Batman: Arkham Asylum 25th Anniversary

I gave Grant Morrison another chance reading this graphic novel after looking for a good Joker story. And not much has changed since I read Batman RIP. Luckily, I checked it out of the library instead of buying it like I did with Batman RIP. The art was really cool. Like others have mentioned, Joker's dialogue was really hard to read at times (I get that it represents Joker's madness), but it made the story more challenging. I honestly don't remember much of the story as it never intrigued me enough and it just kind of ended. I recommend it for the art, but once again, the story was at times confusing and never really grabbed my interest.

The gates of Arkham Asylum evolved from a dumping ground for Batman's foes, most of whom are varying degrees of insane, to a place with its own aura, mystique, and a haunted past. The Asylum, that dark past and legacy, is now more popularly immortalized in the excellent video games by Rocksteady. The true of definition of Arkham-as a place made by the mad for the mad, a place where the madness is catching- was established here. In the wake of Year One and the Dark Knight Returns, Batman's corner of the DC Universe got darker. It allowed Scottish comic scribe and auteur Grant Morrison to reinvent Arkham and make it a place rife with true insanity. The artist Dave McKean brings this to life through his almost manic painted art style which often eschews the traditional narrative panels. This book could be studied on an academic level as Morrison and McKean invoke literary references and religious architecture with Christian, occult, and pagan symbology. As such it is truly an artistic and academic work. Published in 1989, its approach to mainstream comics as "individualized not commercialized art" eventually helped lead to the Vertigo line of comics outside of DC's main universe. Vertigo allowed for artistic expression unhindered by the drive to make Superman appeal to children and adults alike and friendly to the magazine racks of major booksellers. Outside of its inherent artistic merits, it IS the darkly beautiful primordial soup of Vertigo comics and historically that is probably its most significant contribution. Outside of that, its character work with Batman and his rogues (driven deeper than ever into depravity) was largely impermanent. The walls of Arkham instantly seem to drive Batman into a state of fear and savagery. While Morrison is attempting to make a statement about Batman's own obsession and precarious sanity, he weakens his capabilities. Something Morrison made up for in the long run. Readers of Batman over the last few years or Morrison's legendary JLA run know that Morrison's Batman is brilliant, capable and the most dangerous man in world. This is not the case in Arkham Asylum, he's broken mentally and physically. The horrors inflicted upon the psyche's of the Mad Hatter, Clayface and Maxie Zeus are ignored in the DC universe. This does not diminish other moments of brilliance like the psychological attempts to "rehabilitate" the bisected duality Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Grant Morrison also establishes the Joker as a constantly evolving cipher. This character trait reconciles the "mad prankster clown" with "the "murdering vicious sociopath." He becomes what he needs to be at the moment guided only by immoral whimsy. In fact, Morrison wanted to transform Joker further into a Madonna-esque transvestite reflecting a trend of the period. While effeminate and "cutesy", Joker stops just shy of cross dressing. The Joker has become this transformative creature- capable of fiendish calculated evil and random madness. Morrison finished paving the path Alan Moore started in The Killing Joke . Furthermore, it gave writers- like Morrison, Paul Dini, Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, Tony Daniel, Judd Winick, and most recently Scott Snyder- free reign to shape Joker as the ultimate agent of Chaos, as the amorphous Joker Batman needs, not the predictable Joker the editors want (to liberally twist a phrase from The Dark Knight). So, this is a comic I enjoy more on its academic and historical merits that its pure storytelling. It doesn't necessarily enhance Batman as a character, but it darkens the corners of his maleficent world.

Just as Grant Morrison took Batman (I am talking about Bruce Wayne here) to the brink of insanity and pushed him over the edge in his run on the regular book, culminating into Batman R.I.P and then going past that, it is noteworthy to know he has done that same slant two decades before. Only in the case of Arkham Asylum he did it in the form of a graphic novel, one illustrated by Dean McKean, no less. But the feel that one gets from a Grant Morrison book never ever changes. He placed many of the usual Batman themes and villains, and juxtaposed them with his pseudo-Gothic madness, but it ended up being an interesting story that feels confused and compromised.

How can one be satisfied with a story that throws Batman into Arkham Asylum for no other reason than simply to rescue the day-to-day people working in there from the clutches of the Crown Prince of Madness The Joker? How can anyone even be happy with such a simplistic plot when the rest of the narrative following the initial call to the asylum involves little more than a 'death-row' encounter with all the major players in Batman's rogues gallery residing in Arkham at the time. After the twentieth page or so, one gets the idea and, despite all the wonderful language and witty nuance poured into the exploration of the psychological features in every character, one cannot help but pine for something more substantial.

Which is why the Amadeus Arkham slant was given. Just an explanation of Arkham Asylum's 'origin,' there is never any good payoff for that part of the storyline, even when Grant attempts to point the conclusion back to it. The manner in which he does it makes little sense, It was a stray bat (a literal bat) that made Arkham and his mother insane, and thus the Asylum was born, baring his name. But that was not the main problem. The fact that Grant chose to interlace the Amadeus parts with the main plot, only slowed the intensity of the horror unnecessarily, pushing the reader further into confusion coupled with a feeling of boredom.

Most scenes, like the appearance of the Scarecrow, bare no importance to the story, and one could only assume Grant put them in there just to add psychological fear into the story. But the truth is, amidst all the scariness and terror, nothing really happens until perhaps the fight with Croc, Batman's equivalent in terms of strength and sheer fighting skill. The rest of the villains do nothing but add to the all-too-common viewpoint that Batman is as crazy as them. They looked as if they were trying to get into Batman's head, and he even acknowledged that he could have been one of them, but we never actually see how that affected Batman in any way other than him going through it all with his strength of will, something not exactly fresh even two decades ago.

There were yet more questionable parts in the book, particularly the part where Batman stated how the villains were free to go after breaking through a section of pipe that allows an opening. Grant cleverly brought in Joker to mock that notion with the quip "Oh, we know that already," inviting the idea that insanity is in fact a freedom, but we all know Batman never frees criminals, it is just something Batman never does. Neither does he condone that murder of Doc Cavendish. For a book so much dependent on mythos and not plot, Grant shoots himself in the foot a little too many.

Arkham Asylum is, in a sentence, an exploration, a what-if that occurs when Batman gets trapped within the walls of the Asylum, even an interesting look at insanity itself, but it ends up feeling neither satisfying or consistent as a story, having a sparse plot with very little payoff, among many other problems. Some may term this type of a tale as a micro-story, but what I call this is perhaps more honest to its effect. I call it a story that you could live without.

I have a love-hate relationship with Grant Morrison books. I loathe his recent run on Batman, I wasn't a huge fan of All-Star Superman and I would rather take a power drill to my skull then read Final Crisis again. But I can't deny his older work has a lot of ambitiion and creativity driving it.

Arkham Asylum was amongst the first Batman books I read, along with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and Jeph Loeb's The Long Halloween. And as such, Arkham Asylum usually gets lumped in as one of the greatest Batman stories ever written. And that was my impression at first. But after rereading it numerous times, I think I've come to the conclusion that Arkham Asylum is a fantastic book - but with flaws.

The storyline itself is fairly simple and could be lifted from the most generic horror movie. Batman surrenders himself to The Joker and gets locked into Arkham Asylum with all of Gotham's worst super villains. Fair enough. During this story, Morrison also tells us the background and history of Arkham Asylum, from its early beginnings in the Arkham Family. I happened to like this part of the story, Morrison does a good job of telling us the origin of the asylum, and what I love is how he, and McKean, make the asylum itself just as much a character as anyone else in the book.

I dislike three things about the story as a whole: For starters, the pacing. The story moves too swiftly in some parts, and then drags in others, making for a not entirely pleasant read, and then the ending just feels like a big rush to the finish.
I felt there wasn't all that much action in this book. I'm not someone who needs action, but you would assume that if Batman were locked in a building with his biggest enemies then there would be quite a few fight scenes here and there. Instead, Batman strolls through the Asylum, going from room to room and observing all of his biggest villains, and then moving on with little to no confrontation (excluding brief encounters with Killer Croc and Clayface).
What I dislike most about the story is how out of character everyone is. Particularly Batman. Batman acts scared and terrified, often rattled by the things he sees in the asylum. Batman is confident, cold and fearless. He has faced all this enemies before, countless times, he should not be afraid to enter the asylum to face them. There were other things to just rubbed me wrong as well, for example Two-Face being so mentally broken down that he messes his pants and The Joker grabbing Batman's ass. These things just aren't right.

Upon saying that, with all the problems I have with Arkham Asylum, it is still a good book. It's a well-told and easy to read story and I found the background of the asylum to be interesting in particular. Perhaps the greatest saving grace of the novel is Dave McKean's haunting artwork. It is perfect for this type of story, and the images will stay with you until long after you've put the book down.

Yes, this book is flawed, but there is more good in Arkham Asylum than bad, and it certainly is a must-read for any Batman fan. And despite Morrison's recent Batman work, Arkham Asylum is actually easily accessible and understandable.
Once again, it's well worth reading.

let's address the obvious part first; I won't deny that the art work is nothing short of mind-blowing. I don't think The Joker or Scarecrow have ever looked so horrifying. (Although the text is pretty hard to read at times)
The story itself is very good. The ambiance that the story sets is extensively terrifying and you really feel the escalating tension that's brought on by complex psychological-analyses and brief implications of super-natural entities. I ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF AT LEAST 13 OR THE CASUAL BATMAN READER AS IT IS EXTREMELY DISTURBING AT TIMES. The joker's appearance alone could give anyone nightmares for a few nights. (If memory serves me correctly, Joker also makes a pretty creepy and inaccurate implication about Batman's relationship with Robin, if ya know what I mean).
Now for the part that kinda rubbed me the wrong way: the portrayal of Batman. If you like a vulnerable, deconstructed Batman, than you'll like it. If you're like me, who prefers a macho, intimidating, "Take no nonsense" kinda Batman, then you'll hate it. Reason 1- Batman himself is barely in it because the story focuses more on the asylum's history. Reason 2- Anytime Batman is in it, he's reduced to a wimpy, helpless cry-baby. Despite beating these criminals like piñatas more times than even steven hawking could count, Batman suddenly gets irrationally freaked out by mundane dangers that even the Adam West-era caped crusader would laugh at (with the exception of Killer Croc, who's still pretty tough. Without spoiling anything, his scene is easily the coolest in the book). A few gay jokes made by Joker (a warning for all the petty homophobes out there) and suddenly The Dark Knight is horrified. The Batman I know would've effortlessly knocked Joker out in one hit the second he laid ONE HAND on him. It is, while a lame look at batman, also an interesting one. It implies that he's so wrapped up in his war on crime that he'll never be able to settle down with a wife and kids. It makes you realize how tragic his life must be. Overall: GREAT read, but I wish they would've made Batman a lot tougher, especially since that's the part of his character that attracts people the most; he's a mortal man and still DOES NOT BACK DOWN OR GET INTIMIDATED.

For any beginning comic reader, and even more so for anyone else, "Arkham Asylum" is essential. Claimed by DC to be the best-selling graphic novel of all time, "Arkham Asylum" is deep, psychological, terrifying, and as dark as any comic I've ever read. Grant Morrison writes with an explorative and bleak psychology reminescent of Alan Moore -- but Moore's own darkly contemplative and psychological Batman work, 1988's "Batman: The Killing Joke," was never this ghastly. Thanks to Dave McKean's beautiful and utterly horrific artwork, which is really the embodiment of the word "nightmarish," "Arkham Asylum" is like venturing into the depths of madness itself. The book personifies "Arkham Asylum," comparing it to a living creature. When Arkham is taken over by its inmates, Batman must enter the mouth of the beast. What are the chances it won't swallow him whole?

That's the central point of the comic: how is Batman any different from these freaks he's captured? Just as the Joker dresses himself up like a clown and terrorizes those he thinks should laugh a little more, Batman dresses up like a bat and terrorizes those he sees as evildoers. It seems like he should be locked up in Arkham too. Batman is forced to confront this fact as he crawls deeper and deeper into the black heart of the asylum, in the process revealing a vulnerable humanity that we don't often see in Batman comics.

It feels like we've seen little of this before -- and what little we have seen has never looked like this. McKean's artwork is just stupendous. It is absolutely the reason for the ghastliness of the book. With another artist, Morrison's script could have produced an excellent book that would probably wind up frightening, but McKean's art makes that excellent book truly horrifying. The sudden introduction of the Joker almost made me shout. This is not the wisecracking and sadistic clown of other comics. This man is a monster, a "special case" even by Arkham's standards, and he looks every bit as shocking and chilling as he should. As do the rest of the Rogues Gallery. They're all here, and they're all every bit as freaky as they were meant to be.

But if McKean's artwork steals the book, it's built upon Morrison's script -- a sturdy foundation indeed. Morrison's writing is laden with symbolism which is quite likely to slip past the reader on the first few reads. That makes "Arkham Asylum" one of the most interesting comics to re-visit, because one notices something new with each read. Additionally, Morrison's script poses a number of fascinating questions, chiefly about Batman himself. Does Batman truly save the world from these monsters, or has Bruce Wayne created the worst monster himself? Does Batman's existence create these freaks? They're fascinating questions, and as with most fascinating questions, the answers are not easy, may not even exist, and if one does happen across them, they will shock you to the core.

There's far more to "Arkham Asylum" than pure shock value, though. Ripe with symbolism, full of challenging and deep questions for which there may be no answers, expertly crafted, this is an essential comic for any reader new or old. Add in some of the finest artwork in the history of the medium and you have a masterwork, one that will chill you long after you've set it down and whipped out some of the old Golden Age comics in the vain hope that they'll rid you of the ghastly images in your head. They won't. There's no escaping the Asylum.

First founded in the 1920s following the death of his insane mother, Amadeus Arkham converted his late mother's house into a mental institution, knowing little that he had set in motion a chain of events of horrific consequence and bizarre circumstance. Years later, the asylum had become a living Hell on earth, a mental hospital for the deadliest criminal individuals in Gotham City, the enemies of the legendary Batman. April Fool's Day has arrived, and the inmates have all escaped and, led by The Joker, have seized control of the asylum and drag the one man responsible for their incarcerations, Batman, into the madhouse and put him through a mad funhouse of mind cancer. Learn the disturbing origin of Dr. Arkham, and dive into the minds of some of the inmates!

I have always considered the Batman to be such a poetic character, and so this story is unique and fun to read in such its own unique, psychologically thrilling way. Writer Grant Morrison's idea in his book are mystic and focus mainly on the symbiosis between Batman and the insidious psychopaths he has time and time again helped incarcerate. "A Serious House on Serious Earth" is a Bat tale unlike any other, because the characters each represent something. Everything in the story is depicted as some form of symbolism, and include the works of the psychology of Carl Jung, the works of Joseph Campbell, and Lewis Carroll (Bat villain Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, plays a particularly symbolic role here). The villains-Joker, Two-Face, Clayface, Mad Hatter, Maxie Zeus, Killer Croc-each represent important symbols, even Batman himself is a form of symbolism in this tale; Dave McKean's chaotic and mystic artwork is very effective in backing this up (each page actually feels like the inside of the mind of a madman). The main point of "Arkham Asylum" is about madness and facing one's own sanity and fears. Even Batman himself questions his own rationality and wonders if he is really all that different from his enemies. Because it is such a symbolic and poetic tale, "Arkham Asylum" is one of the prizes in my ever-growing graphic novel library. It seems to change every time I read it, and I appreciate it more with each rereading. The story is also brutal and frightening, and more fit for mature reader (it has a pedophilic Mad Hatter in it!). Batman graphic novels have become MUCH darker and more serious ever since the 80s, particularly thanks to Frank Miller and his instant classic, "The Dark Knight Returns." It makes me sad to think that all too many people remember Batman as a campy, comedic icon.

Good: The Joker annoys the snot out of everyone by hitting on them, calling them pet names, & repeatedly suggesting that Batman is a pedophile. It' hilarious! So is Two-Face's little accident, that the Joker so gleefully points out to everyone. & the thought of Two-Face using a die or a pack of tarot cards instead of a coin paints it's own amusing story. "oh, mystic tarot cards! should I go to the bathroom? No? Okay...." & while they're not implying that the Joker has Tourette's Syndrome, you just have to imagine what it would be like if he did. The story tries to tie all the versions of the Joker together by explaining his bipolar-like personality of being either a prankish goof or a homicidal clown. & you've got to love the Joker's press-on nails.

Bad: The font is an atrocity. I can't read ANYTHING the Joker says without a magnifying glass & a lot of patience. Dr. Adams suggests that he's "super-sane," but when she explains how his mind works, it seems like a contradiction. There are also a couple of bad grammatical errors. The art has a washed-away look. Sometimes you can't even tell who it's supposed to be. Was that Batman stabbing himself with a glass shard? & why? Does the earlier reference suggest that Batman cuts himself just to feel? Did Amadeus Arkham have delusions of the future?

Personal Opinion: Worst facial design I've EVER seen for the Joker. Not crazy about the art; looks like heavily Photoshopped photos. This is the epitome of mixed-genre, & despite it's seriousness & grimness, it's probably the funniest Batman adventure I can recall. The Joker has no solid background & is reinvented with every writer who takes him on, but this super-sane, super deadly, possibly gay Joker is my favorite, & everyone in the asylum seems to act as if he were the boss there, needing his permission. I wish there were more Batman stories like this, less dependent on skin, [...], muscles, & action. Plus, it has 2 of my 3 favorite villains; Mad Hatter yes, but no Poison Ivy.

A Serious House on a Serious Earth is quite possibly my favorite graphic novel. While many stories concerning the rogues' takeover of Arkham Asylum have been told, I believe that this is by far the most effective and the most artful. The plot itself is one of the most sophisticated Batman stories I've encountered. It is ultimately a meditation on madness, with a particular focus on the parallels that exist between our beloved caped crusader and his many adversaries. While the plot itself is wonderful, what really sets this graphic novel apart from others is the absolutely brilliant style that is used to tell the story. The comic takes the theme of madness and incorporates it into the work's aesthetic principles. It is a schizophrenic art style that strives to render madness visually--and I would say that is most definitely achieves this goal. To me, the most interesting aspect of this style is the idea that the individual psychoses of many of the characters are reflected in the art. When a villain appears, their subjectivity begins to temper the visuals, allowing the reader to witness not only the character but the character's perspective as well. It is truly a work of beauty, and I'd go so far to call it one of the most artful graphic novels ever made.

