Batman: Arkham Asylum Anniversary Edition: Arkham Asylum - Books (Grant Morrison, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of Batman: Arkham Asylum Anniversary Edition: Arkham Asylum

Caitlin
Norfolk
17th September 2008

Read it carefully, it's seriously good
I only got this today, and having read about a third of the story, I can safely say that it is seriously good. Okay, so it's the first graphic novel I've ever read, but it does really make me want to buy more.

The story is very dark, and the inmates of the asylum (especially the Joker) are pretty damn scary. Although a bit confusing at first, the artwork is brilliant, although I'm still finding it hard to read what the Joker is saying in some panels.

Overall, really good. I would definitely recommend it.

Jams202
London
26th August 2008

Just Give It Some Time
When I first got this book I was a little bit awed by the art. What struck me most was that it look fantastic but the story was a bit thin. However after 2 or 3 reads, the hidden depths of the story are brought out. Try and look for the visual plot clues hidden in the art. Now that I feel I understand the story better, the art really suits the novel - it adds to the crazyness of the Asylum, which is something that a more "classical" artist like Dave Gibbons couldn't do.

Anyway, this is the best selling graphic novel of all time - it has to be pretty damn good.

Interesting person
A long way away from you.
9th August 2008

Strong on art but medium on story
This book is full of excellent abstract creepy artwork. Every page could be on a canvas in a museum. The form, colors and atmosphere is perfect.

The story however is confusing at points and will take more than two or three reads to get it completely(I'm still not completely sure what's going on). The best part of the story I'd have to say is the flashbacks to Professor Arkham during his days as a psychologist. The dialogue during those segments is very thrilling and in some parts, quite inspiring.

All in all, its a good buy. Not a great story but its not completely eye candy either. I recommend it.

danni
liverpool, england
18th February 2008

good,but sometimes abit confusing
lately i have been obsessed with batman, when I was a kid I watched batman on tele, but being young I didnt appreciate it, well I did the drawing and that because I was always drawing, but I mean I didnt relise how many variations there is of batman. Anyway to the point, I bought this book wanting to see how the badies are perceived, so overall the art is good, so if you appreciate illustrations when you buy a comic, its a good buy. Although I have to say, sometimes I missed the hidden meaning in the drawings, as it sometimes came across too cluttered, like mckean has fit too much onto one page and its hard to see what is happening(although this is mckeans style, so I should have known) Aswell, I found it really difficult to read what the joker was saying, as the text is red and scribbley. The story itself is clever though, and its a book to be read slowly, not rushed, to fully understand what is going on.

gav_40
Glasgow
5th October 2006

very 1980s... and not necessarily in a good way
At the risk of being mauled by several hundred angry Arkham Asylum fans, I have to say that this isn't a terrible graphic novel, but it is an incredibly over-rated one.

The main problem is Dave McKean's art. While he's a fantastic cover artist (just check out the gorgeous work he did on the complete run of Sandman and its associated collections), his ultra-impressionistic style just isn't suited to the demands of a linear comic book narrative. The inclusion of Grant Morrison's obsessively-detailed script only highlights this deficiency; so much of a reasonably interesting story has been sacrificed on the alter of admitedly awe-inspiring visuals. The nadir has to be when McKean translates a one-line description of Batman pricking his hand with a shard of glass into a double page orgy of gore as he rams the shard all the way through his palm. Why the hell would Batman do this? Your guess is as good as mine. The only answer I can come up with is 'because the artist thought it would look cool'. That sums up this book for me.

Grant Morrison's script isn't perfect either, although it would certainly have been better served by a Brian Bolland or a Dave Gibbons. The basic 'Batman is as crazy as his enemies' premise is almost as hackneyed as the 'Batman and Robin are gay lovers' one - a shallow take on the character that isn't even investigated very well here .

In his highly readable notes on the script, Morrison claims the story was a comment on the dark as hell, style over substance caricature that the Dark Knight had turned into in the post-Miller 80s. If that really was his intent, he was unsuccessful in bringing it across. Instead, the book seems to display all of the flaws of that period with few of the strengths. Morrison is very capable of writing classic Batman stories, but his 'Gothic' arc in Legends of the Dark Knight with artist Klaus Janson is superior on every level to his debut effort here.

Writer, artist and character have all produced excellent work in the field of comic books, but this just isn't a great example of it. The inclusion of the script makes this a value-for-money packaging of a curio of a bygone age, but the graphic novel itself leaves a lot to be desired.