Arkham Asylum

Batman! Oh yes, my favourite superhero (we’re not going to get into a human/superhuman hero/superhero discussion here) in the form of Grant Morrison’s graphic novel. Because the events of the environmentally, congressionally, and constitutionally confused state of Colorado and city of Aurora have me in a state of fear and keep me from viewing Christopher Nolan’s latest masterpiece (at least until I am assured Batman will save us in the event of a theatre shooting) The Dark Knight Rises, I chose to settle down and read this gem.

Now the Arkham Asylum line of recent Batman video games were fantastic, the control and movements were unlike any suphero video game based on a legendary comic book character. Furthermore, the fact that they didn't release it along with movie and with a movie titled with (- The Game) stamped on at the end is a definite plus. Let's us know they have a quality product and they are not just trying to ride the coat tails of a popular film.

The demand for Batman saving the day is always high, especially from me, but the demand for a creepy thriller of a story that has a halloween-like atmosphere and features many villains within Arkham and Batman needing to enter the darkness to fight them all, is not very high. I think that puts this book at a bit of a disadvantage, it sort of fits into its own category of Batman action and it is not what I crave.

Do not get me wrong though, that takes away nothing from the enjoyment. It is a very unique idea with a very creepy story and even creepier artwork. Dr. Arkham and his mother's lunacy driving him to use the old house as a treatment facility for the criminally insane sets everything up beautifully. Tragedy, and tragedy from a character I knew nothing about going into the story, really creates a tension that keeps me engaged.

As much as I love to see the Dark Knight bashing baddies, I really enjoyed reading about Arkham's history and his mind. You feel more like the story is about him with each scene, and Batman is just a reflection of the insanity that ripples through the surface within the halls of the Asylum, becoming mad himself almost by osmosis. Of course, this gives us something to cheer about, but rather than it being a physical villain (which, there are those too), it is his mind.

Of course, the graphic novel is short, almost too short. But short and sweet make it a worthy read in an evening for any hardcore Batman fans. Probably wouldn't recommend it to the casual Batman fans out there though.