From the Batman: Arkham Asylum Anniversary Edition hardback (the one I own), here's what the inside of the dust jacket says to give you an idea of what this graphic novel is about:

"In 1920, following the death of his insane mother, the brilliant psychiatrist Amadeus Arkham begins the conversion of his ancestral home into a hospital for the treatment of the mentally ill, little suspecting that he has set in motion a nightmarish chain of event and consequence.
More than half a century later, Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a place of dismal corridors and oppressive shadows. A bad dream house. A riddle in stone and timber, best left unsolved. For years, the demented and deformed enemies of the Batman have been imprisoned within these claustrophobic walls. In padded cells and unlit cellars, they have brooded and plotted, dreaming of a day when they might rise up and overthrow the world of reason.
That day has come.
It is April 1st and the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Led by the Joker, they issue a terrible challenge to the one man responsible for their imprisonment...
The Batman.
In a harrowing contest of wits with his greatest enemies, the Batman must descend into the heart of darkness, confront his greatest fears and learn the truth of his own existence...or be broken.
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth is a terrifying journey into obsession and madness. A story of psychological horror and of secrets that reverberate across time."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I recieved my copy of Arkham Asylum in the mail. But I was sure it would be interesting. Interesting? That's an understatement. I sat on my bed, opened the book, and delved into a world full of imaginitively dark art spliced gracefully with a haunting story that reached far beyond any Batman comic or graphic novel I'd read before. It was all so stylish and rich, while coming across as choatic and disturbed at the same time. With each page I turned, my mind was gripped more and more by the twisted characters and the surreal atmosphere. The story unfolded so well with the images -- I could practically see the figures move and hear the words and noises echo in my mind like a movie. The madness of the asylum bled all over the pages and into my head. It was more intriguing than terrifying, but for sure had a frightening quality to it. Here was one of the greatest superheros of all time, finally put under his own scope of psychoanalysis, and his evil foes finally shown in a light that was clear enough to humanize them. All with a dark tale that had me on the edge throughout. And then like a puff of air...gone. The impact of the ending was indeed satisfying -- in its own way intense and sombre all at once -- but I was still a bit surprised to see it end so quickly. It runs not long over 100 pages, and in my opinion deserved more. But maybe that's what made it so marvelous in retrospect. Isn't that the sign of a great read? You want more? I was certainly left wth a feeling of desire for further exploration into this new twist on a familiar world, but this was as far as it went. And maybe that's the best way it could've been. Regardless of the length, I still stand impressed by this controversial book. Some people love it, some people hate it, but no matter what you think of it, it will definitely leave you affected and in some way alter your view of Batman and his villains. Don't pass this one up. Believe the hype and get your hands on this excellent piece of work!

. . . and beautiful like the sun rising high on mescaline over the beaches.

"When I say the word rose you might think of a flower. Depending on who you are the flower might mean white, red, romance, school, gardening, childhood, old age, or death. You might think of a woman named Rose or a time when you had to rise to your feet." - old joke

It's bit odd to describe this book in such a short bit of space. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this book is filled with metaphorical, cryptic pictures collaged deep onto every page. I've read the book a few times, and came back with different experiences like travelogues to an unknown world or temporary scores on ancient Atari games. That's just the book itself. The book was made (believe it or not) by two fascinating flesh and blood animals who have been up to everything (except the reasonable animal behaviors of hunting, breeding, and watching cable television) under our yellow sun.

Grant Morrison came back to Batman. He's written quite a few Batman stories in recent times. These recent stories surely touch some odd subjects. They include a kidnapped Batman staggering through Gotham doped out on heroin and working with Bat-mite to find the terrorist organization that is trying to bet on a fight to the death between Bruce and the Joker. Yeah, it's honestly weirder than I have room to say. However, the portrayal of these events is clear. Or maybe beyond. Life is clear, Grant's recent comics are more vivid and clear than life. Arkham Asylum stands in stark contrast. The subject matter is plain. The inmates literally take over the asylum. Just like the old phrase. The telling is almost impenetrable though. Multiple tales become metaphors for each other and the artwork isn't a clear this was so, but an infinite labyrinth of meaningful texture.

Arkham is both a real building and a metaphor in this story. It's a giant model of the human mind big enough for Carl Jung to walk through. In Freud and Jung's psychology, the shadow is an important element. Essentially, over the course of a life, every thing a person values becomes their self. Your religion, your morals, your language, your country, your town, your class, your gender, your race, your hair color, your aesthetic, your attitude, and so on for ever and ever. These are the things one will fight for. Fight to defend one's country or gang. The mirror image is the shadow. Everything that can never be in the self enters the shadow. The shadow contains every bad thing we've ever thought and had to repress. When you hate a serial killer, it's because you've secretly had to restrain your own predatory urges. All those bad things, forbidden things, terrible things, inappropriate things, are locked away in the shadow, in the subconscious, in Arkham.

The two stories told in parallel are that of Batman and Amadeus. Without ruinng too much of the story Amadeus and Batman both go into Arkham and face the most terrible things. Only one of them is able to endure it. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone. Although if you're the kind of person who wants clarity, happy endings, or realistic characters, you should probably take large doses of lsd before reading.

Good luck.

This is not your traditional Batman tale. Some people won't like it. In fact, Batman seems like a normal man when confronted by the horrors within and acts in very non Batman ways. There's a two part story here where we switch back and forth to the founder of Arkham and why he turned his mansion into a facility for the mad and Batman trying to navigate his way through the madness of Arkham. Batman action is minimal. This is much more of an emotional journey.
There is distinctive lettering for different characters and massive amounts of symbolism so several things will be missed by the casual reader. Think of this as a true nightmare tale for Batman. Sometimes the symbolism is a bit much and gets in the way of the tale. This graphic novel influenced a video game of a similar title but that one is more action based. It also influenced Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. STORY/PLOTTING: B to B plus; CHARACTER/DIALOGUE: B to B plus; HOW WELL IT WORKS: B minus; OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus; WHEN READ: December 2011.

Arkham Asylum A Serious House On Serious Earth is an eerie, atmospheric work of art unlike anything one would typically expect from a superhero book, though not neccessarily that surprising for a Grant Morrison / Dave McKean collaboration. Morrison eschews anything you'd mistake for a linear plot or narrative momentum, leaving the Dark Knight to drift listlessly through the gloomy asylum and, symbolically, his own damaged pysche (those who argue this nihilistic interpretation of the caped crusader should remember that Bruce Wayne is a priveleged man who spends his nights dressing up in tights and enforcing vigilante-style justice out of a compulsion to avenge the death of his parents - not a picture of stability). McKean's painted panels are suitably textural and expressionistic - not pushing the story forward as in traditional comic illustrations, but rather obscuring the action in a gauze of nightmarish shadow that serve to emphasize the paranoiac mood of the piece. This book has been frequently attacked for it's uneventful and unstructured narrative and perceived pretension, and these criticisms are perhaps not invalid. However, I am less a fan of the Batman mythology (or genre fiction in general) than I am of groundbreaking, barrier-pushing, emotionally raw, expressive, meaningful, unique, fantastical, and interesting art. Arkham Asylum meets at least one of those adjectives; and though I wouldn't quite call it a masterpiece, I for one enjoyed it thoroughly. I have only read this book once, but plan to revisit it soon and may feel compelled to offer further assessment. YET... It's YOUR enjoyment of the book, not what any critic has to say that is important.

Also of note - the binding of my hardcover version is terrible. ALL of the pages have come unglued and falled out, even though otherwise the cover and pages are in very good shape. Maybe the anniversary edition is better?

This is probably the most unique Batman graphic novel ever and it's definitely the darkest. First of all, the art is out-of-this-world and is very, very disturbing. This is not a book for children. Arkham Asylum is a haunted house straight out of hell. It is a living, breathing, evil entity. This story is very cool because we learn about the dark horrific history of the Asylum and how it came to be. When Batman is "invited" to the Asylum by The Joker, he has no idea what they have in store for him. Throughout the book you will see many of Batman's enemies and they are scarier and more grotesque than you could imagine.

As for the story, this is Grant Morrison at his psychological, symbolical, and disturbing best! Oh and do not skip out on reading the entire script at the end of the book. You will be amazed how detailed and specific Morrison's instructions to the artist (Dave McKean) are. Furthermore you will see how McKean makes all of what Morrison has in his sick head come to life visually.

This book is a dark masterpiece and highly recommended to Batman fans. You'll want to read it more than once especially after you've read about the meaning and symbolism that is discussed in Morrison's outstanding script that is included as bonus supplemental material. Buy it.

I feel like being a pagan and a very spiritual person made this enjoyable for me on a new level. I really dug the utilization of pagan myths and symbols to explore that tenuous place between sanity and insanity. And the art. Oh that amazing art. The art itself, and the borders and gutters between the panels -- the way these become instable in line with the instability in the scenes themselves. Such a well put together comic.

"Arkham Asylum" is a fantastic book. The plot is well-paced and a lot of thought was involved. This version comes with a script, with notes from Grant Morrison, in the back, which is almost an absolute necessity because so much is going on. Every page is crammed with literary and psychology references. Morrison layers each scene with so much information that one almost needs Ph.D.s in Literature, Philosophy, and Psychology to get everything that's happening. Upon subsequent readings, the story became more horrifying as I noticed things I hadn't seen before. It really paints a vivid picture of being locked inside the mad house with the inmates. The story is understandable without it, but you'll probably miss a lot. I know I did.

The Joker is in amazing form here. He is my favourite Batman villain, and Morrison understands why I adore him. He's allowed to be terrifying, whimsical, and hilarious all on the same page. He comes across as a worthy foe. The other villains are all represented well, especially Two Face. Morrison's version is pathetic and terrifying, his mind broken even worse by the people who are supposed to be helping him. The reader feels sympathy for him whilst feeling revulsion.

Unfortunately, the art was a draw back for me. I love Dave McKean and his "Sandman" covers are amazing. His style works well for a deeply literary, quietly horrifying book like this one. However, at times, it's too dark, and I lose some of the detail that Morrison describes in his script. In other places, it's too chaotic, and I can't tell what's happening. I understand McKean is trying to show the cacophony and insanity of the asylum, but it managed to irritate me. Also, (this is more a lettering issue) the Joker speaks in spiky red words at all times, which can be hard to read and blend into the background in places. When McKean's art shines, it is gorgeous: hauntingly beautiful and subtle. But it doesn't often get to shine.

"Arkham Asylum" is for fans who like their Dark Knight darker than most, fighting against his own mind in addition to those around him. It would also be enjoyed by people who enjoy literature and philosophy who don't look down on comics.

Not only this book is insanely well drawn/painted/whatevered, but it is also superbly written. There is a graphic novel if I ever read one. The artwork is worth 2000 years of continuous praise; and the words too.

I'm pretty sure this book would appeal very much to people that aren't specifically into Batman (I can't say I'm a big fan)because the whole thing is of such quality; it's VERY impressive. I never thought comics could reach such lofty area of greatness, but that one does it. This edition also contains a good amount of notes and stuff that help you sense the depth of that work, and it's worth it.

The visuals are so well executed; some people have commented on their nature and said that they are hard to "see"; I understand that, but please be sure that they're not at all unreadable, they only stretch the usual boundaries you might be used to if you're a big comic reader. It never was a problem to me, this being said; the only thing that confused me was some of the characters, but that is because I did not know them before I read this book; if you're a Batman fan, you will know them.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who's into interesting stuff, Batman fan or not, you must experience this work!

I have been wanting to read this graphic novel for awhile and was excited to get it through paperbackswap. This is a very dark horror that was wonderful, but a bit disturbing.

I think pretty much everyone is familiar with this story. Batman is called to Arkham Asylum to face down the Joker and all the other depraved inmates there. As he goes through the asylum Batman is forced to consider his similarities and differences to the crazy lunatics of Arkham asylum.

This is definitely an adults only book; it is disturbing, depraved, violent, scary and overall just plain creepy. The artwork is a very dark style of Dave McKean's typical. I love McKean's artwork it is always interesting to look at and has elements that are unpredictable and surprising. The tone of the artwork matches the story well and gives it even more depth. McKean's artwork is perfect for this creepy crazy story about Batman's trip through Arkham Asylum. Absolutely beautiful, haunting, and did I say creepy enough yet?!

Morrison's story is excellent as well. The story has predictable elements of creepiness that one would expect from an asylum full of criminally insane people. It also has unexpected depth to it and a lot of darkly clever elements.

Batman is forced to face his similarities to some of the insane folks and questions of what it means to be insane versus sane are raised. This is a Batman story that emphasizes the rather disturbing elements you'd have to have as part of your personality if you wanted to run around dressed like a giant bat.

Additionally there are some wonderful scenes; for example where the psychiatrist has weened Two Face from a coin to a set of tarot cards to make his decisions just so his decisions won't be so black and white. Of course there are seriously disturbing scenes...like Arkham himself parading through the halls wearing his mother's blood covered wedding dress.

Additionally this version has the full script notes from Morrison. These are a great read and clarify some parts where it is a bit unclear what is going on in the story. There are also thumbnail sketches of the story Morrison wrote up. All of this is a great addition to the graphic novel.

Overall just an excellent read. This is a story that is disturbing and dark, definitely creepy...but it also takes a deep look at some societal issues like what it means to be sane vs. insane. It also dives into Batman's mind and takes a look at what made Batman the dark character he is. Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy, horror, and the darker side of Batman.

I tried to like this book, but it just didn't feel like a Batman story to me. Although the artistic style isn't my personal favorite, I can appreciate how the disjointed images paint the picture of madness. The story told is OK. Batman gets locked in Arkham Asylum and has to survive as all the lunatics chase after him. What I appreciated most about this story was the background information on Amedeus Arkham, which is interwoven throughout the book. I probably would have rated this a 2, if not for the final draft of the script in the back. As I was reading the book, I was routinely put off and disgusted by the imagery, and truth be told, I had to force myself to finish it. After I was done with the story, I flipped to the back and read a couple excerpts from the script to see if there was anything I was missing. When just focusing on the script, I couldn't put the book down. Seeing the author's notes and explanations for how/why elements needed to be drawn in certain ways made me appreciate the novel more. Reading the script also helped me figure out the Joker's dialogue because, as others noted, it can be almost impossible to decipher at times.

When Arkham Asylum was first released in 1989, I read through it without much enthusiasm. The artwork, by and large, was groundbreaking for a mainstream book, however the story in itself left me unimpressed. Aside from a few memorable lines here and there, I found myself rather baffled by the actual "point" of the book. The same was true when I reread it a few years back. However, if there is one comic book that has benefitted most from the inclusion of its script, it is this one. Morrison's draft not only sheds some much-needed light on the proceedings, but is also accompanied with annotations of an even more enlightening nature. I read through the script, then the comic once more, and discovered much that I had missed or glossed over. The script is also written in a screenplay format, as opposed to the traditional comic draft. In addition, McKean does not adhere painstakingly to the script, but deviates into what I imagine is his own interpretation of the material. This becomes clear when comparing Morrison's notes and the resultant artwork. Finally, this edition includes thumbnails/sketches by Morrison for how the layout was originally envisioned, and an afterword by Karen Berger, editor of Vertigo. The story itself is highly symbolic and allegorical, much as a dream may seem...which leads to one possible conclusion that the events which transpire may very well be confined within Batman's own psyche or subconscience. There are a few snippets of dialogue within the pages that promote this, as well as the artwork during certain pivotal scenes involving Batman and Gordon, as well as the inmates of the asylum. The quotes from Alice in Wonderland which open and close the book also lean in this direction. The parallels between Amadeus Arkham and Batman himself are also fascinating and portray a few ideas that are rarely touched upon in the Batman mythos, particularly mental illness and its implications not just on the person, but on their surrounding environment as well.
This is not a typical Batman novel but a rather complicated and, at times, disturbing tale of madness and obsession which benefits greatly from the inclusion of various materials reflective of the creative process.

oh wow...those were my first thoughts when i opened up and finished batman: arkham asylum. this is the batman comic that i have been waiting for. i have always seen batman as a dark and disturbed individual, and this comic really grabs onto that idea and runs with it. it is twisted look into the famous (an insane asylum in the world of batman) and messed up arkham asylum.
while one may think this is going to be an action filled romp, it isn't. it is more of an intimate look into the incredibly insane house of horrors. it takes many of the popular characters and villans and throws them in without reserve. the villans take control of arkham and invite batman in...or else! batman accepts and finds himself going insane down the dark and meandering hallways of the asylum.
while i loved the story, the thing that makes this comic a true gem, and a five-star in my opinion, is the artwork. i have been a fan of dave mckean for a long time. his work on the sandman covers, mr. punch, coraline, the day i swapped my dad for two goldfish, etc. had blown my mind. his art is very modern with different mediums thrown in for fun. he is very dark in his illustrations, really giving the reader a feel for the twisted nature of the story.
if you are into dark tales, or even just into batman, then this is quite possibly the best read you will find! enjoy, but read with caution, as it is dark, twisted, and truly frightening!!!

This is a story about Gotham's insane asylum, and it is every bit as disturbing as it should be. Artist Dave McKean's style lends itself perfectly to the story Grant Morrison tells. His style is unique, as is this story. Don't come to this book looking for some ass-kicking Batman action, come to it ready to be tossed into the madhouse. You might not make it out.

"Madness is born in the blood. It is my birthright. My inheritance. My destiny."

So, incredibly, after being a life-long fan of Batman comics (and a long-time admirer of Dave McKean's work as well), I am only just now getting my hands on a copy of ARKHAM ASYLUM. My verdict? Well, on the bad side, it's more than a little bit pretentious - I occasionally got the impression that Grant Morrison wanted to show off his knowledge of Jungian archetypes and tarot card imagery and decided to come up with a story that would enable him to do that, rather than the other way around. On the good side, McKean's artwork is darkly gorgeous (as always), the story IS actually a pretty good one, and it's about as disturbing as mainstream superhero comics are ever going to get. In sum, it's a worthy addition to your graphic novel collection whether you're into the superguys-in-tights thing or not.

When people describe Batman and any related character, a prevailing word is dark. Well, what exactly is dark when it comes to a psychotic billionaire with three dimensional villains? Grant Morrison answers this question and offers a brilliant take inside Gotham's Dark Knight. Respectively named, Arkham Asylum takes the reader into a psychological journey using myth, symbol, and powerful dialog that will surely make this buy an unforgettable read. Coupled with Dave McKean of The Wolves of the Walls fame whose art evokes surrealism and an otherwordly nightmarish atmosphere that perfectly compliments Grant Morrison's wizardly writing. When I first ordered Arkham Asylum, it was my first reintroduction to the Bat. Forget Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's dark film noir of Batman the animated series. Forget the 1989 blockbuster which propelled AA's sales. Not even last year's Batman Begins could do this dark twisted novel justice. This is the Batman that makes the Adam West version look like the Teletubbies. This Batman ain't for kiddies, folks! Arkham Asylum is Ozzy Osbourne meets Aleister Crowley without slipping into shock for shock sake. I highly reccomend getting the Anniversary Edition which answers many of the questions as well as interesting inside tidbits that didn't make it to the final cut.

