Now here is an unusual book. Batman at most appears for a couple of pages near the beginning and towards the end. The same goes for Batgirl, well, towards the beginning anyway. The Demon, aka Etrigan, gets a few more pages, although he initially appears in his civilian identity, Jason Blood. Likewise for Harvey Bullock, who thinks he’s accompanying Blood. This is not a super-hero book. I’m not even sure it’s a super-villain book, as the main occupants of Arkham Asylum only get cameos themselves.
Instead, we have Warren White, aka the Great White Shark. He pleads insanity for financial crimes and gets locked up in Arkham Asylum, one of the toughest prisons for mad people in Gotham City. We follow his life there, beginning with sharing a cell with the Death Rattle, who reserves the top bunk for a girl he killed. His psychiatrist isn’t all she seems either, but that’s a spoiler. He’s told to make friends, although Two-Face depends too much on the flip of a coin. Humpty Dumpty is a little better, although he does like to make things after taking them apart.
How much to say without going too far into spoilers? I am surprised so many of them are let out of their cells for ‘leisure time’, considering the danger they represent. Then we have them accessing equipment they shouldn’t be able to, as well. No wonder there are breakouts, although you do have to wonder how Batman keeps an eye on the place, unless he’s watching their surveillance cameras.
I tend to be a little wary of introducing magic into the asylum, as if they don’t have enough problems there already. Likewise, the story moves away from Warren White as its focus. If anything, Jane Doe becomes more the focus of events, and she’s the one who really should be confined.
Collected from the original mini-series into one complete volume, it’s the kind of story you need to read with the lights down, nervous at every creak of the stairs. Arkham Asylum is certainly not the kind of place you want to spend your holidays in, let alone jail time, unless you’re mad, that is.
Ryan Sook’s art fits the asylum, but I do think the saner people could have been shown in a more normal light, if only for contrast.
What makes this the deluxe edition is a selection of character designs and notes at the end, filling you in on the significant characters, along with storyboards. In many respects, the character notes would have been an advantage to read first, especially as they don’t interfere with the story.
This graphic novel tends to read as somewhat deranged. You have been warned.
GF Willmetts
September 2026
(pub: DC Comics, 2025. 176 page hardback graphic novel. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-79950698-0)
check out website: www.dc.com
Join the conversation (0)