Jump to content

Arkham Asylum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nerrolken (talk | contribs) at 06:50, 17 September 2009 (→Toys). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the comic book, see Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. For the video game, see Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Template:Infobox comics location

The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to simply as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Comics Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman. Many psychopathic criminals from across the DC Universe, mostly from Batman's own rogues gallery (such as the Joker, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, Bane and Two-Face), have been imprisoned within the Asylum.

History

Arkham Asylum is located on the outskirts of Gotham City and is where those of Batman's foes considered to be legally insane are incarcerated (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary). Although it has had numerous administrators, recent comic books have featured Jeremiah Arkham. Inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, and in particular his fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, the asylum was created by Dennis O'Neil and first appeared in Batman #258 (October 1974); much of its back-story was created by Len Wein during the 1980s.

Arkham Asylum does not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases (most notably the Joker who is frequently shown escaping at will); escapes are frequent and those who are 'cured' and released tend to re-offend. Furthermore, several staff members, including at least one director, have ended up as residents, notably Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Lyle Bolton and, in some incarnations, Drs. Jonathan Crane and Hugo Strange.

In addition, prisoners with unusual medical conditions that prevent them from staying in a regular prison are housed there. For example, Mr. Freeze is not technically insane, but he requires a strongly refrigerated environment to stay alive; Arkham, with special conditions required for certain patients or inmates being a regularity rather than exception, is potentially seen by authorities to be an ideal location under such circumstances.

Gotham criminals deemed "insane" or "mentally unfit" by a court of law generally are treated at Williams Medical Center before being deemed dangerous enough to be sent to Arkham Asylum[1].

Origins

The one-shot graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth establishes that the Asylum was named after Elizabeth Arkham, the mother of founder Amadeus Arkham. The original name of the asylum was Arkham Hospital. Its dark history began in the early 1900s when Arkham's mother, having suffered from mental illness most of her life, committed suicide. (It was later revealed that her son actually euthanized her, and repressed the memory.) Amadeus Arkham decided, then, as the sole heir to the Arkham estate, to remodel his family home in order to properly treat the mentally ill, so others might not suffer as his mother had. Prior to the period of the hospital's remodeling, Arkham treated patients at the State Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis, where he and his wife, Constance, and daughter, Harriet, had been living for quite some time.

Upon telling his family of his plans, they moved back to his family home to oversee the remodeling. While there, Arkham received a call from the police notifying him that Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins — a serial killer referred to Arkham by Metropolis Penitentiary while at State Psychiatric Hospital — had escaped from prison, and sought his considered opinion on the murderer's state of mind. Shortly afterward, Arkham returned to his home to find his front door wide open. Inside, he discovered the raped and mutilated bodies of his wife and daughter in an upstairs room, with Hawkins' nickname carved on Harriet's body.

Despite this family tragedy, the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane officially opened that November. One of its first patients was Martin Hawkins, whom Arkham insisted on personally treating. After treating Hawkins for six months, Arkham strapped him to the electroshock couch then deliberately and purposefully electrocuted him. The death was treated as an accident but contributed to Arkham's gradual descent into madness, which he began to believe was his birthright. Eventually, Arkham was institutionalized in his own hospital, where he died.

Publication history

Arkham Asylum first appeared in 1974, in Batman #258 by Dennis O'Neil. In this story, it is named as "Arkham Hospital" (although it is clear what kind of hospital it is); "Arkham Asylum" first appeared in another O'Neil story the following year, but it was not until 1979 that "Arkham Asylum" completely replaced "Arkham Hospital" (and the occasional "Arkham Sanitarium") as the institution's name. By 1979, too, the move to have the asylum closer to Gotham had begun; that was completed in 1980, when Batman #326 by Len Wein described the Asylum's location "deep in the suburbs of Gotham City". (Perhaps for this reason Batman #326 is listed in some histories as the first appearance of Arkham Asylum.) It was also Wein who, in 1985's Who's Who #1, created its current backstory.