This book shows Batman and the rogues at their most demented. A Batman out of emotional trauma stabs himself to wake up out of the surrealistic atomsphere that drained him only moments after entering Arkham, a pseudo-pedophealic Mad Hatter, and a Joker who uses crude innuendo are just some of the aspects that made this edition both a treat and a shocker to add to anyones' personal collection. One of my favorite bits in Arkham was the tragic Two Face breaching a whole new dimension of 'insanity'. The reason I highlight the word is due to this book asking it's audience 'What is exactly the meaning of the word?' Psychological thrillers offer varying nuances and takes of what makes the human mind capable of treading into the dark side. Although fiction is just that, fiction, Batman offers a probable solution to the human condition when it slips into another, socially undesirable plane: "Sometimes it's our madness that makes us who we are."

Although this isn't a exactly a Batman vs. XYZ story, Joker does make a lasting impression on his audience. Joker was originally designed to appear in Dr. Frank N Furter gear which can be seen in thumbnails in the back of the book. His appearance is nothing short of grotesque and disturbing. The Mother theme which is prevailing throughout the book can be seen even in the Ace of Knaves who acts as a sort of Mother guide to the other rogues, and what better way to corrupt the tragic childhood image that plagues the back of Batman's mind? Whether in lingerie or not, Joker as 'Madonna' certainly came across as someone with an agenda (whatever it is at any given time), who shakes up the establishment, someone who takes the 'freak out the people' to the extreme is very reminiscent of what the Material Girl was doing at the around the same time. Morrison did a wonderful job here.

Mad Hatters cameo is nothing short of chilling. The perversion of a childhood storybook character comes to life with his encounter with the Bat. Forget the Disney version!

I reccomend reading this book on a dark stormy night with Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath playing in the background. It's a well worth investment!!

I've attempted an appropriately serious reading session of the comic for a long time - normally I make it about six pages into its labyrinthine construction before childishly admitting that it makes no sense and ooooooh, aren't the pictures pretty!

On this Saturday, I came prepared with the ball of twine that is the Anniversary Edition - script and footnotes included. Incidentally, this marks the first time I've ever achieved any value from the bonus content in a graphic novel.

Happily, after this enlightened final reading, I can conclude that Arkham Asylum was never intended to make any sense.

So, I'm now clear that the random gibberings of the Mad Hatter on page 22 were actually song lyrics/time travel/Morrison's own words - and the vignette with Killer Croc was meant to represent St. George/the Hanged Man/a giant beetle - but all of these things - these layers upon layers of symbolism don't actually add up to anything. There are parts a-plenty, but never a sum. Grant Morrison and Dave McKean were intending to be Grant Morrison and Dave McKean (respectively), and that's the full extent of that.

It isn't without merit - far from it - it is just that the frustrating quest to add "higher meaning" bars the reader from simply enjoying
an otherwise very good comic.

Overall, enjoy Arkham Asylum for the trees and not the forest. It is a beautiful book with a surprising and unique portrayal of one of the most complicated superheroes on the market. Just don't, for the sake of your sanity and your Saturday, try to decipher the higher meaning.

This is a beautiful anniversary edition with added materials which will delight comic book fans.

Arkham Asylum is definitely one of the edgier Batman graphic novels, and many readers may find it disturbing on either of two levels. Firstly, the story itself is twisted and contains disturbing events and characters. Secondly, the images were richly and decadently provided by Dave McKean, and they are often shocking. He makes use of a mixed-media sort of style which makes the pages seem lifelike, and considering the content, they can be horrific.

Fans of the traditional POW! BAM! Batman may be unwilling to accept this very gritty, grotesque story. In fact, I feel that my own love of this graphic novel may stem from some kind of mental illness on my part. No normal human being would enjoy this sort of thing! But Morrison guides the reader through a fascinating series of images and events, traveling ever further into insanity. It is with some relief that we return from it, like Dante emerging from Hell.

This is most DEFINITELY not for children, and should not be anyone's first introduction to Batman. But it is a really well-written story with beautiful and terrible art. A study in the madness which seems to plague many central figures in the Dark Knight's world.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dave McKean, was originally published in 1989. The fifteenth anniversary edition also contains Morrison's original script and storyboards. The inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over the institution, and will only release their hostages if Batman comes inside. Batman deals with his own sanity as he confronts the usual crowd of villains.

Dave McKean's art is dark and atmospheric, and it fits the book perfectly. However, it's often so dark that it's difficult to tell what's going on, and a look at Morrison's script shows that the art doesn't incorporate half the imagery Morrison was going for (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

Morrison goes for image overload here. Christian, pagan and mystic imagery are through the roof. Morrison throws all of it into the pot with the pretentious treatments of Freud, Jung and psychology in general, and what we get just isn't very good. There are other problems. Batman seems poorly characterized here, particularly at the beginning. He's chatty, out of control of his emotions, and publicly vulnerable.

The jacket to Arkham Asylum trumpets that it is "the most successful graphic novel of all time". I can't imagine why. Ultimately, Arkham Asylum just isn't compelling.

This is one of the most compelling graphic novels and I suggest avid collects aquire the hardbound book. Grant Morrison (writer) and Dave McKean (artist) produced a well written story with a interesting concept: Batman must go in Arkam to free the innocent because the imantes are now running the asylum. Of course, the supervillians, led by the Joker, are inmates of Arkum because well, most of the are crazy.

The book weaves two stories into one, that of Amadeus Arkham and his need to found an Asylum to help people and Batman's need to save people. Amadeus builds the Asylum, Batman enters it. Batman enters the Asylum and in daling with his arch-villians he must also deal with himself. He wants to pray to God, but "has no God." He becomes wounded and battered, but in the end, he finds in a sense faith in others. A women who saves him while fighting and Harvey Dent makng the morally right choice, countering the flip of his coin. Knowing the end doesn't hurt this story, because the story is filled in the in-betweens - the journey. Where Batman, though not complete, finds his way in this madhouse, Arkham it seemed, losed it.

McKean's art work is staggering, compelling, surreal, and spectaular. One is absobed into the pages and the images imprinted into your eyes, then mind, bringing a sense that you are not reading a comic, but dreaming a nightmare. Simply the best. I picked up this book in 1990 and every few years, and every time I re-read it, I am once again compelled to dream this nightmare.

Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum starts off fairly well, the art isn't too intrusive, the dialogue starts off decent but from there it just degenerates.

The main story starts off with promise but it wears away pretty quickly. It starts with the inmates requesting Batman join them in Arkham Asylum because they believe it's where he belongs. He answers their request and then the story quickly goes from an interesting premise into a game of hide and seek in Arkham Asylum.

I'm probably the only man on earth who hates the artwork of this book, but I do. It looks like an impressionist painter is illustrating this book. I know that may sound like a good thing but it really isn't, it ends up with smeared and blurry visuals, many panels you can't tell what's happening and others are just a blur of black, blue, and gray. This style of artwork is NOT fit for telling an action sequence.

And the art really varies as the comic continues. The fight scene with Killer Croc is almost impossible to tell what's happening. Mad Hatter is illustrated very well and clearly (perhaps the best illustration in the entire book), but then you move to Maxie Zeus who doesn't resemble a human in any conceivable manner, (also he says nothing important just drivel). Also much of the backgrounds/objects/fights/characters are unidentifiable, due to the blurry illustrations

Batman is strangely portrayed in this book, in this book he's much weaker psychologically. For the sake of this story, he's openly aware that what he does is strange and he questions his own sanity. I don't remember batman ever thinking that way before. In fact if I recall The Killing Joke (and many other Batman stories including the Film "The Dark Knight") correctly I believe it was the Joker who was trying to convince him they were the same, and Batman who showed the Joker that they were different in the end.

The character of Two-Face is degenerated into a sniveling and weak character (for the sake of the story of course). I like the idea of weaning him off the duality of the coin, also the duality of his mind, and the consequences of doing so but it's done in a very sophomoric manner.

The Joker is decently done, he's a little crude for my tastes and I can't stand the way he's drawn. He has a great line at the end of the story, but every single one of his lines prior seems fairly basic for the character. Nothing really funny or scary (except in the very beginning). So that's 2 instances of good character, and the rest is just fair.

Also why is Clayface some dirty diseased looking leper?

Also there's a story of Amadeus Arkham, I never really understood why it was in this story but it's probably the best part of the book. It's creepy and dark but also very interesting, more interesting then the main plot of the book in my opinion.

It's an incredibly over rated book that's for sure, but it's not bad. If you can get it, I recommend picking it up but only if it's really cheap. Say $5 - 8

Arkham Asylum must be among my favorite Batman stories. Grant Morrison's story is completely unlike any other Batman comic I've ever read, which is an interesting change of pace. It's more of a psychological horror story, which I found completely fascinating and gripping. This must be one of the darkest Batman stories in existence. Everything has a freaky, nightmarish look including Batman himself. The book tells two intertwined stories: that of Asylum founder Amadeus Arkham who was driven by the mental illness of his mother to help others avoid her fate, and the Joker inviting Batman to Arkham where the inmates have taken over and hold the workers hostage. The stories are pretty different, but ultimately converge as the book progresses. I thought this was a fascinating story, and I loved the allusions to Lewis Carroll as well as the overall tone of the book. Morrison really puts you inside the mind of the characters. The depiction of villains such as Clayface, Mad Hatter and Harvey Dent is radically different from the typical depiction of these guys. Even Batman himself is given unusual treatment. He is rarely seen in more than shadow and seems to be slowly coming under the spell of the Asylum. It's not for everyone, but if you want to read a very unconventional Batman story that is surreal, dark and symbolic and with very unconventional art, I highly recommend Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Be warned though, this is a dark, dark very adult story with a lot of violence and adult subject matter and an overall scary look and feel.

Batman enters the hell that is Arkam Asylum after it is taken over by the imates. He enters with The Joker, whose become the one "sane" person in all this! He, compared to others at Arkam, is at least able to speak in coherent sentences. Harvey/Two Face has been warped by the doctors in a way that you will have to read! Batman is then sent through the asylum encountering everyone from Killer Croc, who stabs him and throws him out the window; and Ivy.
There is also some disturbing information about the founding of Arkham from the journals of Jerimiah Arkam himself! My favorite part of this "graphic" novel is the Pysch elvaluations filled out by the inmates themselves, Harvey/Two Face is my favorite of those.
Disturbing art by Dave McKean, who illustrated covers for The Sandman series, illustrates the madness perfectly. Grant Morrisons words, echo them.
Brilliant work, just don't stay around that place for too long!

Arkham Asylum is the fifth graphic novel I've read. I started with The Aviary by Jamie Tanner (very weird), then moved on to Watchmen, and have since read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and am working on Berlin: City of Stones: Book One (Part 1).

The story is good, though I suppose it is short (I have to adjust my needs as far as length goes when it comes to graphic novels I suppose) and everyone else covers it here, so I won't.

I'll say though that the art is very disorienting, like the liner notes for a early 90's industrial CD, which I guess is understandable since Dave McKean did a lot of artwork for Skinny Puppy and various other industrial projects. The art almost seems cheesy now, and the typesetting throughout the whole thing is very unattractive. I spent probably double the amount of time reading it that I would have otherwise because the Joker's dialog is so hard to read. It's so scrambled, in red, with a little white drop shadow on it, most of the letters are scribbled up next to each other and are very difficult to read. I'm not blind, I do wear glasses, but I've never, ever, had such a hard time reading text before.

Aside from the cheesy art and the ugly text, I'd say this is a good graphic novel. Certainly something to show your friends. If you're into more "literary" graphic novels, then this one might leave you cold, as the focus seems to be on the art and somewhat blatant silly psychoanalysis and symbolism.

First off, let me say that I love the Batman character. Secondly, I love the work Grant Morrison did on JLA and some of his other bigger titles. These two factors led me to read this tale.

The story is ok, I feel it's a little abstract and obscure at times. I can understand that and not let it get in the way of what Morrison was trying to personify. The story does take place in an asylum full of Batman's worst foes, so I can understand some of the obscurity in the story telling.

Where this book really falls short for me is in the artwork. The paintings are very abstract and remind me of a Tim Burton movie set. This makes the flow of the tale confusing at times and very hard to decipher exactly what is being depicted. I'm not a big fan of this style of artwork. I'm a big Alex Ross fan, but his style would not have worked here either. I think this would have needed an art style more in line with the darker and realistic tones you would get from someone like Mike Grell, Brian Bolland, or Frank Miller. As a result, the artwork is just not great to look at and in this form of storytelling, art is half of the effectiveness of the tale. With that said, I would have given this a solid 3, maybe even a 4, if the artwork was better.

...which is not always the norm. Let's be honest - Grant Morrison is gonna write what Grant Morrison wants. Sometimes, this leads to great stuff (Doom Patrol, All-Star Superman). Sometimes, this leads to total trash (Final Crisis, the later arcs of New X-Men). Arkham Asylum is definitely on the high end of Morrison's fare.

But anyway, we are approaching the 3-year anniversary of DC's reboot (which has been great, IMHO), so I'm going back and reading some of my old collections (some in trade, some in original form). Hence, a review at present of a work that is many years old. And "Arkham Asylum" holds up pretty well. It's entertaining enough, if a bit forgettable.

I usually cringe when Morrison goes into his psychobabble (which, often, seems mostly a plagiarism of Alan Moore's equally-reprehensible philosophical meanderings), but I found that most of this comic worked. I thought that a little TOO much attention was paid to Batman's nuanced psyche, but I always enjoyed the contrast to the gritty, pulp-y version of Fran Miller (which I also liked, even in his not-so-stellar reintroduction as the GD Batman a few years ago), and both are vastly superior to the dreck of "The Killing Joke". I thoroughly enjoyed Morrison's villains. My one complaint is generally the same for Morrison or Moore or Gaiman, etc. - at times, the "literary sensibilities" get in the way of the story, and it become a bit of a drag.

But all in all, this is a fine purchase.

this was only the second graphic novel i've ever read ('identity crisis' being the first). there were a lot of things i really liked, some things i didn't care for at all.

'arkham asylum' is a highly conceptual piece of work, both in story and in art. the story, in theory, is very interesting. who wouldn't want to read a story about batman forced into an asylum taken over by his fiercest enemies and have to deal with his own pyschological well-being? sounds like a really good idea, but it's an idea that, for me, was never fully realized. i admire morrison's courage in writing this story. it must have been a terribly difficult story to write. like i said, i like it in theory, but the execution could've been improved. for example, i never really understood what psychological journey batman went on, and i never felt that his own sanity was ever in jeopardy. it could be, of course, that i missed something. and as the previous reviewer mentioned, the symbolism is pretty heavy handed.

i was expecting a LOT more from batman. all we really got was the occassional two or three word sentence. that's it. if this was supposed to be batman's journey into the far reaches of psyche, batman's a pretty shall dude. visually, batman was almost non-existant. most of what we is limited to shadows and outlines. i get why mckean painted him as he did: it's higly symbolic. batman is a enigmatic figure to begin with and what better why to heighten that tension than to blur batman into the background? on a literary level i can appreciate that. on a visual level, it's not the best idea to obscure your central character (of course, this is just my opinion). overall, though, i thought mckean's art served its purpose and fit the book tonally: it's dark, muted, disturbing, and equally compelling. some of the panels are simply gorgeous is their hideousness.

there IS, however, a lot admire. first, morrison's portrayal of joker was exactly what i thought it should be. the joker, in my limited experience, usually comes off pretty cartoonish. in arkham joker is the homicidal lunatic, a man so emotionally disturbed taht he should be locked up in a dungeon and chained to the wall. he's prone to senseless violence, boughts of MPD, incoherent thought, and complete irrationality. that's the essence of the joker, and i liked him in sick kind of way because he was by far the most fully realized and developed character in the book. i think you could make the argument it's a graphic novel about the joker more than it is about batman. it was also interesting to see how arkham came into being. like most houses of horror, arkham itself was born out of immense tragedy.

'arkham asylum' certainly has its highs and lows. it's the kind of book that's going to appeal to a lot of readers because it IS unique. mckean's art, while polarizing, certainly is a breed unto its own. i admire that. morrison's story is interesting, for sure. it could've used a bit more polish. can i recommend this book to *everyone*? no. but that's not to say you shouldn't pick it up. it DOES have its merits and it WILL appeal to a lot of people. it's just one of those books you have to read for yourself and decide what it means to you.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is as crazy, freaky, and psychologically resounding as the inmates. An intense dream-like storyline is only surpassed by the nightmarish, psychological art. At first, I wasn't at all a fan of Grant Morrison, but after reading this freaky look at Batman and his mythos, chock full of symbolism, I was totally amazed. I can only imagine the Dark Knight himself dreaming this some dark, stormy night in Gotham, after the events of the Killing Joke or The Long Halloween.

I've only recently gotten into Batman this year, and this was one of the first graphic novels I read to introduce me to the fandom. Strange choice I know.

Yet after finishing, I had quickly determined that Grant Morrison was to be my favorite B-man writer. So far, especially with the new ongoing B&R series, this remains to be true.

What suprised me most about this book was how intense both the art and 'story' are. It really does feel like you're stepping into madness, and the art does this work's disconnected feel much justice.

Plunge into this story with an open mind, without strict expectations, and you will undoubtedly be entertained in one way or another.

Arkham Asylum tells the story of how the Asylum came to be, through the journals of it's founder, Amadeus Arkham. This element is weaved with Batman to create the whole book. The story goes that the inmates of Arkham have taken the staff hostage, and they are making crazy demands. Their last demand is for Batman to come. When he does, he's faced with a challenge: He has one hour in the building, to run. After an hour, Joker sets everyone free to look for him. A perverse game of hide-and-seek, if you will.
For me, the best part of the book was Amadeus Arkham's transformation. I felt the Batman story was average, at best, but the progression of how one man goes insane was wonderful. I just wish the Batman story was just as good. It is suggested for mature readers, with good reason. Lots of graphic details. I thought the art was perfect, however. The eccentric style fit the theme of the book nicely.

Arkham Asylum goes beyond just comic and comic book cliches and standards. It is, without doubt, the most complex and sophiscated graphic story treatment ever given to a superhero. Reading this 15 years ago, it sent a chill up my spine. Now it just envelopes me totally.

