I had heard such wonderful reports about this book and was very disappointed when I eventually bought it. I found the story weak and tedious and the artwork ugly and claustrophobic. Truth be told, I love Graphic novels but only if they use the ligne Claire style – as in the Long Halloween, my favourite Batman book.

Arkham Asylum is the place of legends, Batman legends, housing such greats as Two Face aka Harvey Dent, Clayface, The Mad Hatter and, of course, Batter’s nemesis, The Joker. In this substandard story the inmates take over the Asylum and Batman hands himself over when the Joker threatens to blind a young nurse.

The Asylum is haunted by its founder, a mad doctor, and the story deteriorates into an acid trip or fever dream – all well and good for those who enjoy that sort of thing, but I hated it.
I had heard such wonderful reports about this book and was very disappointed when I eventually bought it. I found the story weak and tedious and the artwork ugly and claustrophobic. Truth be told, I love Graphic novels but only if they use the ligne Claire style – as in the Long Halloween, my favourite Batman book.

Arkham Asylum is the place of legends, Batman legends, housing such greats as Two Face aka Harvey Dent, Clayface, The Mad Hatter and, of course, Batter’s nemesis, The Joker. In this substandard story the inmates take over the Asylum and Batman hands himself over when the Joker threatens to blind a young nurse.

The Asylum is haunted by its founder, a mad doctor, and the story deteriorates into an acid trip or fever dream – all well and good for those who enjoy that sort of thing, but I hated it. ( )

A classic one shot by a great comics writer (Morrison) and a great comics artist (McKean). Well, it is what it is and unfortunately, what it is has been done to death in the years since its original publication--the psychology of Batman. This edition is worth picking up for the inclusion of Morrison's original script. ( )

This is one of the best batman stories out there. The writing is great, and so is the artwork. Batman, joker, two-face,are all wrote perfectly. ( )

Supremely creepy, dark and visually arresting. I admit I checked it out at the library simply because Arkham was in the title; I thought it was a graphic rendering of a Lovecraft story, and was surprised to find I'd brought a Batman comic home. It was a fantastic read though; not at all what I expected from a "big name" comic hero. I tend to favor comics and graphic novels that don't have superheros in them, but I might have to re-think that stance. Batman as a flawed hero, conflicted and strange and dark, has been explored well in movies I think, but this was another great rendering of a man with serious problems and issues who somehow thrives in spite of, or because of, them. The artwork is amazing and feels multi-media and textural, and does a good job enhancing the dialogue and story. It was really just a great read; I would recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in comics. ( )

I found it falls into that classic comics trap: the story and the writing aren't as good as the artwork ( )