Arkham Asylum has been demolished or destroyed several times in its history, notably during the events of Batman: The Last Arkham (see below). It is also seriously damaged at the beginning of the Knightfall storyline, when Bane uses stolen munitions to blow up the facility and release all the inmates. After these events, the asylum is relocated to a large mansion known as "Mercey Mansion". At the beginning of the No Man's Land storyline, the asylum is closed down and all its inmates set free (a timer is used to open the doors two minutes before the city is sealed). This is orchestrated by the administrator himself, who had the choice of releasing the inmates or watching them all starve or kill each other. In the middle of the story, it is revealed that Batman has established a hidden base within the subbasement of the asylum during the Prodigal storyline known as "Northwest Batcave." [2]

During the No Man's Land storyline, the Joker and Harley Quinn take over Arkham. With the sole exception of the Riddler, the inmates elect to remain in the cut-off Gotham City.

After the events of the Sinestro Corps War when Amon Sur is murdered, the Sinestro Corps ring seeks a replacement sentient from Sector 2814 and travels to the Asylum where it chooses The Scarecrow. They nearly induct him into the Sinestro Corps before they are foiled by Hal Jordan and John Stewart.[3]

After Batman's disappearance due to the events of Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis, Black Mask frees the inmates from Arkham as they are being transferred at the start of Battle for the Cowl. He declares himself their new leader, proving his power by blowing up the Asylum. [4]

In the Battle for the Cowl one-shot, Dr. Arkham wanders among the remains of the Asylum as he muses on his life. He reveals that he has discovered blueprints created by his ancestor, the first Dr. Arkham, for a new Arkham Asylum. He also contemplates the fates of his own nonviolent, "special" patients: an artist with almost no facial features who must paint facial expressions onto his almost blank face to express himself; a man obsessed with his own reflection in a series of mirrors in his room; and a woman supposedly so ugly, one glance at her face would drive anyone insane. Upon discovering his "special" patients (unharmed from the destruction thanks to their secluded cells), Arkham resolves to rebuild the facility according to his ancestor's vision, but to serve as a literal asylum for mentally ill patients in order to shelter them from the outside world. However, when told to be happy with the new development, the artist secretly paints his face white with a hideous grin, reminiscent of the Joker; it is implied that the "special" inmates, as well as Arkham himself, have given in to madness.

Inmates

File:BATMAN SHADOW OF THE BAT 82.jpg
Some of Arkham's inmates. Cover to Batman: Shadow of the Bat #82 (1999). Art by Glen Orbik.

Originally, Arkham Asylum is used only to house genuinely insane characters - the Joker and Two-Face are inmates from its very first appearance - but over the course of the 1980s a trend was established of having the majority of Batman's supervillain opponents end up at Arkham, whether or not they are actually insane. Nearly all of Batman's enemies have spent some time in Arkham.

Other DC Universe publications that feature Arkham Asylum and its inmates include Alan Moore's Swamp Thing (wherein Jason Woodrue — The Floronic Man — is detained) and The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, wherein Doctor Destiny escapes to wreak havoc on both the real and dream worlds.

Arkham has also been featured in varying capacities in a number of high profile DC miniseries events, such as Identity Crisis, Day of Vengeance, Countdown, and Crisis on Infinite Earths among others.

List of notable inmates

Batman villains

Others

Graphic novels featuring Arkham Asylum

The Dark Knight Returns

Main article: The Dark Knight Returns

The Dark Knight Returns, written by Frank Miller, takes place about 10 years after Batman "retires". It depicts an "Arkham Home for the Emotionally Troubled", presumably a renaming of the asylum which occurs as a result of the extreme political correctness which had evolved in Miller's dystopian setting. The Joker is housed there, catatonic since Batman's disappearance, but awakens when the vigilante resumes action. Under the employ of the home is Bartholemew Wolper, a condescending psychologist who treats the Joker humanely, even going so far to arrange for him to appear on a late night talk show.

In the sequel entitled The Dark Knight Strikes Again it is revealed that the patients have taken over and have resorted to cannibalism. Plastic Man is one of the more notable patients in this version of Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

Main article: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is an original graphic novel written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Dave McKean. It was published by DC Comics in 1989. The book sold over 500,000 and was for many years DC's best-selling graphic novel.