Morrison's writing is so deep, so rich that it's almost like a exploration of the complicated insanities that exist within the Batman and his numerous foes. But beyond this rich tapestry of psychological drama that unfoldes, is an outstanding backstory of Amadeus Arkham. At once tragic and haunting, it gives the reader a profound sense of understanding and appreciation of this most famous instituion in Gotham City.

If MOrrison's writing is graphic literature as its supreme best, then McKean's art is simply without peer in this medium. Using an arsenal of styles and tools that includes paint and photography, McKean's artwork will leave you more than just spellbound. It literally is graphic art that is a masterpiece to behold. And this on every single page.

Perhaps the only left to be said of this is to get the new 15th Anniversary edition, which includes the original script and sketeches that gives a further understanding to the complexity that went into creating this masterpiece.

For myself, it will rank as the best Batman story, even above The Dark Knight Returns, which I thought was unsurpassable. 15 years on, and this remains the pinnacle in superhero storytelling.

More than just super, Arkham Asylum is ultimately supreme.

When this came out in 1989 it was greeted with much fanfare; the darker DC titles like Sandman were starting and becoming very popular and Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, also from 1989, was received very well. Arkham Asylum had (and still has) a very different feel from most comics as Dave McKean's art is a schizophrenic line drawing experience, enhanced with oil paints - it is very meticulously detailed art work whether you like it or not and should be appreciated. At the end of the day though, this is not one of Morrison's best written works.

It just feels like a style over substance exercise; many villains from the Batman mythos are stumbled upon for a few panels and then are discarded for the next encounter. This all parallels the story of Amadeus Arkham, the architect and first administrator of the asylum.

It's a decent read, but don't believe the hype. I hate to say it, but it's kind of a pedestrian read compared to Morrison's best work. The art is remarkable and is what lead to all of the fanfare.

This is a beautiful anniversary edition with added materials which will delight comic book fans.

Arkham Asylum is definitely one of the edgier Batman graphic novels, and many readers may find it disturbing on either of two levels. Firstly, the story itself is twisted and contains disturbing events and characters. Secondly, the images were richly and decadently provided by Dave McKean, and they are often shocking. He makes use of a mixed-media sort of style which makes the pages seem lifelike, and considering the content, they can be horrific.

Fans of the traditional POW! BAM! Batman may be unwilling to accept this very gritty, grotesque story. In fact, I feel that my own love of this graphic novel may stem from some kind of mental illness on my part. No normal human being would enjoy this sort of thing! But Morrison guides the reader through a fascinating series of images and events, traveling ever further into insanity. It is with some relief that we return from it, like Dante emerging from Hell.

This is most DEFINITELY not for children, and should not be anyone's first introduction to Batman. But it is a really well-written story with beautiful and terrible art. A study in the madness which seems to plague many central figures in the Dark Knight's world.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dave McKean, was originally published in 1989. The fifteenth anniversary edition also contains Morrison's original script and storyboards. The inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over the institution, and will only release their hostages if Batman comes inside. Batman deals with his own sanity as he confronts the usual crowd of villains.

Dave McKean's art is dark and atmospheric, and it fits the book perfectly. However, it's often so dark that it's difficult to tell what's going on, and a look at Morrison's script shows that the art doesn't incorporate half the imagery Morrison was going for (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

Morrison goes for image overload here. Christian, pagan and mystic imagery are through the roof. Morrison throws all of it into the pot with the pretentious treatments of Freud, Jung and psychology in general, and what we get just isn't very good. There are other problems. Batman seems poorly characterized here, particularly at the beginning. He's chatty, out of control of his emotions, and publicly vulnerable.

The jacket to Arkham Asylum trumpets that it is "the most successful graphic novel of all time". I can't imagine why. Ultimately, Arkham Asylum just isn't compelling.

This is one of the most compelling graphic novels and I suggest avid collects aquire the hardbound book. Grant Morrison (writer) and Dave McKean (artist) produced a well written story with a interesting concept: Batman must go in Arkam to free the innocent because the imantes are now running the asylum. Of course, the supervillians, led by the Joker, are inmates of Arkum because well, most of the are crazy.

The book weaves two stories into one, that of Amadeus Arkham and his need to found an Asylum to help people and Batman's need to save people. Amadeus builds the Asylum, Batman enters it. Batman enters the Asylum and in daling with his arch-villians he must also deal with himself. He wants to pray to God, but "has no God." He becomes wounded and battered, but in the end, he finds in a sense faith in others. A women who saves him while fighting and Harvey Dent makng the morally right choice, countering the flip of his coin. Knowing the end doesn't hurt this story, because the story is filled in the in-betweens - the journey. Where Batman, though not complete, finds his way in this madhouse, Arkham it seemed, losed it.

McKean's art work is staggering, compelling, surreal, and spectaular. One is absobed into the pages and the images imprinted into your eyes, then mind, bringing a sense that you are not reading a comic, but dreaming a nightmare. Simply the best. I picked up this book in 1990 and every few years, and every time I re-read it, I am once again compelled to dream this nightmare.

Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum starts off fairly well, the art isn't too intrusive, the dialogue starts off decent but from there it just degenerates.

The main story starts off with promise but it wears away pretty quickly. It starts with the inmates requesting Batman join them in Arkham Asylum because they believe it's where he belongs. He answers their request and then the story quickly goes from an interesting premise into a game of hide and seek in Arkham Asylum.

I'm probably the only man on earth who hates the artwork of this book, but I do. It looks like an impressionist painter is illustrating this book. I know that may sound like a good thing but it really isn't, it ends up with smeared and blurry visuals, many panels you can't tell what's happening and others are just a blur of black, blue, and gray. This style of artwork is NOT fit for telling an action sequence.

And the art really varies as the comic continues. The fight scene with Killer Croc is almost impossible to tell what's happening. Mad Hatter is illustrated very well and clearly (perhaps the best illustration in the entire book), but then you move to Maxie Zeus who doesn't resemble a human in any conceivable manner, (also he says nothing important just drivel). Also much of the backgrounds/objects/fights/characters are unidentifiable, due to the blurry illustrations

Batman is strangely portrayed in this book, in this book he's much weaker psychologically. For the sake of this story, he's openly aware that what he does is strange and he questions his own sanity. I don't remember batman ever thinking that way before. In fact if I recall The Killing Joke (and many other Batman stories including the Film "The Dark Knight") correctly I believe it was the Joker who was trying to convince him they were the same, and Batman who showed the Joker that they were different in the end.

The character of Two-Face is degenerated into a sniveling and weak character (for the sake of the story of course). I like the idea of weaning him off the duality of the coin, also the duality of his mind, and the consequences of doing so but it's done in a very sophomoric manner.

The Joker is decently done, he's a little crude for my tastes and I can't stand the way he's drawn. He has a great line at the end of the story, but every single one of his lines prior seems fairly basic for the character. Nothing really funny or scary (except in the very beginning). So that's 2 instances of good character, and the rest is just fair.

Also why is Clayface some dirty diseased looking leper?

Also there's a story of Amadeus Arkham, I never really understood why it was in this story but it's probably the best part of the book. It's creepy and dark but also very interesting, more interesting then the main plot of the book in my opinion.

It's an incredibly over rated book that's for sure, but it's not bad. If you can get it, I recommend picking it up but only if it's really cheap. Say $5 - 8

Arkham Asylum must be among my favorite Batman stories. Grant Morrison's story is completely unlike any other Batman comic I've ever read, which is an interesting change of pace. It's more of a psychological horror story, which I found completely fascinating and gripping. This must be one of the darkest Batman stories in existence. Everything has a freaky, nightmarish look including Batman himself. The book tells two intertwined stories: that of Asylum founder Amadeus Arkham who was driven by the mental illness of his mother to help others avoid her fate, and the Joker inviting Batman to Arkham where the inmates have taken over and hold the workers hostage. The stories are pretty different, but ultimately converge as the book progresses. I thought this was a fascinating story, and I loved the allusions to Lewis Carroll as well as the overall tone of the book. Morrison really puts you inside the mind of the characters. The depiction of villains such as Clayface, Mad Hatter and Harvey Dent is radically different from the typical depiction of these guys. Even Batman himself is given unusual treatment. He is rarely seen in more than shadow and seems to be slowly coming under the spell of the Asylum. It's not for everyone, but if you want to read a very unconventional Batman story that is surreal, dark and symbolic and with very unconventional art, I highly recommend Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Be warned though, this is a dark, dark very adult story with a lot of violence and adult subject matter and an overall scary look and feel.

Batman enters the hell that is Arkam Asylum after it is taken over by the imates. He enters with The Joker, whose become the one "sane" person in all this! He, compared to others at Arkam, is at least able to speak in coherent sentences. Harvey/Two Face has been warped by the doctors in a way that you will have to read! Batman is then sent through the asylum encountering everyone from Killer Croc, who stabs him and throws him out the window; and Ivy.
There is also some disturbing information about the founding of Arkham from the journals of Jerimiah Arkam himself! My favorite part of this "graphic" novel is the Pysch elvaluations filled out by the inmates themselves, Harvey/Two Face is my favorite of those.
Disturbing art by Dave McKean, who illustrated covers for The Sandman series, illustrates the madness perfectly. Grant Morrisons words, echo them.
Brilliant work, just don't stay around that place for too long!

Arkham Asylum is the fifth graphic novel I've read. I started with The Aviary by Jamie Tanner (very weird), then moved on to Watchmen, and have since read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and am working on Berlin: City of Stones: Book One (Part 1).

The story is good, though I suppose it is short (I have to adjust my needs as far as length goes when it comes to graphic novels I suppose) and everyone else covers it here, so I won't.

I'll say though that the art is very disorienting, like the liner notes for a early 90's industrial CD, which I guess is understandable since Dave McKean did a lot of artwork for Skinny Puppy and various other industrial projects. The art almost seems cheesy now, and the typesetting throughout the whole thing is very unattractive. I spent probably double the amount of time reading it that I would have otherwise because the Joker's dialog is so hard to read. It's so scrambled, in red, with a little white drop shadow on it, most of the letters are scribbled up next to each other and are very difficult to read. I'm not blind, I do wear glasses, but I've never, ever, had such a hard time reading text before.

Aside from the cheesy art and the ugly text, I'd say this is a good graphic novel. Certainly something to show your friends. If you're into more "literary" graphic novels, then this one might leave you cold, as the focus seems to be on the art and somewhat blatant silly psychoanalysis and symbolism.

First off, let me say that I love the Batman character. Secondly, I love the work Grant Morrison did on JLA and some of his other bigger titles. These two factors led me to read this tale.

The story is ok, I feel it's a little abstract and obscure at times. I can understand that and not let it get in the way of what Morrison was trying to personify. The story does take place in an asylum full of Batman's worst foes, so I can understand some of the obscurity in the story telling.

Where this book really falls short for me is in the artwork. The paintings are very abstract and remind me of a Tim Burton movie set. This makes the flow of the tale confusing at times and very hard to decipher exactly what is being depicted. I'm not a big fan of this style of artwork. I'm a big Alex Ross fan, but his style would not have worked here either. I think this would have needed an art style more in line with the darker and realistic tones you would get from someone like Mike Grell, Brian Bolland, or Frank Miller. As a result, the artwork is just not great to look at and in this form of storytelling, art is half of the effectiveness of the tale. With that said, I would have given this a solid 3, maybe even a 4, if the artwork was better.

...which is not always the norm. Let's be honest - Grant Morrison is gonna write what Grant Morrison wants. Sometimes, this leads to great stuff (Doom Patrol, All-Star Superman). Sometimes, this leads to total trash (Final Crisis, the later arcs of New X-Men). Arkham Asylum is definitely on the high end of Morrison's fare.

But anyway, we are approaching the 3-year anniversary of DC's reboot (which has been great, IMHO), so I'm going back and reading some of my old collections (some in trade, some in original form). Hence, a review at present of a work that is many years old. And "Arkham Asylum" holds up pretty well. It's entertaining enough, if a bit forgettable.

I usually cringe when Morrison goes into his psychobabble (which, often, seems mostly a plagiarism of Alan Moore's equally-reprehensible philosophical meanderings), but I found that most of this comic worked. I thought that a little TOO much attention was paid to Batman's nuanced psyche, but I always enjoyed the contrast to the gritty, pulp-y version of Fran Miller (which I also liked, even in his not-so-stellar reintroduction as the GD Batman a few years ago), and both are vastly superior to the dreck of "The Killing Joke". I thoroughly enjoyed Morrison's villains. My one complaint is generally the same for Morrison or Moore or Gaiman, etc. - at times, the "literary sensibilities" get in the way of the story, and it become a bit of a drag.

But all in all, this is a fine purchase.

this was only the second graphic novel i've ever read ('identity crisis' being the first). there were a lot of things i really liked, some things i didn't care for at all.

'arkham asylum' is a highly conceptual piece of work, both in story and in art. the story, in theory, is very interesting. who wouldn't want to read a story about batman forced into an asylum taken over by his fiercest enemies and have to deal with his own pyschological well-being? sounds like a really good idea, but it's an idea that, for me, was never fully realized. i admire morrison's courage in writing this story. it must have been a terribly difficult story to write. like i said, i like it in theory, but the execution could've been improved. for example, i never really understood what psychological journey batman went on, and i never felt that his own sanity was ever in jeopardy. it could be, of course, that i missed something. and as the previous reviewer mentioned, the symbolism is pretty heavy handed.

i was expecting a LOT more from batman. all we really got was the occassional two or three word sentence. that's it. if this was supposed to be batman's journey into the far reaches of psyche, batman's a pretty shall dude. visually, batman was almost non-existant. most of what we is limited to shadows and outlines. i get why mckean painted him as he did: it's higly symbolic. batman is a enigmatic figure to begin with and what better why to heighten that tension than to blur batman into the background? on a literary level i can appreciate that. on a visual level, it's not the best idea to obscure your central character (of course, this is just my opinion). overall, though, i thought mckean's art served its purpose and fit the book tonally: it's dark, muted, disturbing, and equally compelling. some of the panels are simply gorgeous is their hideousness.

there IS, however, a lot admire. first, morrison's portrayal of joker was exactly what i thought it should be. the joker, in my limited experience, usually comes off pretty cartoonish. in arkham joker is the homicidal lunatic, a man so emotionally disturbed taht he should be locked up in a dungeon and chained to the wall. he's prone to senseless violence, boughts of MPD, incoherent thought, and complete irrationality. that's the essence of the joker, and i liked him in sick kind of way because he was by far the most fully realized and developed character in the book. i think you could make the argument it's a graphic novel about the joker more than it is about batman. it was also interesting to see how arkham came into being. like most houses of horror, arkham itself was born out of immense tragedy.

'arkham asylum' certainly has its highs and lows. it's the kind of book that's going to appeal to a lot of readers because it IS unique. mckean's art, while polarizing, certainly is a breed unto its own. i admire that. morrison's story is interesting, for sure. it could've used a bit more polish. can i recommend this book to *everyone*? no. but that's not to say you shouldn't pick it up. it DOES have its merits and it WILL appeal to a lot of people. it's just one of those books you have to read for yourself and decide what it means to you.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is as crazy, freaky, and psychologically resounding as the inmates. An intense dream-like storyline is only surpassed by the nightmarish, psychological art. At first, I wasn't at all a fan of Grant Morrison, but after reading this freaky look at Batman and his mythos, chock full of symbolism, I was totally amazed. I can only imagine the Dark Knight himself dreaming this some dark, stormy night in Gotham, after the events of the Killing Joke or The Long Halloween.

I've only recently gotten into Batman this year, and this was one of the first graphic novels I read to introduce me to the fandom. Strange choice I know.

Yet after finishing, I had quickly determined that Grant Morrison was to be my favorite B-man writer. So far, especially with the new ongoing B&R series, this remains to be true.

What suprised me most about this book was how intense both the art and 'story' are. It really does feel like you're stepping into madness, and the art does this work's disconnected feel much justice.

Plunge into this story with an open mind, without strict expectations, and you will undoubtedly be entertained in one way or another.

Arkham Asylum tells the story of how the Asylum came to be, through the journals of it's founder, Amadeus Arkham. This element is weaved with Batman to create the whole book. The story goes that the inmates of Arkham have taken the staff hostage, and they are making crazy demands. Their last demand is for Batman to come. When he does, he's faced with a challenge: He has one hour in the building, to run. After an hour, Joker sets everyone free to look for him. A perverse game of hide-and-seek, if you will.
For me, the best part of the book was Amadeus Arkham's transformation. I felt the Batman story was average, at best, but the progression of how one man goes insane was wonderful. I just wish the Batman story was just as good. It is suggested for mature readers, with good reason. Lots of graphic details. I thought the art was perfect, however. The eccentric style fit the theme of the book nicely.

Arkham Asylum goes beyond just comic and comic book cliches and standards. It is, without doubt, the most complex and sophiscated graphic story treatment ever given to a superhero. Reading this 15 years ago, it sent a chill up my spine. Now it just envelopes me totally.

Morrison's writing is so deep, so rich that it's almost like a exploration of the complicated insanities that exist within the Batman and his numerous foes. But beyond this rich tapestry of psychological drama that unfoldes, is an outstanding backstory of Amadeus Arkham. At once tragic and haunting, it gives the reader a profound sense of understanding and appreciation of this most famous instituion in Gotham City.

If MOrrison's writing is graphic literature as its supreme best, then McKean's art is simply without peer in this medium. Using an arsenal of styles and tools that includes paint and photography, McKean's artwork will leave you more than just spellbound. It literally is graphic art that is a masterpiece to behold. And this on every single page.

Perhaps the only left to be said of this is to get the new 15th Anniversary edition, which includes the original script and sketeches that gives a further understanding to the complexity that went into creating this masterpiece.

For myself, it will rank as the best Batman story, even above The Dark Knight Returns, which I thought was unsurpassable. 15 years on, and this remains the pinnacle in superhero storytelling.

More than just super, Arkham Asylum is ultimately supreme.

When this came out in 1989 it was greeted with much fanfare; the darker DC titles like Sandman were starting and becoming very popular and Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, also from 1989, was received very well. Arkham Asylum had (and still has) a very different feel from most comics as Dave McKean's art is a schizophrenic line drawing experience, enhanced with oil paints - it is very meticulously detailed art work whether you like it or not and should be appreciated. At the end of the day though, this is not one of Morrison's best written works.

It just feels like a style over substance exercise; many villains from the Batman mythos are stumbled upon for a few panels and then are discarded for the next encounter. This all parallels the story of Amadeus Arkham, the architect and first administrator of the asylum.

