10 Most Embarrassing Moments For Comic Book Villains
6. Bane Gets Destroyed By Azrael (Knightfall)
DC Comics
Knightfall is up there with the best Batman tales ever told, and for good reason. Released between 1993 and 1994, the event spanned across multiple DC titles and featured one of the most iconic comic book moments of all time: the moment where Bane broke Batman in two.
But it's not just the backbreaking that makes Knightfall so iconic. The storyline is also famous for the period in which Jean Paul Valley, then bizarrely entrusted to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman in his absence, enforced his own rule over Gotham as a much more violent version of the Dark Knight. Wresting control from Bane was no easy task however, and initially, the man who broke Batman even seemed to be humoured by the challenge.
Thinking Valley is the same man he broke just a few weeks earlier, Bane goes toe to toe with him, electing not to pump on Venom (at first) and meet him in the rain. Little does he know that Valley has been preparing for this fight for weeks, with the new Batsuit allowing the imposter to lay the stomp on him with little danger to himself.
The humiliation is completed by Harvey Bullock circling the fight ringside, comparing Valley to the Italian Stallion as it progresses. It almost makes you feel sorry for him. Almost.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
