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thecommonswings 's review for:
Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth
by Grant Morrison
Far more like it - not perfect (it reads as it probably was: the work of someone thinking this is probably the one and only time he can play with these characters and thusly going completely to town) but so much more interesting than The Killing Joke
Partly this is because the highfaluting research and mad stuff, which is always part of the Morrison appeal, is kept very much as a background vein, totally responsible for the structure and the plot but never overt. This is why Moore’s work on Promethea and From Hell is so good: it remains in the background. As soon as we get to Lost Girls and late LOEG it’s like being submitted to a very long, very boring lecture on how clever he is. Anyway. Less of that. The barking mad stuff is actually designed cleverly as Morrison’s own notes explain. This just gives you another level of appreciation of the work rather than being necessary to enjoy the comic
It also finds so much more to do with the Joker, who is genuinely threatening and “other” here. Killing Joke’s Joker is a petty sadist. This guy feels unhinged and dangerous and unpredictable and deeply other. The attempt to make him camp doesn’t quite work out as Morrison intended but I think he’s probably realised that himself and gone some way to find new stuff to do with sexuality over the years. The rest of the villains are also far more threatening than they should be
And this is because of McKean. I’m not a huge fan of McKean because I love his black and white stuff and he’s constantly trying to find new ways to express himself. Thusly I appreciate him more than I like him, but Morrison uses him here like he uses Yeowell in Zenith: all shapes and oddness and weirdness and shades and otherness. It works brilliantly
It’s probably fair to call this the work of a still developing talent, but Morrison succeeds here because he pitches wildly and at least 80% of it works. It’s quite the thing
Partly this is because the highfaluting research and mad stuff, which is always part of the Morrison appeal, is kept very much as a background vein, totally responsible for the structure and the plot but never overt. This is why Moore’s work on Promethea and From Hell is so good: it remains in the background. As soon as we get to Lost Girls and late LOEG it’s like being submitted to a very long, very boring lecture on how clever he is. Anyway. Less of that. The barking mad stuff is actually designed cleverly as Morrison’s own notes explain. This just gives you another level of appreciation of the work rather than being necessary to enjoy the comic
It also finds so much more to do with the Joker, who is genuinely threatening and “other” here. Killing Joke’s Joker is a petty sadist. This guy feels unhinged and dangerous and unpredictable and deeply other. The attempt to make him camp doesn’t quite work out as Morrison intended but I think he’s probably realised that himself and gone some way to find new stuff to do with sexuality over the years. The rest of the villains are also far more threatening than they should be
And this is because of McKean. I’m not a huge fan of McKean because I love his black and white stuff and he’s constantly trying to find new ways to express himself. Thusly I appreciate him more than I like him, but Morrison uses him here like he uses Yeowell in Zenith: all shapes and oddness and weirdness and shades and otherness. It works brilliantly
It’s probably fair to call this the work of a still developing talent, but Morrison succeeds here because he pitches wildly and at least 80% of it works. It’s quite the thing