It's a decent read, but don't believe the hype. I hate to say it, but it's kind of a pedestrian read compared to Morrison's best work. The art is remarkable and is what lead to all of the fanfare.

I'll start by saying whats great: Dave McKean. As usual, his macabre style and collage style are the best I've seen, and he really shines in sequential-format. Pick this book up on the strength of the artwork alone and you won't be dissapointed. Its visceral and beautiful, and i can't recommend it enough.

Grant Morrison on the other hand... Where to begin? The premise is exciting, and the play between the reality of Batman's symbolic villains and their reflection in his damaged mind is fascinating. But maybe the man bit off more than he could chew. The reimaginings of the characters sometimes shine, and at other times completely confuse. a few of the characters are completely unidentifiable (clayface) or pointless (scarecrow). Batman doesn't really act like the Batman of the comicbooks, and sometimes his behaviour is completely counter to that of the established hero. However, this is a great Joker book, and his characterisation is spot-on brilliant, as is Two-face who is fascinating as a man consumed by indecision when faced with a fall range of choices when a tarot-deck replaces his coin. His final choice reveals a man whose decision making is more complex than he perhaps lets on.

The anniversary edition contains a full script, annotated, which is an interesting read, and clarifies a lot of the confusing portions of the story itself, but in the end seems tacked on in order to fill the pages and give people a reason to re-buy the most purchased graphic novel of all time. The Dave McKean extras are nice, and new cover is gorgeous.

For those who already own the original edition, save your money and hope for a future over-sized absolute edition (fingers crossed). Everyone else, this is a fantastic art-book, and worth the cost. Not perfect, but highly recommended.

I don't know how I can praise this comic in a way that it hasn't been praised before. I don't think I'll even try, I'll just say what everyone else has been saying-- buy this book!

Let me say that Grant Morrisson isn't normally this good, but comics in general aren't normally this good either, but this is the comic genre at it's best and this is Grant Morrison at his best. I'm very impressed at how deep the book is. I have the special edition (which is very much worth it for the script book) and after reading the comic and being pleased at it, I read some reviews and people were saying what I'm saying now, that this is one of the best comics ever written. Well, I didn't agree, but it kept bugging me because I wanted to read the best and I was told Arkham was one of the best. I went back and read the script book and read about all the allsions and metaphors in the comic and I began searching them out, and sure enough, it was a clear as day what "x" panel meant, or that when so and so said this, they were also that, and that night Arkham Asylum went up leaps and bounds in my estimation. This comic is deep just like Moby Dick was deep, everything is symbollic, and the story reads smoothly. Arkham Asylum really is one of the greatest comics ever written, and should be in everyone's library. When people say stupid things like comics are litterary trash or something similar (like a lot of people like to say), hit them over the head with the Anniversary Edition,(then make them read it) and see if they catch a third of symbolism.

A great comic, I can't emphasize enough that this should be owned. Just reading it would be doing yourself a diservice.

As soon as you start this novel, you can already tell that it has shaken the the comic book world. Usually when you read a graphic novel it's the story and the writing that carry you through it. In this case the story comes second to the artwork, which in it's own way tells a story all in itself. There is probably not a more dark and disturbing novel, visually, than Arkham Asylum. It's a good Batman story but a better villain story. See the Batman rogues gallery in a more visceral and surreal way than you are likely to ever see them again.

First of all I'm a HUGE batman fan, and just recently purchased this anniversary edition. This batman book has the original arkham asylum story, the full script by Grant Morrison, an afterword, and layouts by Morrison. Sounds like alot, but in actual fact it's not really. The dissapoint with this anniversary edition is the extras, The script is bassicly the meat of this book, but I suppose they want to show us that graphic novel/comic scripts are like movie scripts, and require alot of effort. There really isn't much of the other extras I mentioned.

Overall this book is worth the purchase and deserves the acclaim that Morrison and Mckean recieved. The writing is really incredible, and the art work magnificent.

So I reccomend you read the original script first then the graphic novel. The original graphic novel I give 5 stars, but the extras, four stars. One of my favourite batman books. Enjoy.

First, a simple disclaimer- this book is not based on the excellent Arkham Asylum video game, or vice versa. They are two different stories about Gotham city's famous asylum.

Those who are expecting this graphic novel to be action packed a la other Batman stories will be sorely disappointed. This story focuses on the psychological problems of the inmates in Arkham. The artwork and the mood accentuate the demented nature of these Arkham inmates. This is, overall, a deeper and more disturbing Batman story than most others on the market. However, any fan of the Caped Crusader should give this one a try. It is something remarkably different from other Batman graphic novels.

Great Comic book... maybe one of the best comic books ever released... It would be hard to choose a number one (WATCHMEN is excellent) but this comic is wonderful... A psychological thriller into the depths of the Batman mythos.... Carl Jung, James George Frazer, Lewis Carroll are an influence in this work... Grant Morrison is great... really great... His script is one of the best and Dave Mckean art is really groundbreaking...

On paper, you'd think that Arkham Asylum had all the ingredients to be a brilliant read: a talented cast (writer par-excellence Morrison and the peerless and trailblazing Dave McKean) with a fascinating premise: what if Batman was assaulted by others'- and his own-insanity? Is Batman a mentally stable person to begin with; is his persona created and defined by his own inner psychological turmoil? While previous graphic novels have previously raised these questions when confronting the Batman mystique (the penultimate example being Miller's seminal The Dark Knight Returns), none ever placed them at the heart of the narrative.
I particularly enjoyed the first half of the book that traced the growth of both Amadeus Arkham and his Asylum. The latter seems to be the alter-ego of the former, the embodiment of his buried fears, much as Batman is the embodiment of Bruce Wayne's (and our?) innermost insecurities. Morrison is at his best here when he plays with the heavy symbolism of the themes involved; when he takes his time as a storyteller and enriches the world he's creating. It's only when things progress to the second half that he loses me. Without giving too much away, the narrative descends to a typical good guy vs. bad guy dualism where Batman has to battle the big, bad Joker. We're not provided any enlightening insights into any of the characters. The uninspiring resolution of this battle also ends rather awkwardly. By this point, I felt rather disappointed and empty.
It's all really quite a shame, too, because McKean seems at the top of his game. His visual renderings of Arkham Asylum and Joker are particularly noteworthy, brilliantly capturing the menace and pathos of both. Had it not been for his efforts, I would have liked the book even less than I actually did.
The fact that this is one of the most popular graphic novels ever created demonstrates that there are quite a few things that Arkham Asylum did right. For me, however, there are far too many things that went wrong.

Even if you own the original hardcover of this fantastic graphic novel, don't hesitate to pick up the 15th Anniversary edition.
Grant Morrison's script, with original notes to the editor and artist as well as newly added annotations, are quite insightful and entertaining to read. Upon completing this book, you will have a much greater appreciation for this outstanding and unique piece of work which was already brimming with depth and eariness.
As for the story itself, Grant Morrison and Dave McKean produced a masterpiece worthy of mention along side the Batman classics Dark Knight Returns, Year One and the Killing Joke. Now if we could only get these guys to do an encore.

Right, to start off i am a rather big Batman fan, and when I had a skim through this after seeing my friends copy I bought it, it looked perfect for me. For me Batman is gothic, Tim Burton nearly nailed it exactly with his movies but until the later movies they just weren't working for me. This graphic novel is rather gothic if that is what you like. The artwork is absolutly brilliant. Sometimes the over emphasis of facial features can be too distracting but over all I love what the artsit has done. (I don't have the novel on me right now so can't tell his name)

The story is ok. Not amazing but it is ok. Batman must go into Arkham Asylum on demand of the Joker to meet all his enemies in exchange for hostages. There is a side story, the diary of Dr Arkham and his slow decent into madness. This fits well and is a nice diversion and gives an understanding of the the Asylum and what it supposedly does to people.

My dissapointment is with characterization. Especailly of Batman. This isn't the Batman we know. To us he needs to be seperate from his feelings and less irritable. But in this he is. At one point in the book the Joker does as he would, grabs Batman's ass. Batman then shouts "get your filthy hands off me", the joker makes a comment, then Bruce responds with "filthy degenerate." When i read this i thought "hang on? Batman doesn't randonmly insult people, nor does he let himself get bulllied to the point of childish tantrums." He should be stong and reserved, but no, here he lets others get to him, and this happens at other places in the novel also, especially the introduction when on the phone to the Joker.
The joker's character is pretty good to be honest. He makes sick jokes, is whitty and isn't reserved on what he feels or what he wants to do. He'll do what he wants, say what he wants, and laughs.
There is a scene where batman is discussing with a doctor in the Asylum about the sanity of the Joker and of Two Face. I was not conviced by the dialogue as it seemed to me that the writer was putting a lot of effort into sounding like he could write psycho analysis.

Overall the artwork is amazing, the story ok, the script reasonable but the characterization dissapointing. I realy wanted this graphic novel to be as good as it looked, but maybe it was my fault for raising the bar too high before reading it.

Should you buy it? Yes. Watch any Batman film and there will be bits you love and bits you don't, same for the annimated series and the comics. This Book is good and mostly enjoyable, its just a shame the flaws stick out like a sore thumb.

Everything written was of my own oppinion as a Batman fan in motion and in writing.

This was the first Grant Morrison graphic novel I ever read. I have only recently got back into comics in my mid twenties, and this was recommended to me by my local comic book store as a "nightmarish acid trip with some symbolic magic thrown in". Sold. Let me first say that Grant Morrison is not for everyone, he tends to be somewhat avant-garde, and this is one of his more "trippy" books (or a Morrison mind f*ck as some people like to call his stories). The artwork is pretty abstract, yet amazing for the dreamlike atmosphere. Plot-wise, not really that much happens in this book. There is not a lot of action, so if that's the kind of Batman story you are looking for, look elsewhere. But this book isn't really about the plot, it's about the psyches of the criminals of Arkham and Batman. This has been examined before in other Batman stories, but a central theme to this story is whether Batman is insane himself (which I tend to agree with to a certain extent). If you are looking for something different that doesn't fallow the typical narrative of a Batman story, and you like some trippy horror elements in your Batman stories, this is the book for you.

Please note that the two stars are for the quality of the digital kindle copy of this book, rather than the story itself (which I'm sure would have been a decent read if I had been able to understand it). I should have read more of the reviews, because really half the of dialogue in this graphic novel is impossible to make out on my kindle fire hd. The panel viewing does very little to make reading easier, in fact I think that it subtracts from the beauty of the artwork by chopping bits of the page up and zooming in on them. This was my first time buying a graphic novel on my kindle (something I had really been looking forward to was reading comic books on it), and maybe I'll try it again in the future, but you're better off buying a physical copy of this. I'm really disappointed with this purchase and am returning it for a refund, I'm hoping that maybe this is just a one-time deal and that other graphic novels will be easier to read and enjoy on my kindle.

ARKHAM ASYLUM, written by manic Grant Morrison and painted by the brilliant Dave McKean, is probably the fifth finest Batman story ever (after Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, Miller's YEAR ONE, Moore's THE KILLING JOKE, and Loeb's THE LONG HALLOWEEN).

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM, informally subtitled A SERIOUS HOUSE ON SERIOUS EARTH, originally sold a quarter of a million copies just in hardcover upon its release in time for the 1989 Tim Burton movie BATMAN.

The story focuses on the lunatics taking over the asylum, running amok and transforming it into a distorted, crazy landscape -- enhanced by McKean's stylized art. Into this asylum enters Batman, invited inside by the formerly incarcerated Joker -- here with his cross-dressing elements and the homoerotic elements of his relationship with Batman played up. The Joker contends that Batman belongs there, that he is just like the violent lunatics he captures. But the Joker is not the only villain successfully re-envisioned by this classic graphic novel. Two-Face, for example, has been rehabilitated through weaning him off his dichotomous coin and onto a tarot deck, paralyzing him with the options of a morally and logically ambiguous world. Ultimately, the Joker's contention is proved correct, as the pages after the narrative illustrate in half-pages the psychological state of each of the villains, dramatically concluding with Batman, crazy enough to think -- in his mad desire to compensate for childhood trauma -- that he will "become a bat."

While not to everyone's taste, ARKHAM ASYLUM is an intellectual tour de force.

-- Julian Darius, Sequart. com (for the sophisticated study of comic books and graphic novels)

One of the reasons Batman's rogues gallery has always been more fascinating than other heroes' is that the majority of them aren't just bad people doing bad things, they're people suffering from their own mental illnesses. Other books briefly explore Two-Face's schizophrenic obsession with duality or the Joker's super-sanity, but this book truly delves into this and makes the central focus that there is something very wrong in the minds of the people in Arkham, including Batman himself.

I don't want to give away too much, but the characters here are seen in a different light than they are usually portrayed, but ones that still fit with their personalities. The Joker himself is in top notch form and has never been more unsettling. The Mad Hatter's obsession with Alice takes on disturbing implications and what Grant Morrison does with Maxie Zeus is inspired. You may never look at the citizens of Gotham the same way again. And Arkham himself is incredibly captivating as well. The story bounces back and forth between his and Batman's storylines, and Arkham's is disturbing and heartbreaking all at the same time.

The art is one of the biggest selling points of this book. It's not pretty by any means, and also not always very clear, but that just adds to the dreamlike quality of the story. The art is more evocative and surreal than literal, and the text is not always extremely easy to read, making the reader focus more intently on what they're reading and really engulf themselves in the world of the story. It's all very ugly in a beautiful way.

In my opinion one of the best Batman stories ever told, and at least one of the most unique. If you're looking for something a little different and off the beaten path, I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you like operating outside the realms of sanity, you won't be disappointed.

Dave McKean isn't well-known as a cartoonist, he's far more famous as artist for his comic covers and album covers. After reading this it's obvious why. A cover just needs to suggest a story. It doesn't need to tell one. Each of the panels in this book looks gorgeous, but it's very hard to tell how they relate to each other and see what's going on. Dave McKean is good at painting individual, stand-alone pictures, but telling a sequential story is not his forte (of course, this book came out decades ago, so it's entirely possible he's improved).

Grant Morrison's script struggles heroically to tell a story in spite of McKean's art. It does have some very interesting ideas. The portrayal of Batman is a bit frailer and more human than is common in comics (or in Morrison's other Batman works for that matter), but I consider this an acceptable interpretation of the character, especially in a work of questionable canonicity. My one big gripe is that Batman seems constantly shocked by his villains' behavior, even though he's encountered them all before.

If I were told that I could only give someone one single graphic novel to convince them that at least some of the Batman comics are art, Arkham Asylum would be the one.
Told masterfully by Grant Morrison, illustrated beautifully by Dave McKean, Arkham Asylum stands as a frank and brutal look at the difference between sanity and insanity. Are Batman and the Joker really that different? Is Batman drawing more criminals to Gotham with his actions? Does one have to destroy to heal?
Arkham Asylum asks a lot of tough questions and provides very little in the way of comforting answers. It's also by far one of the most graphicly violent of the Batman stories.
And yet, out of this violence and chaos comes an elegant and graceful story, full of gallows humor and biting commentary.
Arkham Asylum represents one of the most important comic tradepaperbacks of the decade. It cannot be highly enough recommended.

...traditional comic readers either love or hate "Arkham Asylum." While the book uses Batman and his traditional Rogues Gallery, the portrayal of the characters is uniquely dark, Freudian, and twisted. This time the battleground of Batman and his villains is the mind.
Grant Morrison's moody script is deceptively complex, and heavily laden with references to psychology, myth, religion, and "Alice in Wonderland." Set almost entirely within Arkham Asylum, the prison for the criminally insane in the Batman universe, the story is of Batman's self-questioning and doubt: is he no better, no more sane, than the asylum inhabitants? A secondary story chronicles the founding of Arkham, and the descent into madness of the brilliant man who created the asylum.
Dave McKean's artwork at the time was unique in comics, consisting of a combination of painting, construction, and photography that made every page feel like a 2-D representation of a 3-D work. With one or two exceptions, little is made of the background scenery, because the real setting of this story is the mind. The characters are portrayed as extreme, iconic versions of their normal selves. Background imagery is used to enhance the metaphors drawn in the story. One double-page spread shows a room filled with the mad; the left side of the page is a more-or-less literal representation of the room, while the right side of the painting dissolves into tarot imagery.
Very few writers and artists have attempted to realistically portray the insanity of a man who would put on a cape and cowl and fight criminals to avenge parents long dead. Even fewer have attempted to tie the Batman tales into long traditions of myth and storytelling. McKean and Morrison did both within a single, thin graphic novel. Literate readers and those who appreciate dark, beautiful artwork will love this book.

Certainly more than a comic book, Dave McKean
paints (literally) a story frought wth frighteningly
delusional sybolism born of Crowley himself, while
Morrison spins a yarn which knits together a horrificly
accurate psychological profile of not so much the
Batman himself, but rather how he is worn by his
classic, historicly psychotic foes in the bowels of
the Arkham Asylum where they dwell. Grant Morrison's
intellect explodes in an array of jaw dropping scenarios
than force you to wonder if he himself hasn't had
experience on one side of the Psychotherapists
couch, or the other..

Is it just me or was the text used for the Joker really hard to read? I understand they used that to make him appear insane but the thin red text that all mashes together was really hard to make out sometimes that took me out of the story. I don't want to have to sit on a single panel and try to figure out which letters I'm looking at. Also, I think the artwork was a bit difficult to make out at times. It was beautiful but sometimes I didn't know what I was looking at. Other than that, I thought it was a good story.

This book is really a history of Arkham and its founder more than it is a Batman story, and the story is a dark one indeed. The artwork is much different from that of other Batman graphic novels I have purchased (Batman: Year One,Batman: The Long Halloween,Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again) and is a little hard to get used to; I had to really struggle to figure out what Joker was saying. This is the story of Arkham, and it is a very good, if somewhat dark and depressing; but then again, this is Gotham. It makes me wonder if there's some sort of otherworldy / supernatural beacon in the city that attracts criminals, crazies and crazy criminals.

