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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Incredible comic, full of layers, so much symbolism you can even begin to recount it all. The 15th Anniversary Edition has all of footnotes and a copy of the final draft of the script, which were fascinating to read.
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Arkham Asylum is a classic for a reason. The story by Grant Morrison is two tales about the horrors of madness. In one, Batman must confront not only his deadliest foes (such as the Joker and Two-Face among others) but his own personal demons. Will he be driven mad too? The other story is about Amadeus Arkham, founder of the asylum that bears his name, and his descent into madness.
Arkham Asylum is a pure work of art, heavy on symbolism. Influence by Freud, The Brothers Quay, and Alice in Wonderland, Morrison and McKean took a variety of influences to create a fresh and mature look at Batman. Dave McKean's artwork is fantastic - and innovative. Creepy yet elegant, you can see how he was obvious influenced by The Brothers Quay as created a mixed media landscape for a comic. This (to my knowledge) had never been done before. It's a non-traditional comic to say the least.
Profound. Artistic. Disturbing. Moving.
This might be my favorite Batman comic.
Give us the arthouse movie adaptation, please.............
Arkham Asylum is a pure work of art, heavy on symbolism. Influence by Freud, The Brothers Quay, and Alice in Wonderland, Morrison and McKean took a variety of influences to create a fresh and mature look at Batman. Dave McKean's artwork is fantastic - and innovative. Creepy yet elegant, you can see how he was obvious influenced by The Brothers Quay as created a mixed media landscape for a comic. This (to my knowledge) had never been done before. It's a non-traditional comic to say the least.
Profound. Artistic. Disturbing. Moving.
This might be my favorite Batman comic.
Give us the arthouse movie adaptation, please.............
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
We continue my education of classic Batman comics that include the Joker and make another strong case for some confused sexuality (among other confusions), an overt case, mind you.
A Serious House on Serious Earth puts a broken “sexually weak” Batman in the madhouse. Just another of the Joker’s April’s fools pranks in a psychological, high-brow sequential art work.
Grant has The Joker be several things to Batman - he’s effeminate, a Madonna/Mother warp trope, Frederic Wertham (taunts of his relationship to Robin), a mirror. In a more open society, we might even see Batman in a bizarre on-again, off-again relationship with Joker (rather than the watered down version with Catwoman.)
“He projects an absolute confidence that confer upon him a bizarre kind of attractiveness and sexuality. It is the attraction of the perverse and forbidden. The Joker personifies the irrational dark side of us all.”
So that’s all to say it’s pretty gay up in there.
(Not that I’m thrilled with homosexual desire being juxtaposed with mental instability)
But it’s more a jab to cut at Batman and his inability to have normal relationships, and his anti-social behavior.
And more directly a case that (at least THIS Batman) belongs in the madhouse.
Enough about this: the art is warped, the text is hard to read but it adds to the comic and its unsettling, less defined art. Some panels were confusing (read across the two page spread or left page, right page) which is usually enough to make me knock a star, but the story is damn cool and adds to the gothic vibe of Arkham Asylum, for all it represents.
It makes me wonder if Metropolis actually has an asylum or if they ship the mentally instable elsewhere or what.
A Serious House on Serious Earth puts a broken “sexually weak” Batman in the madhouse. Just another of the Joker’s April’s fools pranks in a psychological, high-brow sequential art work.
Grant has The Joker be several things to Batman - he’s effeminate, a Madonna/Mother warp trope, Frederic Wertham (taunts of his relationship to Robin), a mirror. In a more open society, we might even see Batman in a bizarre on-again, off-again relationship with Joker (rather than the watered down version with Catwoman.)
“He projects an absolute confidence that confer upon him a bizarre kind of attractiveness and sexuality. It is the attraction of the perverse and forbidden. The Joker personifies the irrational dark side of us all.”
So that’s all to say it’s pretty gay up in there.
(Not that I’m thrilled with homosexual desire being juxtaposed with mental instability)
But it’s more a jab to cut at Batman and his inability to have normal relationships, and his anti-social behavior.
And more directly a case that (at least THIS Batman) belongs in the madhouse.
Enough about this: the art is warped, the text is hard to read but it adds to the comic and its unsettling, less defined art. Some panels were confusing (read across the two page spread or left page, right page) which is usually enough to make me knock a star, but the story is damn cool and adds to the gothic vibe of Arkham Asylum, for all it represents.
It makes me wonder if Metropolis actually has an asylum or if they ship the mentally instable elsewhere or what.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes