery of every weapon. Bruce was defeated before the fight started. What’s more terrifying is that Bane isn’t the only one who's survived the experiment that made him smarter and more powerful.
According to Alfred’s notes, others have survived the operation that made Bane unstoppable. Two of the names are well-known assassins and Batman villains, KGBeast and Deathstroke. There's another from the Middle East whose name wasn't given. Judging by his size in Absolute Superman, it could be Ra's al Ghul.
Alfred thinks that Bane wants Bruce Wayne to be the hero Gotham needs because he sees himself in Bruce. First, Batman must be broken and rebuilt. However, we don't know if that's what Joker wants. If this Clown Prince of Crime is like the one we know, he has something planned for the Absolute Dark Knight, and it won’t be pretty.
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