I am sure I am going to confuse a lot of Batman fans with this review and I expect a lot will rate this review as not useful, but this book is NOT a superhero comic, and it would do it a disservice to review it as such. It is instead a psychological theory presented as a superhero comic that will appeal more to fans of Eraserhead than to fans of Batman. The first thing to note about this book is that Batman is not mentioned in the title for a reason. Although Batman is in the book and Arkham Asylum is where all of his criminally insane adversaries are kept locked up, this is not a book about Batman engaging in physical battles. Batman only serves, on the one hand, as the eyes and ears of the reader so that we can explore Arkham in all its details, and on the other, as a representation of the conscious mind.
Basically, Arkham serves as a Jungian metaphor for the mind, and all of its inmates represent the hidden aspects of the unconscious, with the Joker representing (in my opinion) the Trickster archetype whose role is to challenge and tear down the conscious mind, often with humour, and sometimes at the risk of destroying it. Batman himself serves to represent the conscious facade (i.e. those parts of one's personality people present to the external world while trying to suppress the unconscious) trying to keep the inmates (the unconscious) locked behind walls. Therefore Batman, with his mask, trying to keep the inmates in the Asylum is the perfect metaphor for Jungian psychology.
However, as the artist, McKean, has pointed out in interviews, Batman himself is not the picture of rationality, dressing up like a bat to fight crime, just as Jung points out the Facade is not a totally sane representation of the Self. Therefore, as Batman (the conscious) continues to try to fight back against the inmates (the unconscious), cracks begin to show in his character. According to Jungian theory, the truly sane person can face their unconscious and accept it as part of their personality instead of suppressing it and mistaking their public facade as their true identity. The Joker basically sums up Jungian theory by noting that it is the people outside (like Batman, presenting a false public persona) who are the real inmates.
As usual, McKean's multimedia art is spectacular, and noone is better at representing imagery straight out of dreams and the unconscious than he. Morrison's writing is less emotionally involving than his other works like the Mystery Play, reading more like an intellectual exercise, but McKean's art helps make up for the lack of the script's impact.

The story is really really good, i loved the portrayal of both batman and the joker, different than stuff I've read before. I liked it more the second time around tho. And the script was a nice addition.

Yes, I said the word, but this the only thing that comes to your mind when you are reading AND watching this graphic novel. Every little tiny detail in this comic book is beyond graphic. EVERY single thing in there is ART. Pure ART. just trust a professional and a fan. every detail is graphically and artisticly touched : even the dialogs are just artisticly worked out and adapted to every single character's personality. pastels, raw material, rough sketch, painting, just pen/pencils, every single work in this graphic novel is ART.

And with this VERY artistic work, comes an incredible study of each and EVERY character. Yes, the novel is an ODE to Arkham Asylum, and all the serious insanity that touches what you would JUST considerate as a Batman VILAIN character. It goes deeply, a lot deeper in their construtive personalities. And any fan would recognise in here a masterpiece focused not only on the Joker, but also on the origins of the Arkham Asylum and the darkest hours of its creators : Amadeus Arkham.

Just perfect, every second you will spend admirating this masterpiece will be a chill on your spine, a sensation of "you hit close to home" and a diving into the purest Batman stories.

It was never clear to me what Arkham Asylum was intended to accomplish. The plot has been done many times before, after all: Batman is forced to fight his most dangerous villains in large numbers. Writer Grant Morrison changes this slightly by putting Batman inside Arkham Asylum and (in theory) at their mercy, although the difference is slight. There's some superficial exploration of the dementias which afflict the various villains, but this is done only briefly for any individual villain, and these explorations have been done in more depth elsewhere. Ultimately, the story is not much more than a running fight with pseudo-psychological overtones.
Artist Dave McKean was - with Bill Sienkiewicz - one of the pioneers of fully-painted American comic books. But, also like Sienkiewicz, his layouts were had little sense of dynamism, and his actual technique was muddy and confusing, trying to express something which ended up compleely hidden by the layers of color. While this added a certain claustrophobic uneasiness to Morrison's script, it doesn't really work as storytelling. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see now that McKean's style is rather primordial, and that it's been improved on tremendously by artists such as Alex Ross, who finally broke through to make painted artwork mainstream in American comics in the 90s.
Arkham Asylum is, therefore, perhaps a historical curiosity, but it's not really to be read and enjoyed. Morrison, in particular, has done far better work.

With the artwork, the text (I could barely understand any of Joker's comments what with the crazy font he speaks in throughout the graphic novel), this graphic novel makes you feel as if you are IN the asylum with everyone. It seems less about Batman, who is largely in the foreground it feels, and more about the story behind the legendary, mysterious, haunting and notorious Arkham Asylum and how it came to be and what it has become with people like Joker running the show.

Although Arkham Asylum was an immediate commercial success upon its first publication in 1990, critical opinion has tended to favor McKean's art over Morrison's story, which many have short-sightedly attacked as thin or even non-existent. Even the normally perceptive Alan Moore, in an online interview, went so far as to compare Morrison's writing here to dog feces dressed up in a beautiful frame. This 15th Anniversary edition should put to rest such barbs, as it includes Morrison's own comments and annotations, making clear the psychosexual and shamanistic underpinnings of this novella. We learn, too, of the artistic depictions (Joker as dominatrix) or plot elements (Amadeus Arkham as shamanistic cannibal) which didn't make it into the final version, due to the DC censorship typical of the pre-Vertigo era. As a final bonus, Morrison's initial storyboard for the book is presented in thumbnail form, revealing a briefer and somewhat more "conventional" storyline which even included Robin. This is the definitive edition to own.

First let me say that the art is fantastic, don't listen to the huddling masses saying it's slop, Picasso had to deal with the same thing.
The story is phenomenally good, while on the whole quite disturbing, it does not use gore simply for it's own sake, as every character in the comic is amazingly disturbed. All the inhabitants of the asylum are incredibly dangerous, and if left to their own devices, would quite happily torture and maim all of us. Bad things happen to good people, which is what some people seem to have such a problem with, but a recurring theme of the book is how we deal with the bad things that happen.
Batman himself is rather insane when looked at straight on. Dressing as a bat to fight crime at night, schizophrenic tendencies regarding the "Batman" persona, etc. He says at the beginning that he doesn't want to go into the asylum because it might feel like "coming home."
It is very much for mature readers, but not just for the violence, it will twist your head and take you to uncomfortable places, so be ready. Even if you don't like Batman, try it out, it isn't really a superhero story.
So go get it. Get it now. Now!

This IS an amazing artistic journey, and an enveloping storyline. However, I'm of the opinion that if a story's artistic qualities begin reducing the reader's ability to comprehend what is happening, then something needs to be done to fix that problem. Thank Merlin that the storyline is typed out in the back. It's likely that I would not have ever truly understood what was ACTUALLY happening, otherwise. I also don't think of Batman as that much of a prude either, but that might just be me.

I much enjoyed Alan Grant's Batman: The Last Arkham and found myself wishing that this story could have been more like that. Eh, no matter. It was still an enjoyable experience overall.

From the moment I heard a basic description of what Arkham Asylum was about, I was immediately intrigued. I'm really into Psychology (it IS my major, after all), particularly Abnormal and Criminal Psychology, and have always been fascinated with the concept of madness. So when I heard there was a Batman story that explored this very theme, I couldn't resist. But when I read it...well, I wanted SO badly to like it, but really, I was underwhelmed.

I went in the book knowing in advance that it was not a typical Batman story, and I was prepared to accept that. Innovation and unique perspectives are good for any creative endeavors, after all. That was why I was prepared for Dave McKean's art. It is surreal, it is unusual, sometimes it's really hard to figure out exactly what in the blue heck is going on. But really, I didn't have much problem with it; it is NOT going to be everyone's cup of tea, and some will find it outright hideous, but even though it won't be my favorite artistic approach, I can respect McKean's deviations from graphic novel norms.

However, in this review, I want to focus on the story, as that, really, is what I came for, and what dissapointed me the most. Like I said in the intro, I wanted REALLY badly to like it, given its themes and premise. The story starts of promising enough: a riot has broken out at the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Led by the king of Batman's gallery of crazies, The Joker, they have made one final demand: that the Dark Knight come to Arkham, permanently, joining the ranks of the insane. A very attractive setup...until it ends with Batman's dialogue toward Commissioner Gordan.

"Batman's not afraid of anything. It's me. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that The Joker may be right about me. Sometimes I...question the rationality of my actions. And I'm afraid that when I walk through those asylum gates...when I walk into Arkham and the doors close behind me...it'll be just like coming home."

So much for subtlety. It's too melodramatic. It hits you over the head with the book's themes that any reader with half a brain could discern by looking at the story as a whole. It's a promising intro that gets derailed by melodrama and hitting the reader over the head with the story's themes and ideas. Sadly, this is an appropriate metaphor for the book as a whole.

And boy, does this idea of derailed potential ring true throughout. The next part contains such fascinating scenes as the flashbacks of Dr. Amadeus Arkham's descent into madness (which are shown intermitantly throughout the story, and are all very good and help the story), and the psychoanalysis of Two-Face, The Joker, and even, to an extent, Batman himself. I ate those parts up hungrily, because they were right up my alley.

Sadly, these were the best parts, despite the fact that there's still quite a few pages left. Let me put it to you this way: if you were to strip away all of the books heavy symbolism, all of its atmosphere, and all of the themes it conveys, the entire course of events in the plot are: "Batman goes to stop a riot at Arkham Asylum. He walks around for a while, meets a bunch of his villains, sees them acting crazy, beats up a few of them, then leaves." That's it. Yes, the artwork is good, and I appreciate the message it was trying to convey (is Batman just as insane as his enemies?), but the actual plot just seemed so pointless and uneventful. Because of that, it seems to me that Morrison had abandoned the premise of writing an actual story long before he finished "Arkham Asylum," and instead decided that the story would be primarily his display of how much he knows about psychology and horror and everything else that comes up in the story. It all comes off as really gratuitous, with the themes drilled relentlessly into your head. I found myself thinking "YES!! I get it already! Insanity! Batman might be just as crazy! He's confronting his inner demons! Now can something actually HAPPEN in this story!!??"

I don't know. Maybe it's because I bought this primarily because I'm on a Batman graphic novel-spree, and I had just come off of reading two very excellent Batman stories that have amazingly coherent, well-written, and page-turningly addictive plots (Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's "The Long Halloween" and its sequel "Dark Victory"). But honestly, "Arkham's" story really didn't live up to the hype for me, mostly because it's not even really a story. It's more like a collection of surrealist art and heavy psychological/Gothic literary themes, with a semblance of a plot thrown in as an afterthought. It doesn't do it for me.

"Arkham Asylum" has, as is obvious from the other reviews, intense supporters and intense detractors. I don't count myself among either. I applaud Morrison and McKean's efforts for offering an originally presented take on Batman and attempting to incorporate some very heavy, intellectual ideas along with it. But it seems that in their zeal to do so, they forgot to focus on that most essential of storytelling elements: the quality of the plot. I'll still keep the story on my bookshelf, and I will reread it from time to time, but I can't honestly count it among my favorites.

First, there are two things anyone interested in purchasing or reading this title should know about it beforehand. One, that it is probably not for everyone's taste as it isn't your traditional Batman vs. the villain-of-the-week sort of story, but rather a darker, more disturbing kind of tale that focuses on a deep, complex exploration of madness, told alternately from three different points of view: that of Amadeus Arkham, founder of the asylum, that of Batman and his other persona, Bruce Wayne, and of course, that of all the madmen locked up at the asylum, including the super villains.
Two, that it is "Suggested for Mature Readers" on the back cover as it's probably one of the most unnecessarily violent and ghastly graphic novels ever published under the Batman title, although, I definitely think - regardless of it being at times a bit too disgusting for my taste - that it's also one of the most original and beautifully illustrated narratives ever created for the genre. The superb artwork is perfect for the story with its surreal, dreamy, and suggestive look, even if, on occasion, it gets a little difficult to follow, especially with certain clashing combinations of colors and typographies. Still, the lavish intricacy of the compositions and the broad range of techniques used by the artist are a spectacular visual feast worth the price of the book alone.
The dual story, told in a nicely interwoven parallel, on one hand, explores Arkham's past and how his reasons for founding the asylum derived from decisions he made during the most crucial points of his life, and on the other, focuses on Batman's present day mission to go inside the asylum and, while confronting the insecurities about his own sanity, regain control of the facility after it's been taken over by the Joker.
Arkham's story is from beginning to end an emotional journey through the situations and escalating tragedies that can slowly drive a man insane. It's marvelously shrouded in a veil of mystery and superstition, and brilliantly placed in time during the beginning of the 1900's both by the overall mood of the art and the historical details sprinkled here and there, including, among others, having Arkham meet and learn from both Carl Jung and Aleister Crowley.
Batman's story, told from both his point of view and that of the inmates' is, on the other hand, a lot darker, more twisted and sadly less consistent. Our hero's mischaracterization, present throughout the whole story, is obvious from his first line of dialogue, with which he's not only portrayed as a constantly daunted man, but also as one who reacts with shock and disbelief to the inmates' atrocities and maniacal behavior that he's so used to fighting. Contrastingly, the clever analysis of Joker's psychosis is brilliant right to very last page of the book, even in spite of the endless sexually perverted innuendos from him - who even hints at a homosexual relationship between Batman and Robin - that somewhat lessen the impact of the story's emotional momentum.
The story concludes with the most satisfactory ending I've so far encountered in any graphic novel - worthy of a 5-star rating on its own -, an excellent comparison of the contrasts and similarities between Arkham and Batman's sense of duty, the ghosts of their pasts, and the skeletons in each one's closet.
As you'd expect from the title, along with the Joker, a fair amount of villains make an appearance, enriching Arkham Asylum's decadent milieu, among them Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Clayface, Prof. Milo, Dr. Destiny, Maxie Zeus, Black Mask, etc. The constant references to April Fools' Day and Alice in Wonderland, the changes introduced to Two-Face's alter ego, Harvey Dent, and the re-imagining of some of the other super villains, are truly delightful as well. But where the most pleasant surprises of the story lie for me are on Batman's iterated questioning of the "cures" administered to the inmates by the asylum's doctors, and the contemplation of the possibility that madness might not only be a physical illness but that it could also be a contagious disease.
Despite the fact that this book could use some degree of fine-tuning in a few places and a little less unwarranted violence in others, overall it holds its own and delivers a fantastic story about how different people perceive the world around them when they see it through their own biases.
This 15th Anniversary Edition includes a section with the original sketches and story conceptualizations done for this title that presents an amazing view of the artists' creative process.
Definitely a must-have addition to any serious Batman collection.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum is the best Batman book. The story chronicles the establishment of the Asylum as the dumping ground for the criminally-insane. Morrison also asks, is Batman the source of all insanity in Gotham? It may be debatable but Bats keeps the cells filled and it's too coincidental that almost all of his adversaries are wackos. McKean's art truly captures the insanity that goes within the walls. Using various techniques, he conveys each inmate's personality with subtle shifts in art. Truly excellent. Truly a must have.

This is my favorite graphic novel in the world. It integrates neoJungian beliefs to tell a story of madness. It gives Batman and his alter Bruce Wayne a completely new depths. Not to mention it's painted and incredibly detailed art. Geesh it's brilliant!!

This book tries to come off as an in depth analysis at madness, but it does not succeed. The art, while very cool, is very hard to understand. You can hardly tell what is happening. An EXTREMEMLY nice touch was how the dialogue was shown. Batman's dialogue is black speech bubbles with white lettering, Joker's is red scratchy text, etc. The book makes Batman look far from courageous, getting scared over things I would not even bat an eye at, and I have not been through half as much as he has. The only part of the story I liked was the parts that show the life of Amadeus Arkham, the crator of Arkham Asylum.

As for as reviewers go, Grant Morrison is almost never criticized. Please realize this when considering any book written by him. This book is not terrible, but the gothic art and Amadeus Arkham parts are the only reasons I ever bothered to pick it up.

Only if you have a very strong interest in the history of the facility (which the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum does a MUCH better job at anyway) I recommend you pass up on this.

I thought this book was mainly going to be about the villains, but it was mainly about Batman's struggle to stay sane and come to terms with his past and present during his stay in Arkham! Even though I was a bit disappointed that the Joker wasn't featured more in this one,the few times he was featured had me laughing. His lewd comments made this a must read for me! Plus, the drawings in this book are more dark and gothic than in other Batman novels,so I had to buy it. This is definitely not a read for kids, but, if you love Batman and want to read about him making his way through the creepy, dark halls of Arkham, and also want to know about the grim history of Arkham Asylum, then you must buy this book!

This is the way the Joker and Batman should interact. This is story telling in the visual medium at its finest. The best of the best is represented here and you will be amazed. The writing is superb, the artwork is flawless, and the portrayal of Batman and the Joker have never been darker. You can not simply overlook this one, this is a must have for all Batman fans. This is as far from campy as you can possibly get.

This story jumps frequently from the journals of Arkhams founder back to the main story, the transitions are not done smoothly, which makes the storytelling awkward.
The basic theme: the criminals in Arkham are insane, Batman is insane, and therefore the criminals and Batman are one and the same, and can only rely upon fate and madness to get out of the asylum, where they have all become trapped. You get to watch Batman hallucinate, stabs himself, whimper for his mother, and has a non-reaction when the Joker blows a guards head off. Come on, I've had enough of the "hero is the same as the baddies" stuff, let the heroes be heros.
The typography is bad, especially for the Joker, who speaks in large red letters which are nearly unreadable...kind of like this graphic novel.

this book is very much its own animal.morrison uses a style that only he and his two associates alan moore and neil gaiman seem to be able to pull off. dense,lyrical,violent,intelligent, humorous and containing a sense of something else i cant explain. theres a better sense of surrealism contained here than anything david lynch ever accomplished(and im a fan of his also). imagery that only dave mckean could posssibly produce washes throughout with more than the feeling of something going horribly wrong just offscreen somewhere. mckean can only be compared visually with filmmakers david fincher and chris cuningham. delving into each characters psyche without any direct explanation or any actually trying, morrison tops his other masterwork, the mystery play. that book works by only piling on questions and never giving away any answers, this books is more explanatory. moodwise, its dark, but never suffocating.the abiguous nature of the story acts like the unmentioned tones of blade runner. or if youd like to be more direct, the joker acts like brad pitts jeffery goans in 12 monkeys(another peice on insanity that doesnt try to explain its nature. it simply approaches it on its own terms), someone who the audience knows is insane, but who has it more together than the rest of the world. the perfect tour guide.whenever im searching for surrealism in something i try to write i reach for this.
i would buy it simply for the portrait of maxie zues.

Hello. As a writer and illustrator myself, I have to give credit where it's due. I remember a time where the comic medium was as sugary as the breakfast cereals they push on morning television---supposedly, "Good for You". Let me say, I was fortunate enough to be a teenager right around the "graphic novel" ground breaking---"Elektra Lives Again", "Dark Knight Returns" released in paperback, "Maus". I never believed the graphic novel genre should have been ( or be) the comic book. And with that, arguably, "Arkham Asylum" stands as one of the most important books in print.

