Review by Ian Keogh

One Bad Day is a series of hardcovers spotlighting the villains of Gotham and involving the idea of a single bad day, inspired by Alan Moore’s starting premise for The Killing Joke.

In Bane’s case Joshua Williamson has him fallen on bad times, recreating the moment he broke Batman’s back in staged wrestling events. It seems improbable for the master schemer who’s taken over Gotham’s underworld until Williamson’s revelation that Bane lacks the drug that transformed him from super bulked-up fighter in peak condition into something more. It still doesn’t ring true that Bane would turn himself into a circus show, and the dialogue is weak from the start, often explaining to readers rather than coming across as conversation people would realistically have.

On the art, though, Howard Porter maximises the possibilities of the wrestling, alternating thrilling in-ring action with a wordless run through Bane’s past on a spectacular spread featuring sixteen detailed panels on each page. Porter follows on with really interesting pages, very distanced from the superhero art usually associated with him. His modified approach is consistent throughout in offering stylistic distortions, and it’s an experiment that works, although the resulting Batman may not be to all tastes.

What Williamson nails is Bane’s strength of will. He’s determined not to be hooked on stimulants again, and his interests coincide with Batman’s when it comes to wiping out a new source. Williamson also introduces a new direction for Bane, a possibly interesting one if picked up elsewhere. However, a prominent theme is the moment Bane broke Batman’s back in Knightfall. Variations on the iconic illustration are scattered throughout, and it’s Williamson’s downfall. He leads everything up to a similar scene, then has Bane get up and batter the villain despite a broken back. When it’s all over he’s next seen in a hospital bed. It has all the credibility of a footballer rolling in agony after a penalty area tackle, then playing on with no ill effects if a penalty isn’t awarded. It’s such a major flaw, and lazy piece of writing, that it diminishes the remainder, which is readable notwithstanding awkward dialogue.

All One Bad Day hardbacks are available with a standard cover, while the smaller comic versions feature four rarer alternatives, and despite being self-contained they’re all numbered as #1. The entire run is also available together as a boxed set packaged with a hardcover edition of The Killing Joke.