Just as many readers have mistaken Batman: Year One as a Batman origin story when it is actually much more of a James Gordon origin story, many readers have mistaken Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth as one of the greatest Joker stories when it is actually the story of a building the building, Arkham Asylum, which is both a place and a character in Gotham City. The character of Arkham Asylum is described by the phenomena surrounding its inhabitants, from its founder, psychologist Amadeus Arkham, to its most deranged prisoner, the Joker, forcing readers to question whether Arkham is a place where the already insane are collected, or a place where those collected become insane.
Grant Morrison does a fantastic job weaving a complex story that serves as a character study of a place. Arkham Asylum is perhaps better known because of the dreamy, and sometimes terrifying, artwork of Dave McKean. Batman's journey into the heart of darkness of Gotham City is one of my favorite Batman-related stories, and I've come across at least three viable explanations for the story's ambiguous ending, all of which reveal something interesting about Batman, Arkham Asylum, Joker and Two Face, but most importantly, about me. It is entirely possible that Morrison intended for Arkham Asylum to be some sort of Rorschach test for his readers. Where Bruce Wayne / Batman is bound to see a bat, I found myself seeing only brilliance.
No comments:
Post a Comment