This is one on the best comic books I have ever read, it is also unlike any one I have read. This is not your typical batman book. The story is written like a dream, or rather nightmare, type style. Batman is forced to fight with his inner demons as well as some real ones. The art fits perfectly with the story Morrison has gifted us with very dark and dream like. Finally don't go into this book thinking you're going to see batman busting skulls and solving mysteries, it's so much more than that. It's a dark tale about the history of Arkham Asylum and a looking glass into the minds of the Dark Knight and some of his most notorious villains.

I am not a big fan of superhero comic books, but I have read a handful of the genre's graphic novels, including Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Asylum blew me away. I feel like this medium is at its best when the graphical flavor is as adventurous as its textual and thematic flavor, and this book is a perfect example of my preference. Like Mignola's Hellboy, Arkham Asylum is just gorgeous from one cover to the next.

The only gripe I have is with the book binding. I had to almost break the book's spine in half in order to get a full view of some of the panels.

The inmates have taken over Arkham Asylum and the workers are held hostage. After a number of odd demands they make just one more. They want Batman. Inside with them. No one is thrilled, least of all Batman because he fears he may actually belong there; but when a young girl is threatened he does what he must.

Upon entering, he is surrounded by the chaos. Several of the doctors including Dr. Cavendish refuse to "give the asylum up" to them. Joker takes lead and starts the games, first with word association and then Hide and Seek (Batman hides, you get the picture). One of the things that haunt Batman though, is seeing one of his nemesis. Two Face, Harvey Dent, is undergoing psychological therapy. They took away his coin and began giving him more and more options. Now he can't even decide to go to the bathroom. He is fragile, a threat to no one, heart breaking. If this is how they care for their patients, did Batman break them by leading them here?

As the story progresses you get flashbacks from Cavendish's life, how he came to be here. It all culminates to a standoff between Cavendish and Batman with a hostage in between. Everyone must learn to live with the consequences of this night. In the end, Batman gives Dent back his identity.

I am torn on this one. I didn't like the art work of this one as much. The story line, while riveting, was not my favorite. You do see a much more human Batman, though, and I liked that. All in all it was an enjoyable book, and if I hadn't read the Hush stories first, it might have gained more favor. As it is this one gets three stars.

So this basically is a Batman book where Batman is not the main character. The idea may seem intriguing -it certainly aroused my curiosity- and when it comes to Grant Morrison, I always expect to have my mind blown. This did not happen this time.
Exploring the history of Arkham Asylum and introducing new characters like Amadeus Arkham and Dr. Cavendish was very refreshing, but the plot was weirdly tasteless and boring, somewhat chaotic as well. Many villains from the Batman universe appear in this graphic novel, but they (Clayface, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter) do not bring anything to the plot. The most redeeming quality of the book is the incredibly lavish and detailed illustrations by Dave McKeen; each page is an incredible, unique work of art that makes Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth worth reading.

This is far and away my favorite Batman story. If you've read it and didn't like it, check out the 15th Anniversary edition to compare Grant's script with the final product. There are numerous insights picked up through the script that are missed or overlooked on the painted page. McKean's art has been criticized, but I think it is perfect FOR THIS STORY. It's also the first time I can recall that a font was used to convey emotion (Joker's crazy, bloody babbling) and it is very effective. Is it hard to read at times? Sure, but isn't that how it's supposed to be? The Joker has never been the easiest guy to read because he's categorically insane.

Morrison weaves some Arkham history seamlessly through the "current time" story using symbolism to great effect. This is a project you simply have to read four or five times to understand the depth of the story. I actually understand the criticism espoused by those who live on typical superhero fare. This is nothing like the books on the bookstore shelves today.

And I thank Morrison for that.

This book is an impressive psychological chronical of the characters of Batman's world. It presents a history of the asylum, and a look into the mind and world of Arkham and the modern subjects of his ward. There is an impressive cast of characters within the work--many villians I had never met before. In any case, the visual work of this novel is really its greatest feature; the photographic drawings are haunting and dark. This is a rather short graphic novel, and worth 30 minutes of your time.

I can't add much to what's already been said about this masterpiece, except for that I loved it. The artwork is beautiful, and is reason enough to buy this, but then there's also the story-telling achievement therein. Mood and tone is masterfully created with interesting and creep typography, and the color palette screams fear and distress, common moods of Gotham and Arkham specifically.
I recommend this to the more hardcore Batman fan, and the casual fan, especially those of the latter category who are left reeling after the grimmer Nolan-films. It's a satisfying experience and interesting psychological exploration into the heart of the Batman mythos: Arkham and its infamous inmates.

Essentially Batman: Arkham Asylum is two stories. The first being a Batman story, where the dark knight is called to the asylum to deal with its inmates who have taken over. The second story is the origin of the asylum. This consists of the backstory involving Amadeus Arkham and his life struggle. Reading these interweaving stories was enjoyable, but at the same time challenging. It's a beautiful work of art that sets new benchmarks for drawing a Batman comic. However gorgeous this book looks, it a little hard to access its dialogue. The red text gets hard on the eyes, and the far out dialogue sometimes just loses me completely. I read Batman R.I.P. and i gotta say I managed to enjoy reading that one more. That graphic novel had a reason to be insane. This book oozes with extrodinary talent, but I feel like the talent was abused. I think fans would be more excited to see artwork with definition and setting, and dialogue that is more accessable. I understand that this is the most successful graphic novel ever made, but im struggling to find the reason why.

The aim of this "novel" is clearly to shock the senses while giving a painstaking look into the mind of the criminally insane. If this type of lesson in the underside of the mind was all that I look for in reading Batman material, I would have given this piece five stars. Instead, I look for some semblance of a plot that makes me want to turn the page and see what comes next. Morrison could have easily written a masterful book by wrapping the dark experience of insanity around a story that made you want to stick around in such murk and darkness. Take Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (which is obviously an inspiration for the work as Alice and company are quoted throughout), in Carrol's classic you actually WANTED to continue the trip through lunacy with Alice. With Arkham Asylum, there are times you begin to wish you weren't there because filth for filth's sake is just not that enthralling. Top this lack of any decent plot off with some really strained attempts at deep symbolism (just throw in lots of religion and philosophy for no good reason), and you have yourself a shocking bore.
As for the artwork, it suffers a similar fate as the writing. If the frames were judged one at a time as art for art's sake, the work would deserve five stars. However, this art has another purpose which is forgotten throughout the book: it's there to move the story along. There were many frames that I just stared at, wondering how what was illustrated there related to the story at all.
For those who are looking for a fairly bland study of the mind of the lunatic, Arkham Asylum will be a good purchase for you. However, if you are merely looking for a well written, well drawn Batman novel, pick up The Dark Knight Returns.

This is arguably the most dark and disturbing Batman tale I have read. At first glance, the art seems messy, but a closer look shows how well it portrays the madness of the asylum, with its shadows and the way things are never quite what they seem. The writing is excellent, showing the deeper, darker parts of the characters' psyches rather than stereotyping them as evil villains, triumphant heroes, etc. The storyline delves deep into the psyche of Arkham, for whom the asylum was named, as well as the psyche of Batman and his foes, showing that hero and villain are not so far apart as they might seem. The ending statements by the different inmates show the tragic underlying roots of their madness. Overall, this a great graphic novel, and I highly recommend it--but to adult audiences only. This is not a comic for children.

Like almost everyone else i loved the story and the art was amazing. The only issue i had might just be due to being red/green colorblind but i had a lot of trouble reading what the joker was saying. I couldn't read more than maybe 4 pages at a time with out taking a break due to headaches because of how much i had to strain to read the jokers dialogue. But that shouldn't make you not read it. Its worth the trouble just know if you are color blind you might have to pace your self while reading it.

I am glad I don't do drugs. If I did, then read this, I might not be here today.

I really have no idea what was going on with the artwork, but I didn't really like it much.

The story is very much Batman. Crazy villains are definitely crazy.

Somehow being a huge comic and graphic novel fan and even being a big Batman fan - for decades - I never got around to reading this. I finally did and was pretty disappointed. Dave McKean's fantastic art made it worth reading, but the writing was not something that would make this book anything close to a classic in the Batman canon. The intercutting tale of Arkham's namesake is interesting but not that rewarding. The other tale featuring Batman's criminally insane foes comes off as rather simplistic and watered down when compared to some of the Dark Knights better books.

EDIT: After maturing and re-reading this recently, I can honestly say that my review below was horrible, and that this is actually one of Batman's best graphic novels ever written! Must-buy for any Batman-Joker fan wanting to get some psychological thriller kinda thing as well.

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Old review:

I got this along with "The Joker" by Brian Azzerelo, and frankly, both have disappointed me. There was actually barely any plot, and even if there was, it was spread widely and slowly throughout the whole 100+ pages!
The artwork, i must say, was dreadful, for everything was just smudged all over each other, which is very annoying, and Batman is barely clear throughout the story. The story was flawed and lacked excitement.
But it was a mediocre story to read anyway, and it does have the element of darkness.

I liked McKean's artwork a lot when I first read this book but, returning to it today, the style seems overly familiar. In some places the level of darkness and number of symbolic artifacts seems to edge into self-parody.

The basic story is very weak -- Batman walks about the asylum beating up his old enemies. The real emphasis is on how these villians illustrate parts of Batman's character. Personally, I found this less than convincing.

Part of the problem for me is that I have a very low tolerance for paedophilia and torture, and much prefer detection-based Batman stories (such as The Long Halloween).

This is an amazing tale of darkness and choices. Batman is clearly tested, and made to to walk the walls of Arkham trying not to get killed. The Joker has been brought to a whole new level of sick and twisted behavior. I love how it gives you the dark bits and pieces of history pertaining to the asylum. This is a great read for those of you who love the dark side of the Batman story.

Incredibly dense in symbolism and "art", this novel presents an else-worlds scenario outside of established canon. In it, Batman is forced to confront his own demons and his own monstrous nature. Basically, he kills some guys who are bad but by killing them or treating them poorly, he is also bad. Or something.
The artwork itself is beautiful stuff with very expressive use of colors and geometry, as well as using the layout itself for impact.
Each character had his or her own unique lettering which was interesting in and of itself, but made reading some dialog difficult (perhaps that was the point!).
I suppose if you are willing to dig through the layers and layers of meaning and try to understand some of the psychology of the hero-who-is-no-better-than-a-villain cliche, it has... no actually, that's all it has.
It is as if at the end of the story, you expect to see Batman wake up in a sweat with the whole thing having been a bad dream.

I had to read it three times and read the notes of the creators before it made much sense at all.

This book has very beautiful artwork, which is especially impressive considering it was done before the age of computer graphics. It will take you for a ride you won't forget. If anything can be said bad about this book, it's only that I wish the ride were much longer.

"Arkham Asylum" has to be my all-around favorite story about my all-around favorite superhero, playing seconds only to "The Dark Knight Returns," of course. With this disturbing tale of "discovering thyself," Grant Morrison shows that he can be just as good and influential a writer of everyone's favorite Caped Crusader as Frank Miller. Actually, Morrison proves himself an even better writer than Miller in certain places. While "The Dark Knight Returns" will, no doubt, always be my favorite Bat tale, "Arkham Asylum" expands the Batman character in a way that we never could've imagined. It evens shows Batman as even more of a "human" than most people care to admit. Be warned though, fans who grew up with the "ZIP" and "POW"" campiness of the 60s Adam West/Burt Ward show will be disgusted and disturbed by this book, whereas fans of the Dark Knight (the *REAL* Batman, I mean) will drool over it like Michael Jackson at a daycare center.

The first time I read this symbolic, frightening book I have been a huge fan of it. I've read it over and over again and it gets better upon each re-read. While reading, though, I couldn't help but notice some hidden symbolism and significant imagery scattered all throughout the story. I started read the "script" version of the story (featured in the back of this "anniversary edition") and indeed, learned and noticed many new things about it I otherwise never would've picked up on. Every single character in the book--from Batman, to the Joker and the villains--to even the minor characters, each symbolizes some sort of image significant to the story's plot and climax. Morrison's script has taught me a lot about this strange, but intellectually satisfying graphic novel, which I now like at least a hundred times more than I did before. "Arkham Asylum" is a Bat tale unlike any other, and would've made Frank Miller jealous. Oh, and did I mention Dave McKean's twisted, chaotic artwork which is essential to the entire story? If any other artist had illustrated this book, it would've failed and not be praised for what it is today, and that is not just my own opinion, it is the honest truth. Read it and you'll understand exactly what I mean. Highly recommended!

But I warn you once more: this is NOT your father's Batman. It's a relentlessly violent and very scary tale; absolutely NOT for the faint of heart, easily offended, or young children.

This book is written in a very loose manner. The art is still painted pictures (beautifully done) with word balloons feeling like an extraneuos addition.
The story itself mixes between Batman in Arkham (with all the inmates loose) and the founder of the asylum, Amadeus Arkham's descent into madness.
All these aspects give you a true sense of creepy insanity while reading it. The kind of feeling you'd have if you were really there. (Which is what makes it so fun.)

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a fantastic story - Batman is forced to go through Arkham in a sick and twisted obstacle course setup by the Joker, on April Fool's day. At the same time, the book focuses on Arkham's slow decent into maddness, and parallels that decent into Batman's tenuous grip on sanity. That said, the art is very surreal and abstract, and it took me out of the story. It forced me to think about what I was looking at, but I think some of the details that the author and artist intended to portray were lost. Overall, I'd say it was good, but not great.

I came upon this book by that process which an internet search quickly devolves into, with one thing leading you to another and another and another. Because I've recently been reading books by psychoanalysts from the "Frankfurt School", and because I've been a long time fan of Batman, I decided to go ahead and buy this book which was described by one reviewer as a, "deep, complex exploration of madness". Unfortunately, this description is only marginally true.

In my opinion, the problem doesn't lie with the art work (as others seem to think). It is very unique and I very much like the fact that Batman is not entirely shown in any of the panels. Neither do I think that the concept behind this portrayal of Batman is a problem for the comic book, i.e., that he is not portrayed as the athletic, fearless, detective genius with all the gadgets, but rather a very imperfect (See: Human) person with authentic fears and psychological problems (in all honesty, I rather like Batman being brought down to "our level", given that in 99% of all other Batman comics he is the former). Where the comic falls apart is in what is probably the most important aspect this comic set out to achieve: a psychological analysis of Batman. Instead of a good dive into the psyche, I got a lot of pop/folk-psychology. Granted, this is a comic(!) and, therefore, not written for philosophy or psychology students to analyze, but I guess that deep down I honestly thought that Grant Morrison would have, as an author, gone past the surface in exploring the psychological conditions that appear in his story.

Readers who, as I did, go in expecting something they shouldn't be expecting in the first place, i.e., analysis, will be, again, as I was, rightfully disappointed. However, those that enjoy pop-psychology and want to see a different type of Batman might find this as a fun time.

I love Grant Morrison's work. Every piece he does is ripe for examination and begs for rereading.
Here, Morrison is as strong as ever, but the Sandman cover artist Dave McKean can't make the book work. His hyper stylized, high contrast multi media work confuses the storytelling and puts a disorienting film over the story. It's a powerful entrance into the psyche of the Batman, but McKean just hampers the endeavor.
If you're a Morrison fan, get it and read the annotated script after the story. If you're not, don't bother with this largely incidental story.

Despite the overwhelming bombardment of symbolism, textually and visually, the plot is surprisingly simple. The inmates of Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane lure Batman into their midst and instigate a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. Batman's inner fear that he is as insane as his hosts weakens his resolve, but he proves stronger than the madness within Arkham and its inmates. Flashbacks and journal entries by Arkham's founder are intertwined with Batman's descent into the hell of Arkham. When the graphic novel was released in the early nineties it was considered groundbreaking and a precursor to today's grittier, darker graphic novels and remains one of the highest selling grahic novels of all-time, according to it's creators. I can see why it won accolades, but confess I had to read the notes and full script included with the 15th anniversay edition to make sense of it.

admittingly, it doesn't have much violence, but it does dig deep into Arkham's history. Also, i love how you get a feel for the different characters voices with their type. Like Joker's hand drawn, crimson mess style of speech represents how chilling his voice is when heard. Plus you get a look at how Batman feels about his enemies and how they feel about being in a madhouse.

story is great... artwork is also amazing, but one takes from the other. plus side is if you read it twice, once with words and second focusing on visuals, you get the full effect. great first Grant Morrison batman story overall.

Geez...this one's right up there with "The Dark Knight Returns"...whether or not "Arkham Asylum" takes place in real Batman continuity I don't care...in and on itself this book rocks. And the art! DAMN it's good! Dave McKean just doesn't give up! The man's an awesome-art-creating machine!

I'm a HUGE fan of the Batman graphic novels and TPB, like this one! I remember reading through it when it first came out (I was probably 10 or 11) and I had to buy it a few years later when I was older and actually had money. Like Havok and Wolverine, the painted art drew me in, but it's also Morrison's incredible story.

The Joker is insane, but so is everyone and everything else in the book. The art is just dark, painted and wonderful!

Yes, the novel is really cool. Yes, the artwork is phenominal. And yes, Batman is nearly broken in this. But, really, would you consider this "essential" Batman? I am new to the scene, and have only read about 4-5 trade paperbacks, the last of which was The Long Halloween. I found Batman's dialogue to be trite and unintelligent, as Batman never is. It doesn't get dark until halfway through. I almost wanted to put it down at first read. It is worth getting, don't get me wrong, but not essential unless you like the visuals more than the story.

I've been reading comics for over 30 years, and this might be my favorite of all time. Some of the best art ever seen in comics. One of the best stories ever told in comics. This book changed the way I looked at comics. Anytime I have to justify my love of comics to a non-fan, I pull this off a shelf and tell them to check it out. You must read this book.

This is dark, creepy and so much fun. Got me hooked and ready for more. Those who are interested in the much more bitter side of any graphic novel will get a lovely little kick out of this one. I had to read it twice to take in all of the amazing details both written and drawn. It was wonderful to see the not so goofy side of the Joker and all of gang in Arkham, including Batman himself.

Morrison was way too insane and drugged up when he wrote this and Dave McKean's art is quite possibly the ugliest art for a comic I've ever seen. His Sandman covers are brilliant but that is a completely different thing.

I think people have looked into this book way too much and think they see a great genius work of art but it's actually just ugly, creepy, and disturbing. And that goes for the story and the art.

There is an episode from the animated series called Trial that is partially inspired by this book and I feel like it's such a better take on the "inmates take over the nuthouse" theme.

This book was very great for it's time & still so today. Best comic books of all time for it's bloody & depressing atmosphere. I have never seen the joker portrayed like this in a totally psychotic fashion. Greatest read ever. Although, I am in the middle of the dark knight returns, I am not sure how it will turn out. So stay tuned! "Fricken Awesome", but I love great comic finds. Beg to differ? Don't!

