Bane's Vains

Power, strength, dominance, these are the aspirations of men who wish to rise beyond the standard. Some men achieve these dreams through determination, whilst others achieve it through creation. For the second installment of this week's main topic, we'll be taking a look at DC Comic's more notorious drug; Venom...the drug, not the scary, black, nightmare fuel.

In 1989's "Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight" a psychotic doctor named Randolph Porter created a pharmaceutical enhancement drug called Venom. Originally a copy of Rex Tyler's Miraclo formula, Doc Porter edited the drug to last far beyond sixty minutes. The drug would transform the human body into a hulking monster with god-like strength. The catch, after the Venom wears off, the user's body becomes weak and dependent on a constant supply of the drug. After seeing what the drug could do, Batman started using Venom to make up for his physical limitations, believing his body to be strong enough to handle the drug. Soon his suppliers demanded Batman to kill Commissioner James Gordon, because he had become so dependent on the use of Venom, Batman had actually considered this act of murder. Batman, realizing his addiction, locked himself in the Batcave for a month with only food and water in an effort to detox himself. The drug later returned to the Batman mythos with the character Bane. It was with the use of Venom that Bane had the strength needed to break Batman's back. Contrary to popular belief, Bane doesn't use Venom anymore. Noticing it's addictive properties, he proceeded to kick the drug and train himself to match the strength Venom provided. He simply left the Venom-injecting gear as an atheistic to his costume. The Venom drug would spin off to create other strength enhancers like Titan, Blockbuster and Slappers.

Another case of addictive, muscle-bursting medications gone wrong further shows the danger of drug use. While Hourman and Bane may fight on opposite sides, the effects of enhancement supplements lead to disastrous conclusions regardless of their intended use. It's within beating the addiction to these drugs that characters show their true strength, just as those who have overcome the use of drugs present a light of diligence and hope for those who follow a similar path.