There’s not doubt that Bane has graduated from background Batman villain and really put himself on the map. And I’m not just talking about the fact that he broke Batman’s spine. Bane’s appeal for me comes from Gail Simone’s masterful development of the character in the pages of this year’s amazing Secret Six comic. Either way, this was one of those C&C figures I knew I had to complete, no matter what figures populated the wave. He’s a C&C figure, so there’s no packaging to look at, so let’s get right to the figure.

As is usually the case for the DCUC Collect & Connect figures, Bane is made up from seven pieces, which include the torso, the head, the pelvis, and two arms and two legs.

For a C&C figure, Bane isn’t exactly huge. He’s certainly no Trigon or Kilowog, but he’s scaled pretty well to his character, and he’s definitely more sizeable than a standard DCUC figure. The sculpt is fairly detailed, albeit mostly with Bane’s muscles. The shoulder straps that hold up his pants are actually sculpted from separate plastic, which give the figure some nice depth, as does the use of the extra glossy black on his boots and gloves, over the matte finish on his pants. Some have complained this version of Bane is something of a pinhead, but I just don’t see it. His head is certainly proportioned smaller than his upper torso should probably command, but it still looks right to me.

Bane’s venom delivery system isn’t as elaborate as what we’ve seen in some more modern designs of the character, in fact it’s a little understated. The tube runs the gauntlet on his left hand to a fastener on his bicep and then into the back of his head. It would be pretty easy to cut it off if you want a more Secret Six accurate Bane, but even so, I’m content to leave mine in place.

Articulation is standard for the DCUC style. You get a ball jointed neck; Universal movement in the shoulders and hips; Swivels in the biceps, thighs, and waist; Hinged elbows, knees, and ankles; And you get the ab crunch hinge in the torso. Bane’s ab crunch seems to have a better range of motion than most of my other figures.

I’ve seen my share of negative reactions to this figure, but I can’t say I share them. It’s true that I’ve come to expect something bigger in my C&C figures, but I think Bane here is going to be more the rule than the exception as the DCUC line continues its precarious existance into and beyond Wave 20. Bane is certainly too big to be packaged as a regular figure, though, and that makes him fine for C&C status in my book. Either way, he’s a great addition to my collection, and it was well worth picking up the one or two figures in Wave 16, that I could have lived without, in order to build him.