I didn't like how the Joker was portrayed or drawn. The drawings were hard to follow in some scenes but it wasn't too bad. You would like this story if you're into crazy things. Aleister Crowley is in this. I would have liked to have seen Batman more mentally exposed in the nut house. It was a great story and the script made it better. It's a nice re-read.

Grant Morrison is truly the post-modernist superhero writer. This book is more a psychological exploration than a superhero tale. It defines and actually explains the Joker's psychosis, Two-Face's derangement and with surgical precision, dissects everything behind the Batman himself. It's so visceral, it's frightening. I loved it, and have shared it with 12 non-comic nook reading people, all of whom loved it.

Arkham Asylum suffers from very poor execution. The plot is well-conceived and pulled off well enough given the dialog, but the art style hampers everything down. It seems there are no light fixtures in Arkham Asylum, as every panel is about 90 percent shadow. There is a font used for everything that The Joker says that was a chore to try to read; I had to put the book up to my nose to figure out which letters were which.

If you're a huge Batman fan, you've probably already read this. If not, don't bother.

Maybe the mos important books about Batman are Arkham Assylum and the Dark Knight saga. In this book all the insane habitants of the city take control of the assylum. Each one of them explodes a side of Batman, Clayface, Croc, Two Faces, Dr. Milo, and the Joker, who leads the party. The inks and artwork are really great.

Words can hardly even describe the depth of this story. There is so much to say about it, but I'm assuming you haven't actually read it yet, so it doesn't matter, because you need to. The art of David McKean is simply indescribable. Mixed with the depth of insanity of the dialogue, the illistration makes this the ultimate trek into the hell that is the Dark Knight's mind.

The artwork is amazing, truly makes the Joker look like a real mad man who actually can scare you. However, outside of the art work, the story is shallow and boring, with hardly any Batman. Another problem is that the text is hard to read, especially for the Joker, it's so stylized that you'll be straining to read it.

It's a dark but amazing story but you need to read the script to completly understand its complexity, specially on graphics simbolism. McKean art level is from other world. It worths every dollar you paid.
Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)

Wow what can I say about this graphic novel... I honestly didn't like this book, but just because I didn't like this book doesn't mean I can give it a 1 star. It was a book, it had color and technically it was completed. After reading this book I felt like the author's just wanted to shock me. It didn't feel like a true batman story, and the ending was a joke. I don't want to give anything away, but the way they made Harvey look in this book was horrible. Took his coin away and moved him Tarot cards, give me a break.

On the extra content, it's nice to have, but it's completely unneccesary. Infact after reading through it I was certian that the author was just trying for the shock and aww effect.

It's soooo friggin' creepy! I heard somewhere that this was supposed to be Bruce Wayne's dream...That makes sense. More like NIGHTMARE. The artwork reminds me of that kid's book series, Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark? Remember those? It's totally creepy I'm telling you! After reading this I had to watch an episode of The Office on Netflix, just to undo some of that creepiness.

This is literally a groundbreaking work, with art too sophisticated for the Saturday morning crowd. If that's you, move along. If you're mentally above the age of 12, the rich textures, the rapturous drawing, the mind-bending story will satisfy and make you wish Mssr. McKean was back doing comics. Highest recc.

this is the first batman graphic novel i ever read, and i have to say that it is very very good. it's one of my favorites of all time. i especially liked the script in the back which really helped me understand the symbolism.
really good

Next to the theme of vengeance, there is one theme that is has been shown throughout the many years of Batman: madness. Madness is what drives most of Batman's enemies to destroy his precious city. But, in dealing with these mad men, has Batman too gone "batty"? Beautifully drawn and brilliantly written, this is the one of the essential books for any Batman fan.

This book has alot of twists and turns in it . You may even have to read this one more than once to understand it . Batman doesn't show up in the story much ,more of a background character but thats where the Dark Knight makes his utmost presense . I also suggest getting the Hard Cover Collectors Edition as it has many extras .

Really, I have no idea, I do know this is full of terror and all about mentally ill "bad guys" Keep in mind we are talking about Super Heros and Villians !!!! Gee Whiz..... My son was tickled to death, he asked for this at Christmas, I went to the store, found it very quickly, ordered it and paid for it even more quickly & BAM! It was here almost before, I could get outside to the mailbox. While I cant review the actual book, he seems to think it is AWESOME and he has not "acted out" because of it, so I guess We are all good.

THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ANY BATMAN COLLECTION, I MEAN ASIDE FROM THE ORIGINS AND WHAT NOT. THIS BOOK IS THE BEST DESCRIPTIVE RECORD OF THE HOLDING PLACE FOR BATMAN'S ROGUE GALLERY.

ANYTHING WITH GRANT MORRISON'S NAME ATTACHED TO IT IS ALMOST GOOD AS GOLD, AND DAVE MCKEON'S ART TAKES THE ENTIRE STORY TO ANOTHER MANIC LEVEL.

IF I COULD GIVE THIS TO EVERYONE LOOKING, LISTENING OR DREAMING ANYTHING BATZ, I WOULD... 15 MILLION THUMBS UP!!!! AND AN the store DISCOUNT TO BOOT!

After watching The Dark Knight I was very excited and eager to read more about Batman. I have been a comic book addict ever since I can remember, but mostly I bought Marvel comics and had only occasionally read Batman. Anyway, I researched in the internet for the best / most important Batman TPBs available and Arkham Asylum was listed everywhere as one of them (in some places even among the top 5). For this reason and also because of the reviews here, I decided to buy this one. But it turned out to be a huge disappointment. The art is really bad, you often can't make out what is on the page... may be it's just a different style, but it doesn't match my taste (I'm more of Jim Lee fan kind of guy). The story itself - the writing I mean - was ok, but I wouldn't qualify it as being one of the best Batman comics - certainly not after reading Year One, The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns.

Downside to The 1989 hardcover, though beautiful the binding is very fragile!! it looks sewn but it has glue, and not enough of it. Kinda always happens with thin books like this one and common with older ones too.

A lot of people liked this book but I thought it was highly overrated books ever made, Story was boring. Art was not all that. It was awful. Could not tell anything apart in this book. Not a fan of Morrison and this was suppose to be one of his better stuff. A lot of hype. Mostly a mindbender book that went nowhere

I know people are going to hate this, but I am going to say it anyway. The art in this book is horrible. The Story could have been great, seriously, but the art made this torture to read. To take such a strong point in the Batman history and reduce it to the slop this book is due to the art is a unforgivable mistake on DC comics part. I know the Batmanfanboygroupies are going to grab their torches and pitchforks over this review, but please, anyone considering this book look at the art first.

I bought this for my husband. I wanted it for the art but i didnt like them, i thought they were gonna be more like the front cover however my husband did like them and he said the book itself really twisted and dark a lot different from alot of the other ones. Deffinatly not for kids.

The artwork in this comic is incredibly unique. It is a loosely painted interpretation of a mad house and the inhabitants of it. The story is short but excellent. A must read for any Batman fans, especially if you are a gamer and a fan of the Arkham Asylum game. This book also contains a copy of the script for the comic in the back which was an interesting insight to the comic process.

I've read varying opinions on this book, and I chalk it up to being a love it or hate it story in the Batman mythos. Obviously, I am one who loved it ;) It's to taste, I suppose, so be warned of that.

The art was strikingly different from any graphic novel I have read thus far, and it took me a moment to adjust to the style; in the end, especially after reading it, it had really grown on me. The surreal, dreamy-nightmarish depictions fit the dark chaos of the plot perfectly. Joker has never looked more chilling. I have heard complaint it is hard to follow, but I had no problem following the art along with the plot at all. The symbolic touches added to the chaos and surrealism, a perfect touch. Beautifully done.

The plot, I thought, was a delicious tale of madness, and the relevancy of madness to the sane world; it so finely draws the line between the sane and insane, underscored by the relationship between Joker and Batman, that it sometimes becomes the same bulging, hectic mass of confusion, captured by the art. Yes, some of the villains were drastically changed, but I took as being for the sake of drama, and nothing really offended me; it was an abstract view of Arkham, in a way, and the people within its walls. I didn't find Batman overly weak or anything. I thought it made sense he would question his sanity. Doesn't everyone? And, with his costume and vigilante vengeance quest, wouldn't he have to see the similarities between him and the maniacs of the night? I thought it was great that he went in with doubts and, in the end, firmly drew the line between him and the others, conquered his own doubts.

So, I would recommend this book, probably mostly to those that like Batman at his most human, fans of the madness in the series, and probably even fans of horror lol A lot of this book reminded me of the videogame series "Silent Hill" (not the movie), as it has a psychological view of abstract, symbolic terror. The backstory of the Asylum and its creator also makes the book worth it for history's sake, and is an amazing story in its own right. All in all, great book, very different, and excellently done in its poetically grotesque way.

I was fairly new to the whole comic universe and so I asked the people at the comic store what was one of the best Batman. They told me this. DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HATE EYE THINGS. I cannot stress that enough. I was expecting it to be pretty dark and trippy, not that some girl would have her eyes scratched out within the first 6 pages. That was just sick and I flicked through and it just got more sadistic in a bad way. I paid 30 dollars for this and I could not even read past page 8 before being scarred for life by the creepiness of it all. Not worth the money and way overrated. Do not buy this.

Anything I see grant has written and about batman. Its a HUGE hands off. Literally, he can not make a decent batman comic book. Now, this comic you see above here. Its no good. Its very confusing and seems like a kids book. Very short dialogue and pictures that give you an unease feeling.

After reading The Dark Knight and The Killing Joke, I had high expectations for Arkham Asylum. I was very disappointed however. Like in other Batman books and comics, Batman displays cunningness, being fearless, being athletic, and just being a bad ass hero. He did not display anything in this book. The villains did not display their specialties or twisted selves as they do in other books or comics. The drawings were interesting, not great, just interesting. The story was too short and meaningless. Perhaps I did not understand or interpret the story the way the writers, Morrison and McKean wanted to portray Batman. Still, the story was too short to overanalyze. This book is going as far as I can throw it! Or to someone who wants to experience this bland version of a Batman story.

If you are a huge batman fan then please do not read this book.
- Batman shows little mental strength
- Unnecessary parts and acts such as (SPOILER ALERT) pushing the wheelchair down the stairs.
- Everyone at my local comic book shop tried to steer me away from the book, but the the store ratings still pulled me in. 19 times out of 20 they are right. Here is number 20. Most people that rated it highly probably don't have an actual quality Batman graphic novel to compare it to.

Why you should read it:
- If you are a Grant Morrison fan (I don't know why anyone would be, but okay)
- The artwork is neat. Just neat.

It wasn't the greatest batman comic I've read but it was still a pretty good try and I could've cared less about the script part at the end, don't know why they even added that bit. Also the description said it was supposed to have poison ivy in it. They should've added her in the story.

I've always been a die-hard Marvel fan, and I still am, but I can't argue with the fact that Batman is one of the best comic book characters out there. I've got a small collection of Batman TPBs and graphic novels, ranging from the grotesque yet brilliant The Killing Joke to the (fairly) recent blockbuster No Man's Land. That being said, I was sorely disappointed by Arkham Asylum, for three main reasons, which I will go in to.

The first is the art. I simply did NOT care for the style. To McKean's credit, the drawing style perfectly fit the theme of the book, but unfortunately, it's not a theme that lends itself to eye-pleasing art. It looks sloppy, disjointed, overly shadowed, and disorientingly impressionistic. As I said, it's perfect for the book, but it's not a style I like. Rather than clear pictures, you just get odd impressions of what's happening, since most of the panels are composed of the color black, which makes an exotic and often puzzling story even more difficult to follow.

Second is the way Morrison took over the various villains and transformed them to fit his needs. Yes, the Joker is cool in this, but everyone else got rather poor treatment. Two Face, easily Batman's second best villain, becomes a sniveling puke, Maxie Zeus spouts only gibberish, and Killer Croc seems to have lost the ability to speak, becoming only a rampaging monster. And Clayface symbolizes AIDS, for some reason. Figure that out.

The third, and greatest crime, is the treatment of Batman himself. As Morrison himself explains in the back pages, he didn't care for the violent, gruesome, Miller-esque Batman that had emerged from the 80's. So he decided to "kill off" this Batman to recreate him in a form he liked. To do so, he took Batman from being an overly violent, paranoid crime-fighter and turned him into a schiziphrenic mess, a sexually-repressed psychopath with an Oedipus complex. The moment he steps inside the Asylum, he loses control; after the Joker points a gun at Dr. Ruth, Batman goes insane. He spends the rest of the novel wandering around, writhing in shadowy panels and grunting, getting beaten up by every jerk he runs into, and somehow emerges "fixed." Essentially, Morrison was killing off, and spitting on, the most popular incarnation of the character because he didn't care for the characterization; it was written, I think, more for his pleasure than for ours, and that stands out.

There are a few good things about the novel (the Joker is undeniably, black-heartedly in his element), but they're buried under a mountain of bizarre symbology, unnecessary shadow, and a New Ager's view of what Batman should be. If you're a fan of Grant Morrison, you may like this, but if you're a fan of Batman in general, stay away.

Avoid this like the plague. The art is god awful, the writing is illegible, and the plot itself is absolute garbage.
Look up a few pages online if you're curious what I mean. It looks like someone painted it (art and writing) while on the brink of passing out from too much booze.

If you want a real Batman graphic novel, go for something from either Miller or Loeb. Morrison can't write whatsoever.

This is the worst Batman comic ever written/drawn. The sketched style by Mr. McKean makes it so some of the words are difficult to read, and frankly, that's the best part. Mr. Morrison's take on Batman is borderline offensive to any fan of the series. Surely he does not truely believe us all to be pseudo-intellectual 16 year old boys who spend their free time at My Chemical Romance shows, trying to get our hair to do that "flippy thing", nor do we all wear tight, black leather pants and too much eye shadow, or any make up at all in fact! This goth-shiek Bat cannot fight, cannot seem to think, cannot apparently do anything clever, has a vast array of over-sexed villains (people, please, just because you're being over the top with sex does not mean you're being insightful or intelligent; it's just gratuitous). The Joker is gay. Twoface cannot control his bodily functions. Zeus is in it! Batman doesn't even care when someone is killed, he considers it "getting what's deserved". Does any of this sound true to the series or interesting to you? (ZEUS?!) Do not buy this comic unless you spend at least 3 hours a day at Starbuck's. Morrison's mental masturbation (found in the form of college-freshman level philosophy littering pages) is the worst excuse for narrative I have ever had the misfortune to read. If you want something psychological and dealing with madness and criminals with superheroes, try Long Halloween and watch Harvey Dent snap. If you want a good mystery (as the surprise ending in this is forced at best, God awful at worst) try Hush. If you want something like this but are a Batman fan, try the Maxx. Do not buy this comic!

I picked this up based on reviews online and recommendations from websites I trust. I see other people writing reviews calling this a must have, beautiful, poetic...it's garbage. It's not a comic book or a graphic novel. At best it's some college art student's project. It was a VERY interesting concept and it could've been a very cool story. Too bad there was no dialogue, no explanation of the story, no detail what so ever. The art work was worse though. There is expressionism, and then there is smearing some ink messily and hoping people get what you are trying to say. I have read a lot of Batman...hell a lot of comics in general and I have never been as lost as I am while reading this book. There were times where I literally had to stop and stare at a picture for a few minutes just to figure out what it is. That is awesome and intriguing in an art gallery, but while reading a story, it just slows you down and ruins the pace. On top of everything else, they portray Batman as a pansy, his parents as a$$ holes, and apparently Batman is so unsure of himself that he breaks down crying after 5 minutes with a shrink, or one word from one of the baddies. I'm glad some people can really enjoy this but I warn you, this is not a Batman comic book. It is more like a art gallery on acid. If you are into the really far out there art and the stories that give you next to nothing to make you think...i guess? Then this book might be for you. But if you have the chance, look through it at a comic shop or book store before purchasing it, because it is unlike any comic I have ever read and it was BY FAR the least enjoyable comic I have ever read.

As my title says, the artwork is completely unsuitable for any type of narrative, least of all a graphic novel. Don't get me wrong, even though I'm not a fan of that style I'll admit they're nice illustrations, but they it's completely impossible to follow any kind of narrative, even if it's Batman just throwing a punch you would have to look at the frames over and over again just to understand that.
The story is pretty crappy aswel, the characters are really modified to fit the writers needs and it just comes out as characters with random personalities.
I would definitely not recommend this to anyone.

I am a huge fan of the Batman films and the Batman animated series. This was my first read of a Batman graphic novel. I had very high hopes based on all of the praise this received online. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with this "novel". The artwork inside is pretty dark and quite amazing. But everything else about this novel left me scratching my head. This novel succeeds at showing you what a graphic novel would look like if it were created by the inmates themselves. The "story" showcases the brains of the insane asylum's inmates. Character's thoughts, feelings, and memories are shown on each page in a disorganized and disoriented mess.

I did not follow the "story" at all. I could not even follow the story by looking at the pictures. I did not know if each page displayed was supposed to actually be happening, or taking place in a character's head. If my review does not make any sense then you are starting to understand how this graphic novel unfolds.

I was not going to post a review on this, but I felt I should tip the scale against all of these glowing 5 star reviews. This graphic novel is an insane waste of your time. If all of the other batman graphic novels look and read like this one, I would not waste my time reading a single one.

I bought this comic for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day.. he thinks I'm pretty darn awesome because I always get him THE perfect gifts. Well, this was no different. The second he saw it (me too) it was love. The art work is phenomenal and the story is so familiar that it's utterly satisfying. Definitely a must have for any fan of the Arkham games. (I purchased this myself!)

There are few graphic novels so harrowing and that leave such an impact such as this one. Watchmen comes to mind, for its level of depth and plethora of material, backstory, written dialogue, etc. But with Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, there is only so much and the amount of info conveyed to the reader... Well it's overwhelming.
Morrison and Co. take the caped crusader into Arkham asylum where the joker has taken over. The clown prince makes a deal with the dark knight; spend a night in the asylum with them and he'll let the hostages go. When he enters the threshold, that is when everything goes "crazy". There's an unbelievable amount do storytelling in what's not said. These pages hold such an incredibly well done story in the artwork and scenery. The themes and motifs you see as you read the story are incredible (Two-face has a few scenes where he steals the show). If you are any sort of fan of the graphic novel medium or a batman fan, this is a must by. Don't get it confused with the video game (which really has little relation asides the characters and location). This game is everything a fan could ever want or need.