The book was praised for its exploration of ideas, storytelling, and unconventional artwork and also proved financially and artistically lucrative for Morrison.

Batman: The Last Arkham

Main article: Batman: The Last Arkham

Written by Alan Grant; pencils by Norm Breyfogle.

Originally a four-issue storyline that kicked off the Shadow of the Bat series. In it, the old Arkham Asylum is destroyed, to be replaced by a new and more modern facility. The story introduces Jeremiah Arkham, the asylum's director, and nephew of Amadeus Arkham; and serial killer Victor Zsasz. In an attempt to discover how criminals, specifically Zsasz, keep escaping, Batman has himself committed to the asylum. Jerimiah uses various methods, such as unleashing many inmates on Batman at once, in an attempt to see what makes him tick.

This story makes a few passing references to the flashback events of Arkham Asylum, such as Amadeus Arkham taping over the mirror, and his journal is shown early in the story. Jeremiah also mentions his relative's descent into madness.

An episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled "Dreams of Darkness", also about Batman in Arkham, seems[original research?] to have been a very loose adaptation of this storyline, replacing Zsasz with the Scarecrow, and replacing Jeremiah Arkham with a more nondescript administrator, who is portrayed as naïve rather than sinister.

Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

Living Hell was written by Dan Slott, penciled by Ryan Sook with inks by Sook, Wade Von Grawbadger and Jim Royal. The series was edited by Valerie D'Orazio. Eric Powell created the painted cover art which appeared on both the original series and graphic novel compilation.

This six-issue miniseries and the subsequent trade paperback provided an intricate and multi-layered look at Arkham Asylum from several points of view: the director (Dr. Jeremiah Arkham), a psychiatrist (Dr. Anne Carver), the guards (particularly one Aaron Cash), and the inmates. There is a particular focus on previously-unknown residents: Jane Doe (a cypher who assumes the identities of those she kills), Junkyard Dog (a man obsessed with trash), Doodlebug (an artist who uses blood in his paintings), Lunkhead (a hulking bruiser), Death Rattle (a cult leader who speaks to the dead), and Humpty Dumpty (an obese serial killer who cuts his victims into pieces). The driving force is the recent incarceration of a ruthless investor, Warren "The Great White Shark" White, as well as the demonic element suggested by the title. White, facing charges of massive fraud, pleads insanity and has himself committed to Arkham. He soon realizes the horrors of the place and tries to survive. Ultimately, he is locked in a freezer and suffers facial wounds. He now resembles his nickame. The demonic threat is nullified after the sacrifice of several patients.

The most familiar characters, such as the Joker, Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, and Batman himself, appear for a few pages apiece.

Black Orchid

Black Orchid, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean, also featured Arkham Asylum. The award-winning graphic novel introduced an updated version of the crimefighter Black Orchid, who dies, is reborn and starts a quest to find her identity. During this she encounters Batman, who directs her to Arkham Asylum, where she meets The Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and the Joker. Arkham is viewed as a desperate place where inmates dwell in madness and terror, much in the same fashion as in A Serious House on Serious Earth (also illustrated by McKean).

Other media

Arkham has appeared beyond the pages of the comics in numerous guises and designs. Its appearances include:

