A Review of 'Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth' by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean

"Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth' is a hard-hitting psychological horror story featuring Batman and virtually all the inmates of Arkham Asylum, the house for the criminally insane. Led by the Joker, the inmates-- Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Clayface, Scarecrow, and more-- take over the asylum and seize control of the staff.  They're willing to release the hostages, but only if their one demand is met: Batman must be turned over to them, and become one of their own."

I read this at the request of my boyfriend, who is a huge graphic novel fan.  I think this helps me meet my goal of 2-3 graphic novels for the year, although this won't be the last graphic novel that I read this year.  I still have two more on my pile.

This was such a strange novel... I think the story would have made more sense to me had I had a little more back story on Batman.  I knew what Arkham Asylum was (although this book carried a little bit of history, which was quite dark).  I knew why Batman decided to become Batman.  But I didn't know why Batman's presence was demanded at Arkham Asylum in the first place.  So I had to ask my boyfriend.  Apparently Joker is absolutely convinced that Batman is on the same level as everyone else in the Asylum.

Despite missing some relatively important information about this story (no one's fault but my own), I really, really enjoyed the art!  It's such an interesting style.  The panels on each page aren't like your typical comic book.  It's very much like viewing a movie in book form.  It was very accessible that way.  The art was really creepy.  I would describe it as sort of smoky, but perhaps dreamy is a better word.  It's like looking at a more precise version of impressionism.  You can make out details in the faces the way you can't really in impressionism.  It was very eerie... but I absolutely fell in love with it!

I would like to read this graphic novel again when I have a little bit more knowledge on Batman.  I think I'll be able to get a lot more out of this book.

This book will be good for those who are fans of DC comics, love Batman, and have a passion for art.

I give 'Arkham Asylum':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude