Bane is returning to Gotham City in the next Batman story arc, fittingly titled "I Am Bane." When he arrives, adorned in his classic costume with veins full of the Venom super-steroid, he will aim to take vengeance on Batman (natch).

Batman #16 cover by David Finch. (DC Comics)

What did Batman do this time? He formed his own personal Suicide Squad to break into Bane's fortress on Santa Prisca, all in a play to kidnap the Psycho Pirate, who has the power to help the mentally fractured Gotham Girl. It turns out that Venom is highly addictive and not having it in his system leaves Bane in constant agony, but the Psycho Pirate's power allows him to feel at peace. He wants to get the Pirate back and make Batman pay.We hopped on the phone with Batman writer Tom King and artist David Finch to talk about what they've got planned, starting with tomorrow's Batman #16. While a big battle with Bane will most certainly come, this issue is a surprisingly light-heated one, at least in part, thanks to the Bat-family meeting in a Batman-themed fast-food restaurant instead of the Batcave.Warning: this article contains mild spoilers for Batman #16!

Batman #10 art by Mikel Janin. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

Batman #16 art by David Finch. (DC Comics)

I guess it's a few things.Number one, I'm not afraid to have sex in comics. I don't know how to say that right. I remember when we first did Grayson, Tim [Seeley] and I, we sat down with DC. We were like, "What are our marching orders?" And they're like, "What do you think of the sexy Grayson?" -- they kind of phrased it timidly -- and Tim and I were like, "Yeah we'll lean into the sexy Dick, of course. Like what's the point of the character if not that?" So that sort of started from that place.The other thing is I work with artists who can draw beautiful people, so sometimes taking clothes off is a way to show that off.As for Bane, that started with me sort of doing "Who is Bane?" He's this guy who's in this prison and Batman is going to get him. My mind went right to Apocalypse Now. Brando, at the end of that film, kind of pouring water over his bald head. I sent that to Mikel [Janin] and Mikel drew him naked for the scene. I think it's a sort of inside joke with Grayson because he always drew Grayson with his shirt off. I looked at it and it came out of my mouth: "Should we put clothes on him now?" There was something about it I like. He was so confident in his prison. He knew exactly who he was and he didn't give a f***.He had no care in the world. But it was just a sign of his power over all those people. Like, dude, I am the perfect god here and gods don't wear clothes. You know? To me, it was a symbol of that, a symbol of his willpower.I think what you're seeing in "I Am Bane," the arc that's coming up is he puts the clothes back on, he's got the Venom going back on, and those, to Bane, are signs of weakness, in that when he takes the Venom and leaves Santa Prisca, in my head that's a sort of sign he's giving into his worst impulses in a weak sort of way. His moment of strength was when he was comfortable with himself and not wearing any clothes. I don't know. In comics, sometimes you use a good symbol.It's a little surreal. I’ve only been gone for a little bit. I went from the first arc to drawing the one I'm working on now, and yet have so much happen in between is crazy. The comic right now is supposed to be moving at such a fast pace so it's a lot to keep up with. There's a lot of reference to make sure to keep straight. I've made a few mistakes here and there so there's been some redrawing here and there, too. But that's the job.Yeah, I'm loving the story, so it's a lot of mythology created very, very quickly to get into.Actually, you know, it's jarring because so much has changed and I have to adjust to it and make sure what I'm doing, what Mikel has done, and what happens in the book.But yeah, it's really invigorating because it gives me so much to work with. I feel like my designs can be good sometimes and maybe not so good sometimes. Sometimes I don't really have a good idea for how to approach something. So to have an artist as competent as Mikel contributing so much, it really adds a lot.Um, I stole it. I had a seed in my head, like okay it's going to be the whole Bat-Fam and they're going to be having a conversation. And once you start as a writer, you always start with a cliche because it's the first thing that pops in your head. You're like, okay they're swinging from the roofs... it sort of lends you the feeling of "oh this is so boring."And then I was just thinking of my favorite scenes - my favorite talky-talky scenes in comics - and I was thinking back to Mark Waid and Alex Ross in Kingdom Come in that restaurant, which I always thought was sort of the best talky scene in the history of comics. I reached out because I knew Mark a little bit and I reached out to him and said "I think I must use this scene." He was using Viv [from the Vision comic series] so he was like "Okay, let's have a trade."That was a very 90's thing, these themed restaurants everywhere when I was growing up. I like the idea that someone, some shitty entrepreneur in Gotham City would turn Batman into a restaurant. I think that's something funny. I did attribute that. There's a line exactly from Kingdom Come that Duke says just so people knew I was stealing from Mark.My scripts, they're pretty serious. I basically just describe stuff. I don't put too many notes and letters to the editors. But when I wrote “KGBLT,” in parentheses I wrote "well this is the best thing I've ever written. It will all be downhill from here. I'm so sorry for the rest of my career." [laughs] KGBLT made me laugh so much. And John Workman, maybe the best letterer in the business, the guy who lettered Simonson’s Thor, he got to put all that stuff in. So that's pretty cool.To be totally honest, it’s a stretch for me. I'm so much more geared toward drawing the Batcave and people jumping off the roof. So yeah I had to kind of push myself. When it's a scene that's so well written, and the characters are that much fun, it's very rewarding.I think the biggest challenge for me with the whole scene was making sure that anything I put into that restaurant was something that somebody living from the outside, living in Gotham City, would know about Batman publicly. Like I couldn't put anything from the Batcave, anything that somebody that lived in that world wouldn't know, so it was a tough thing to think about. It was a lot of fun.Right. That's all the stuff that popped up in my head when I read it, and I'm like "I can't do that."I think the idea here is that, in the history of the Batman comic book, some people have done it here and there, but really to me it stands out as the one person who beat Batman is Bane. Broke his back and threw him down those stairs, off that building. That idea that Batman is smart enough to realize Bane is the one man who can defeat him, and the reason is Bane's will is equal to his, I think makes him a unique and frightening villain. This issue is sort of the first stab at that.This isn't just another cartoon villain of the month coming where Batman will find some tricky new way to defeat him by pressing a button on his belt, a sound goes, and Bane falls over on his face. No, that's all out the window. Bane is the one who can defeat Batman, and Batman has to deal with that.No, not at all. Very deliberately. I tried very, very hard to make sure he's a classic Bane. I drew it in my own style, and really, I had a blast with it and I've pushed it as much as I could. His costume is very iconic, his original costume. I really like it. So I wanted it to be exactly that, as close as I could make it.I've gone through periods in my career where I've wanted to change everything and make everything my own and really alter costumes a lot. And then lately, I think I'm much more just a big fan of all this stuff and want to be respectful of this as I can be.You know that moment at the end of the great movie, where the hero has to face off with the villain, and you just know one of these two people can't live on Earth anymore? And it's just going to take everything each of them have to get the other wiped off? That's what this is. This is two men enter Gotham and only one leaves. And out of that you're going to get the greatest battle in the history of Batman.I would say this is not the kind of comic where there's a three page fight scene and everybody talks about what happened in the fight. I got to draw so much. It's still going on. It's crazy. I can't think of a time in my whole career where I've had a chance to just open up and draw of this real crazy fight scene between two characters. It's been an absolute blast for me. The time of my career right now.

Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN