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74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not a Superhero Comic, May 25, 2001
I am sure I am going to confuse a lot of Batman fans with this review and I expect a lot will rate this review as not useful, but this book is NOT a superhero comic, and it would do it a disservice to review it as such. It is instead a psychological theory presented as a superhero comic that will appeal more to fans of Eraserhead than to fans of Batman. The first thing to note about this book is that Batman is not mentioned in the title for a reason. Although Batman is in the book and Arkham Asylum is where all of his criminally insane adversaries are kept locked up, this is not a book about Batman engaging in physical battles. Batman only serves, on the one hand, as the eyes and ears of the reader so that we can explore Arkham in all its details, and on the other, as a representation of the conscious mind.Basically, Arkham serves as a Jungian metaphor for the mind, and all of its inmates represent the hidden aspects of the unconscious, with the Joker representing (in my opinion) the Trickster archetype whose role is to challenge and tear down the conscious mind, often with humour, and sometimes at the risk of destroying it. Batman himself serves to represent the conscious facade (i.e. those parts of one's personality people present to the external world while trying to suppress the unconscious) trying to keep the inmates (the unconscious) locked behind walls. Therefore Batman, with his mask, trying to keep the inmates in the Asylum is the perfect metaphor for Jungian psychology. However, as the artist, McKean, has pointed out in interviews, Batman himself is not the picture of rationality, dressing up like a bat to fight crime, just as Jung points out the Facade is not a totally sane representation of the Self. Therefore, as Batman (the conscious) continues to try to fight back against the inmates (the unconscious), cracks begin to show in his character. According to Jungian theory, the truly sane person can face their unconscious and accept it as part of their personality instead of suppressing it and mistaking their public facade as their true identity. The Joker basically sums up Jungian theory by noting that it is the people outside (like Batman, presenting a false public persona) who are the real inmates. As usual, McKean's multimedia art is spectacular, and noone is better at representing imagery straight out of dreams and the unconscious than he. Morrison's writing is less emotionally involving than his other works like the Mystery Play, reading more like an intellectual exercise, but McKean's art helps make up for the lack of the script's impact.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An inside look at a madman's nightmare., July 7, 2005
First, there are two things anyone interested in purchasing or reading this title should know about it beforehand. One, that it is probably not for everyone's taste as it isn't your traditional Batman vs. the villain-of-the-week sort of story, but rather a darker, more disturbing kind of tale that focuses on a deep, complex exploration of madness, told alternately from three different points of view: that of Amadeus Arkham, founder of the asylum, that of Batman and his other persona, Bruce Wayne, and of course, that of all the madmen locked up at the asylum, including the super villains.
Two, that it is "Suggested for Mature Readers" on the back cover as it's probably one of the most unnecessarily violent and ghastly graphic novels ever published under the Batman title, although, I definitely think - regardless of it being at times a bit too disgusting for my taste - that it's also one of the most original and beautifully illustrated narratives ever created for the genre. The superb artwork is perfect for the story with its surreal, dreamy, and suggestive look, even if, on occasion, it gets a little difficult to follow, especially with certain clashing combinations of colors and typographies. Still, the lavish intricacy of the compositions and the broad range of techniques used by the artist are a spectacular visual feast worth the price of the book alone.
The dual story, told in a nicely interwoven parallel, on one hand, explores Arkham's past and how his reasons for founding the asylum derived from decisions he made during the most crucial points of his life, and on the other, focuses on Batman's present day mission to go inside the asylum and, while confronting the insecurities about his own sanity, regain control of the facility after it's been taken over by the Joker.
Arkham's story is from beginning to end an emotional journey through the situations and escalating tragedies that can slowly drive a man insane. It's marvelously shrouded in a veil of mystery and superstition, and brilliantly placed in time during the beginning of the 1900's both by the overall mood of the art and the historical details sprinkled here and there, including, among others, having Arkham meet and learn from both Carl Jung and Aleister Crowley.
