Hey there Batmania readers, welcome to our very first Graphic Novel review. Every Monday or Tuesday, Im going to review a Graphic Novel and give you guys my thoughts, good or bad, and a recommendation and ultimately a review on a scale between one and ten. So without further ado, Lets get started with Arkham Asylum: Living Hell.
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, written by Dan Slott and featuring artwork from Ryan Soot, is a story about a man known as Warren "The Great White Shark" White, a man infamous for being one of the worst men in the world (as pointed out by numerous people including the murderous Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker.) Warren is on the path to the big house after facing massive counts of fraud, when he decides to plead insanity. Sounds like someone should've warned Warren that in Gotham City it's better to be a criminal than insane. He's shipped straight off to Arkham's Asylum, home of the Criminally Insane.
There's alot more to this story, but the basic question is, do the insane go to Arkham or does Arkham breed the insane? One of the best things about this book is the fact that it shows MASSIVE character development, and this is one of the best displays of character development I've read in a while. So many characters joined the Batman Mythos here, including Warren White, Jane Doe, Doodlebug and so many more make their first appearances here. But they're also joined by longtime favorites, Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, Jason Blood, and Batman, abeit for only a few pages. One would think the lack of Batman hurt the story but actually, It made the story stronger for not utilizing The Caped Crusader much.
Not everything about Arkham Asylum: Living Hell was great though. One of the letdowns was the ending...a strong start but it tripped just short of the finish line. The story was... over-complicated to say the least. I understood it but I wouldn't recommend it to someone without prior knowledge of Etrigan. But all in all, the Character Development, the fact the story was for the most part well written, and the art of course have made this story stand out as one of the best Arkham based stories since Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Thats Why I give Arkham Asylum: Living Hell a solid 8/10 score.
- Jason Todd
Just from reading this, my interest peaked in actually wanting to read it. Sounds like a little behind the scenes type novel which, I'm always trying to see whats going on BESIDES batman, gives an insight inside the insane. lol.
ReplyDeletegreat review. :)
Yes, very well-written review. I hope to check this out one day!
ReplyDelete