Six months after Bruce had to resort to Venom to defeat the villain Bane, he has become addicted to the drug feeling like he needs it to continue being Batman as he is no longer strong enough after his defeat at the hands of Bane. He begins to not think clearly and behaves more recklessly drawing attention from the rest of the family who discover Bruce’s new habit and desperately try to get him off of it seeing what happened to Bane in Arkham separated from the drug almost immobilized. At the same time a new villain appears in Gotham, whose identity is unknown but he is leaving nothing in his tracks- except clay. Later Bruce discovers that his name was Basil Karlo, a former a-list actor who had been pushed aside from the industry for “not being able to immerse himself in the role at his age” and he turned to an experimental drug from the Powers corporation that he could use to alter his appearance softening his skin to mold it to his pleasing, using this to become a thief and killer for hire being able to blend in anywhere until eventually his excessive use of it mutates him into the monstrous Clayface barely resembling a man, seeing what the addiction did to Karlo is what finally got Bruce away from Venom having to once again rely on his own skills to stop Clayface
