Scan barcode
arieschaos's review against another edition
5.0
The art itself is breath taking with the use of lace and paints. Would highly recommend to any Batman/Joker fan, and anyone who adores dark twisty stories and art - I'd love some panels as canvases, they're just so breathtaking.
blindchoice's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
oddmara's review against another edition
1.0
I'm not going to lie, this felt like the comic version of what dude-bro film students think they're doing when they create their grim final year project. First of all, Batman felt very out of character, with the way he treated everyone? Doesn't feel right. The fact he stabbed his hand for some reason??? Him agreeing to play Joker's games??? Even if a lot of things would have been in character if the situation was different, with everything that happens in this story these normally usual reactions didn't make any sense.
It was all just angst for the hell of it, with no actual narrative reason. And I'd like to mention that he fully got impaled and then walked away as if he was fine. Because I guess they thought it would be a cool angsty shot to draw. Or something. Again, just doing things for funsies. What they did to Harvey? Fucking evil. Literally no reason to do that. Makes no sense canonically. And didn't he mostly use the coin to force other people to make decisions rather than himself? The mischaracterization here is actually painful, like, that could have very well been some random ass person. Not to mention that he let Bruce walk away at the end, which again, is not how his coin tosses work.
Moving on to the art, I honestly feel like this style, just like this story, don't fit within the batman universe. Like, it's absolutely gorgeous, but it's a bit too dark (literally, and by that I mean that I felt like watching a poorly lit movie while reading this) and too realistic for a comic, in my opinion, as well as too detailed. There's also so many useless shots that again, are just there to look cool. And don't get me started on the headache that was trying to read the font and colour that they used for the Joker's dialogue. Fucking evil.
The Plato's cavern allusion made me giggle, I'll give him that at least. Not sure the Joker knows who Plato is but you know. At least that was cool.
It was all just angst for the hell of it, with no actual narrative reason. And I'd like to mention that he fully got impaled and then walked away as if he was fine. Because I guess they thought it would be a cool angsty shot to draw. Or something. Again, just doing things for funsies. What they did to Harvey? Fucking evil. Literally no reason to do that. Makes no sense canonically. And didn't he mostly use the coin to force other people to make decisions rather than himself? The mischaracterization here is actually painful, like, that could have very well been some random ass person. Not to mention that he let Bruce walk away at the end, which again, is not how his coin tosses work.
Moving on to the art, I honestly feel like this style, just like this story, don't fit within the batman universe. Like, it's absolutely gorgeous, but it's a bit too dark (literally, and by that I mean that I felt like watching a poorly lit movie while reading this) and too realistic for a comic, in my opinion, as well as too detailed. There's also so many useless shots that again, are just there to look cool. And don't get me started on the headache that was trying to read the font and colour that they used for the Joker's dialogue. Fucking evil.
The Plato's cavern allusion made me giggle, I'll give him that at least. Not sure the Joker knows who Plato is but you know. At least that was cool.
bone173's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brittanyejuneau's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Super powerful story about how Batman might belong with the crazies after all. It dives deep into the lore of the asylum and also how much Batman and his enemies question his sanity.
dynila's review against another edition
2.0
I've never liked McKean's illustration style and it rather ruined what could have been an interesting book for me. The story was hard to follow with the disjointed art.
mazer_nickham's review against another edition
4.0
After reading the graphic novel, being confused but intrigued, going back and reading the script, THEN reading the graphic novel three more times, I finally understand this complex piece of work.
The amount of symbolism Morrison injects is both overwhelming and impressive. I enjoyed doing some minor research on Tarot and the somewhat obscure Batman villains featured to help my understanding of this graphic novel.
Dave McKean also does a great job, there's no way Arkham Asylum would have worked without his direction and style. I contend that his visual interpretation of the Joker is one of the creepiest and best.
I'm the author of a graphic novel blog; for more information on graphic novels including reviews, news and other insights, visit ALD Graphic Novels.
The amount of symbolism Morrison injects is both overwhelming and impressive. I enjoyed doing some minor research on Tarot and the somewhat obscure Batman villains featured to help my understanding of this graphic novel.
Dave McKean also does a great job, there's no way Arkham Asylum would have worked without his direction and style. I contend that his visual interpretation of the Joker is one of the creepiest and best.
I'm the author of a graphic novel blog; for more information on graphic novels including reviews, news and other insights, visit ALD Graphic Novels.
whackboy's review against another edition
3.0
i read this many many years ago. i am revisiting it thanks to a loaned copy from a good friend.
i am moved by grant morrison's ability to convey deeper complexity than one would off-the-cuff ascribe to comic book characters. the artwork by dave mckean is in a similar vein, pushing boundaries of the medium's form firmly into a palimpsestic art. many point to this work as a pivotal moment for comics and they may well be right. the choice to use such iconic and well-established characters as batman and the joker to illustrate the difficulties faced by a life of vigilantism and the nuanced decay that slowly usurps the psyche is a drastic departure from the "OOF!" "BIFF!" and "KAPOW!" title card panels we may have come to expect from a batman story. the form of conflict resolution displayed here is much less cut and dry, much more problematic, and dare i say: unresolved. there is vaguery of vaguery and a challenge present on just about every panel. i often found myself perplexed as to the thrust of story, the continuance of plot, and set adrift on the chaos. i am willing to take this trip. not all are. certainly there is great work here and it is highly conceptual. if you are looking for a dark, bleak, nearly impenetrable immersion in the madness of gotham's insane asylum you could do no better than this.
i am moved by grant morrison's ability to convey deeper complexity than one would off-the-cuff ascribe to comic book characters. the artwork by dave mckean is in a similar vein, pushing boundaries of the medium's form firmly into a palimpsestic art. many point to this work as a pivotal moment for comics and they may well be right. the choice to use such iconic and well-established characters as batman and the joker to illustrate the difficulties faced by a life of vigilantism and the nuanced decay that slowly usurps the psyche is a drastic departure from the "OOF!" "BIFF!" and "KAPOW!" title card panels we may have come to expect from a batman story. the form of conflict resolution displayed here is much less cut and dry, much more problematic, and dare i say: unresolved. there is vaguery of vaguery and a challenge present on just about every panel. i often found myself perplexed as to the thrust of story, the continuance of plot, and set adrift on the chaos. i am willing to take this trip. not all are. certainly there is great work here and it is highly conceptual. if you are looking for a dark, bleak, nearly impenetrable immersion in the madness of gotham's insane asylum you could do no better than this.