I’ve been in a Batman zone of late, possibly because I will be welcoming my very own Robin into the world in – gasp- just under a week now. In my perusal for new Batman reading material, I have found this book that I somehow missed in its initial release, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell.
With all of the Batman mini-series hitting the shelves and the R.I.P. cross-over overwhelming readers, it is easy to miss these books, and that is a shame. Arkham Asylum: Living Hell is a real treat from Spider-Man brain trust-er Dan Slott, Ryan Sook and featuring stunning covers from Goon creator Eric Powell. The series is a bit of a surprise as it presents a vision of Arkham from the inside, sans Batman (aside from the odd guest spot). You may think that this results in a gritty overly histrionic tale focused on the horror of prison a la OZ, but if anything it is a refreshingly new take on the concept.
The comic begins with crook Warren “The Great White Shark” White thinking that he is dodging the system by pleading insane for embezzling funds. This amuses the Gotham court judge to no end as it lands White in Arkham Asylum, a place that has become ‘a hell on Earth.’
The artwork by Ryan Sook (an artist I miss from his time on Hawkman) is remarkably stylized, providing a signature Batman comic in the vein of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and Mike Mignola’s Gotham By Gaslight. Ryan Sook’s page layouts should be studied by modern cartoonists as a guide for how the medium is perfectly utilized.
Aside from the ingenious plot and approach, Slott gives readers something they haven’t had in ages, new characters!! That’s right, aside from mainstays The Joker, Killer Croc and Mad Hatter, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell introduces a few new names such as Jane Doe, Doodlebug, Junkyard Dog and others. This is something that Slott has been doing over in Spider-Man with great success, but I had no idea that he had also done the favor to the Dark Knight’s Rogues Gallery.
I won’t spoil the many twists and turns that the series takes, but the sudden appearance of Jason Blood (AKA ‘The Demon’) threw me for a loop. The wise use of the Joker is a valuable lesson of ‘less is more’ for other writers, with Dan Slott’s characterization making for one of the more memorable stories featuring the clown prince of crime. Likewise the touching and horrifying Humpty Dumpty (a villain almost everyone had plumb forgotten) makes for a landmark rogue origin tale.
Not the somber and grim ‘Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth,’ (which I may incur ridicule for admitting to never ‘getting into’) ‘Living Hell’ is unique, clever and believe it or not… fun. This is a real modern classic Batman comic on the same level as ‘Long Halloween.’ So don’t be one of the many that missed out on this great read and pick up a copy of Arkham Asylum: Living Hell today, it’s a sleeper comic that I am sure you will enjoy.
At Amazon:
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
