Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth

I'm a big fan of Dave McKean, and his art is amazing here. Though, I am not a fan of the writing and the ways that Batman seems to be portrayed -- in ways that seem too easy: walk in and join us, run or more bad things happen, and then? Self-mutilation?

And the initial, opening dialogue with the commissioner involving Batman saying he is scared of himself and what will happen at Arkham because of the brief phone call with the Joker? Seems extremely out of character and out of place. Maybe he was just having a really bad day to begin with, which would explain his overall difficulty with handling much of anything as the story begins and progresses. Or maybe if this was an acid trip or nightmare Batman was having, maybe it would make more sense.

The font and writing, especially for Joker, is difficult to read. I had to read certain pieces of dialogue very slowly, or over a few times, in order to make sure I was able to read it properly. Other times the dialogue of a character would be too close to the innerbinding that I couldn't see pieces of words unless I pressed down on the binding enough to get a glimpse of a missing letter or two. Rough layout.

I did like the origin story of Arkham, and when the story narration of Arkham overlapped with current day Batman struggling with similar physical metaphor.

So, three stars for the artwork and for the concept, and not any more due to the overall execution of it.

I can't say I loved this novel but I certainly liked it. It is one of Grant Morrison's earlier stories and therefore it goes for more interesting concepts than what a comic might typically attempt. Like many young minds turned on by intellectual things, however, Morrison is a bit like a hummingbird, flitting from one idea to the next without unifying a comprehensive underlying concept. Also, there might be a little nonsense involved.

From the notes on the text by Morrison:

"PAGE 20: The idea of the Joker's 'super-sanity' haunted me for years and eventually developed into my theories of multiple personality complexes as the next stage in human consciousness development."

Yeah... so that happened.

Despite the cocaine-paced mind wanderings of a guy who is really interested in theoretical ideas the end result is, well, intriguing. Dave McKean's artwork pulls the story into an atmospheric dimension of chaos and is able to excuse much of the eclectic "theory projects" Grant sets out to write by allowing them to fall under the umbrella of unsettling madness. That is where this story shines the most. There is enough dread and emotional violence in the narrative that the spilling out of Morrison's ambitions becomes yet another rabbit-hole which fits neatly in the tale.

Here's an example of what I mean, again from Morrison's notes:

"In Qabalistic numerology, Christ = Satan = Messiah, which is why Croc appears here in crucifixion pose, taking the place of Christ on this blasphemous cross. In this scene, Batman reunites Christ and Serpent, then confronts and overcomes his own attachment to his Mother in a perverse nightmare of lizards, lace and bridal embroidery.

"Much of this subtextual material was lost on the casual reader but that didn't seem to stop us from shifting mega-amounts of copies. I do believe that people respond emotionally to deep mythical patterns whether or not they actually recognize or "understand" them as such, but the fact that book launched at the time of the outrageously successful Batman film by Tim Burton probably helped more than anything else."

I'd say that last line is a pretty huge understatement. The first Tim Burton Batman film inspired feverish consumption. However, I'm glad this book landed success. While there may not be much to take away from this novel, per say, Morrison's ambitions are unlike much before it in the history of the genre. His early success gave him the space he needed to develop his ideas further without having to dig himself out of a failed project.

There is value to this novel. It's creative energy, intellectual ambition, and re-imagining of the genre all make it a worthwhile read.