Batman's story, told from both his point of view and that of the inmates' is, on the other hand, a lot darker, more twisted and sadly less consistent. Our hero's mischaracterization, present throughout the whole story, is obvious from his first line of dialogue, with which he's not only portrayed as a constantly daunted man, but also as one who reacts with shock and disbelief to the inmates' atrocities and maniacal behavior that he's so used to fighting. Contrastingly, the clever analysis of Joker's psychosis is brilliant right to very last page of the book, even in spite of the endless sexually perverted innuendos from him - who even hints at a homosexual relationship between Batman and Robin - that somewhat lessen the impact of the story's emotional momentum.
The story concludes with the most satisfactory ending I've so far encountered in any graphic novel - worthy of a 5-star rating on its own -, an excellent comparison of the contrasts and similarities between Arkham and Batman's sense of duty, the ghosts of their pasts, and the skeletons in each one's closet.
As you'd expect from the title, along with the Joker, a fair amount of villains make an appearance, enriching Arkham Asylum's decadent milieu, among them Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Clayface, Prof. Milo, Dr. Destiny, Maxie Zeus, Black Mask, etc. The constant references to April Fools' Day and Alice in Wonderland, the changes introduced to Two-Face's alter ego, Harvey Dent, and the re-imagining of some of the other super villains, are truly delightful as well. But where the most pleasant surprises of the story lie for me are on Batman's iterated questioning of the "cures" administered to the inmates by the asylum's doctors, and the contemplation of the possibility that madness might not only be a physical illness but that it could also be a contagious disease.
Despite the fact that this book could use some degree of fine-tuning in a few places and a little less unwarranted violence in others, overall it holds its own and delivers a fantastic story about how different people perceive the world around them when they see it through their own demented biases.
This volume is definitely a must-have addition to any serious Batman collection.
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poetic, November 23, 2005
First founded in the 1920s following the death of his insane mother, Amadeus Arkham converted his late mother's house into a mental institution, knowing little that he had set in motion a chain of events of horrific consequence and bizarre circumstance. Years later, the asylum had become a living Hell on earth, a mental hospital for the deadliest criminal individuals in Gotham City, the enemies of the legendary Batman. April Fool's Day has arrived, and the inmates have all escaped and, led by The Joker, have seized control of the asylum and drag the one man responsible for their incarcerations, Batman, into the madhouse and put him through a mad funhouse of mind cancer. Learn the disturbing origin of Dr. Arkham, and dive into the minds of some of the inmates!
I have always considered the Batman to be such a poetic character, and so this story is unique and fun to read in such its own unique, psychologically thrilling way. Writer Grant Morrison's idea in his book are mystic and focus mainly on the symbiosis between Batman and the insidious psychopaths he has time and time again helped incarcerate. "A Serious House on Serious Earth" is a Bat tale unlike any other, because the characters each represent something. Everything in the story is depicted as some form of symbolism, and include the works of the psychology of Carl Jung, the works of Joseph Campbell, and Lewis Carroll (Bat villain Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, plays a particularly symbolic role here). The villains-Joker, Two-Face, Clayface, Mad Hatter, Maxie Zeus, Killer Croc-each represent important symbols, even Batman himself is a form of symbolism in this tale; Dave McKean's chaotic and mystic artwork is very effective in backing this up (each page actually feels like the inside of the mind of a madman). The main point of "Arkham Asylum" is about madness and facing one's own sanity and fears. Even Batman himself questions his own rationality and wonders if he is really all that different from his enemies. Because it is such a symbolic and poetic tale, "Arkham Asylum" is one of the prizes in my ever-growing graphic novel library. It seems to change every time I read it, and I appreciate it more with each rereading. The story is also brutal and frightening, and more fit for mature reader (it has a pedophilic Mad Hatter in it!). Batman graphic novels have become MUCH darker and more serious ever since the 80s, particularly thanks to Frank Miller and his instant classic, "The Dark Knight Returns." It makes me sad to think that all too many people remember Batman as a campy, comedic icon.
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