The following article contains spoilers from Task Force Z #10, on sale now.

DC's Task Force Z #10 reveals that the reanimated corpse masquerading as Bane for the last ten issues of the series belongs to none other than Hank Clover, better known as the short-lived superhero Gotham.

Hank's name is uttered in the final scene of the issue. The eerie Mister Bloom greets him, "Welcome back, Gotham. Your city needs you once more." In the last issue of the series, it was revealed that Mister Bloom -- one of the primary architects behind the twisted zombie squad known as Task Force Z -- hoped to experiment with venom and hone a version of Bane that he could control like an undead guinea pig. Gotham is the unlucky subject.

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DC Reveals Its Fake Bane's Identity

Gotham first appeared in the one-shot DC Universe: Rebirth in 2016, set at the onset of DC's Rebirth initiative. He and his sister -- Claire, also known as Gotham Girl -- received further development in the first arc of the newly-relaunched Batman series that followed, written by Tom King and illustrated by David Finch. The siblings had undergone an experimental venom treatment that left them with superpowers rivaling those of the greatest metahumans in the DC Universe. Unfortunately, when they used those superpowers, their lifespans would decrease.

Gotham and Gotham Girl initially worked alongside Batman as protectors of Gotham City, but Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate manipulated both of them and caused Hank to experience a mental breakdown. Hank lashed out against Batman and died in a battle against the Justice League. Gotham Girl would go on to battle depression in the aftermath of her brother's passing. For a brief period, she fell under the malevolent influence of Thomas Wayne, Batman of the Flashpoint universe, and Bane -- who used her in the "City of Bane" story arc of 2019 as an enforcer in his dystopian dictatorship of Gotham.

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While Gotham Girl might have freed herself from Bane's clutches, the villain's twisted connection with her family lives on in Hank's Task Force Z form. As for Bane himself, the villain most recently appeared as the secret mastermind behind all of the events in The Joker limited series, where it was revealed that he faked his death and escaped Arkham Aslyum to pursue a vendetta against the Joker and meet Vengeance, a daughter of sorts created via his cloned DNA.

Task Force Z #10 comes from writer Matthew Rosenberg, artist Eddy Barrows, inker Eber Ferreira, colorist Adriano Lucas, letterer Rob Leigh, cover artists Barrows and Lucas and variant cover artists Ryan Browne, Travis Mercer and Alex Guimarāes. The issue is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC