Bane

Born into brutal imprisonment in the fictional Santa Prisca penal colony to serve his fugitive father's sentence, Bane survived a savage upbringing that forged him into a genius-level fighter. There he was subjected to the experimental steroid Venom, transforming him into a virtually unstoppable physical force who set his sights on conquering Batman.

Few villains have carved out as commanding a presence in DC's modern era as Bane, who first crashed onto the scene in 1993 — courtesy of Steve Englehart and Neil Vokes — and has been a force to be reckoned with across nearly every corner of Gotham ever since. With 189 catalog appearances spanning over three decades, he's become one of DC's most enduring and collector-coveted figures, boasting three key issues that any serious Batman reader will want on their shelf. His stomping grounds are the pages of Batman and Detective Comics, where he keeps electrifying company with the likes of Dick Grayson, Selina Kyle, and even Green Lantern, a testament to how far his shadow stretches beyond any single corner of the DC universe. Whether you're a longtime Bat-fan or just discovering what makes Gotham's rogues so irresistible, Bane is an absolute essential.