ARKHAM ASYLUM:
Apparently I'm on some sort of Horror/Suspense/Thriller bender right now, as I've just re-watched the first Alien movie, watched for the first time Silent Hill, the movie loosely based on the Video Game franchise of the same name, and now, Arkham Asylum.
The story was good. I say this to contrast with the next statement that the Art, while unique and interesting in its own way, honestly gets in the way of the story a little bit. In my opinion, one of the unique things about comics is how they convey the story simultaneously through the artwork and the dialogue/text. The problem arises with some of the more loose panels in Arkham that don't do their job of conveying the literal story. The only thing that makes me agree with the choice to present this story in this way is that the art isn't so much directly conveying the "literal" story, but more a reinforcement of the chaotic, insanity that the characters all feel. "We're all mad here."
I brought up Silent Hill because the characters in the story bring up how the Asylum itself seems to drive people insane. Amadeus Arkham's mother, Elizabeth, Amadeus himself, and now the Doctor overseeing the hospital. In Silent Hill, the main antagonist is usually understood to be the town itself. I say usually because the "antagonists" in most of the games is some sort of demonic cult who sacrifice people. In the movie, they are sacrificing the people to appease the darkness that lives within the world, that will "bring the apocalypse" if they don't burn witches. This "Apocalypse" they think happened turns out to be an apocalypse of their own design, for the darkness is actually the darkness inside of a little girl who was burned for being a witch. Her hatred and anger seeping into the town causing the town to trap lost souls and forever torment them with their actions.
I feel like this is a more valid approach to horror than some of the American horror films and stories I've heard. Once you give an inconceivable horror a name and a face, it ceases to become as horrifying.
Arkham Asylum shows us the madness in all of those who reside at Arkham. The Joker, Two Face, Ruth Adams, and even Batman all go crazy within its walls. One can argue that they all were already insane, and that madness is the true status quo, but we are all bound "confined to the euclidean prison of sanity" in the outside world. In his final words of the comic, the Joker remarks that Batman should try to enjoy himself out there in the asylum, but if it ever gets too tough he always has a place to stay in Arkham. This really drives home the idea that the real world is all insane, but they try to confine their sanity to appear civilized.
The other really remarkable thing this comic does is describe perfectly my problem with most super hero comics. Why do all the super villains in the world seem to only reside in Gotham City? Or, in Spiderman's case, why do they all come to New York? You can argue that the DC and Marvel Universes encompass more cities, and each hero only has to take care of his city. But what did New York do before Spiderman? What did Gotham do before Batman? Did super villains run rampant in the world before their origin stories?
We only see the super villains after the heroes arrive. The insanity in the city is released once the Bat begins his crusade. They truly are reflections, manifestations of the duality of good and evil, the balance of the world. "Sometimes I think the Asylum is a head. A head that dreams us all into being. Perhaps its YOUR head, Batman? Arkham is the looking glass. And WE are YOU."
