It's a solid plot, which is probably why elements of it got used in Dark Knight Rises: Bane breaks the Batman. Unlike in most later appearances of Bane, he isn't a dumb, hulking brute. Even the usually brilliant Batman: The Animated Series went down that route. Here, Bane spends most of the story as a figure in the shadows. He unleashes the entire population of Arkham, then sits back and watches the inmates slowly wear Batman down. Was Bane ever this menacing again? And right up until the iconic moment on the cover, it's a good read. Sure, the art and writing are nothing special, even a little dated. But it's still fun to read. And then the Jean Paul as Batman storyline... Less enjoyable, on nearly every level. The confrontation with Bane is anticlimactic at best, and none of the characters are as engaging as they had been at the beginning of the book, or can be elsewhere. Nightwing is all but useless, and only shows in a few panels, and Tim just isn't himself. I also don't like how so much of the action is given to third-stringers (at best) from Arkham, while the real big players are all but ignored. The Ventriloquist's (very spread out) story is a small gem, at least so far. If only all of the heavy hitters had been given such an interesting treatment!