Television

  • Arkham Asylum is mentioned by Barry Allen, who is secretly The Flash, in an episode of The Flash television series.
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Arkham has appeared frequently in the series. It is depicted as generally dark and gloomy, and the cells are similar to those in the comics, being primarily closed via glass doors. Much of the rest of the asylum resembles a prison more than a mental hospital, however; in the episode "The Trial" [citation needed], it is explained that all criminals apprehended by the Batman are sent to Arkham rather than jail (although it is shown that the Penguin goes to Blackgate, a regular jail, determining that he is sane and accountable for his crimes).
The alternate Arkham Asylum as it appeared on the Justice League episode A Better World, Part 2.
  • The TV show Justice League featured Arkham in a brief cameo during A Better World, Part 2 in an alternate dimension where a Fascist League has taken over the world and dispatches villains via execution or lobotomy. The asylum is run by a lobotomized version of the Joker, and staffed by other lobotomized batman villains, including Two-Face as the caretaker and Poison Ivy as the gardener, and is protected by robotic copies of Superman. The entire inmate population is lobotomized by the alternate Superman's heat vision (notably, Superman did not lobotomize the Ventriloquist, but instead did so to his doll, Scarface). The Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy are used in both Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League as the key inmates of the Asylum.
File:Arkham Asylum TB.jpg
Arkham Asylum as it appeared on The Batman.
  • Arkham Asylum appears in The Batman[87]. Like the original Arkham, several major villains end up in this institution, such as the Joker, the Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Ventriloquist, Hugo Strange and Clayface. Firefly goes to a regular prison, until becoming Doctor Phosphorus, who requires special chemical care.
    The staff is far more heavily armored than in its previous incarnation, wearing heavy trenchcoats and gloves, which is, in spite of itself, no deterrent for the inmates to easily escape. Much like in the Batman Forever tie-in game and Batman Begins, it is presented as being inside Gotham, though here it is presented as occupying a small island on a river, with a bridge connecting it to the city.

Films

  • Arkham Asylum was seen at the end of the film Batman Forever[88]. It is designed as a tall, spiraling castle-like structure, with narrow hallways lined with brightly-lit glass bricks. The Riddler is incarcerated in a large padded cell. The chief psychiatrist is named Dr. Burton, a reference to Tim Burton, who directed 1989's Batman and Batman Returns. There was originally a more in-depth sequence involving Two-Face escaping from Arkham at the beginning of the film, but it was cut.
  • In Batman & Robin[89], Arkham appeared a number of times in this film. It first appears when Mr. Freeze is taken there midway through the film, and later at the end when he and Poison Ivy are shown as cellmates. This version is several dozen stories tall on an island several hundred feet above water which the villains jump into as an escape. Lightning also emits a bright green flash through the structure's windows.
  • In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the final battle between the original Batman and The Joker taking place at an abandoned Arkham. It is also the same spot where Robin (brainwashed and disfigured into a younger version of The Joker) kills Joker. A deleted scene (featured on both versions of the DVD as a special feature) has Bruce Wayne touring the abandoned Arkham, where Terry McGinnis (Wayne's successor as Dark Knight) follows and sees Joker's corpse hanging. Both the film and the Batman Beyond episode "Splicer" suggesting that the facility has moved to a different location.
  • In Batman Begins[90], Arkham plays a much larger role than a simple jail in this film, with Jonathan Crane (also known as the Scarecrow) being either the administrator or at least a high ranking doctor at the Asylum, and using it to conduct sadistic experiments with his fear gas, using his own patients as guinea pigs. He also uses the pipes under the Asylum to empty his toxin into the Gotham water supply. While in the comics it is located at Mercey Island (which is at the east end of the Sprang River, which divides two of the three main islands that constitute the city), in Batman Begins, it is in the middle of Gotham City, located in the slum region known as the Narrows. Notably, Zsasz is shown as a high-ranking criminal being held in the asylum.
  • Arkham makes an appearance in the animated direct-to-DVD anthology film Batman: Gotham Knight (set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) within the segment "Crossfire." Expanding what Lt. James Gordon's line that "the Narrows is lost" at the end of Batman Begins, the film shows that the entire island has become Arkham Asylum's ground, with Narrows residents evacuated from the island after the inmates escaped from the facility. After the riot at the end of Batman Begins, the city apparently turned the entire island into high-tech facility prison/hospital in a few months after the incident, enclosed by guard towers, high fences, and the island's natural barrier to keep the inmates from escape. The Gotham City Police Department also sends officers to its drawbridges to make sure no one would cross - in or out - without permission.
  • Arkham is mentioned briefly by Harvey Dent, Batman, and Alfred in The Dark Knight when they reference Arkham patient Thomas Schiff, but beyond this instance the asylum is never seen or explored in the story.

Video games

  • In Batman Forever (SNES game), Arkham Asylum is the first stage. While the film shows Arkham as being in a remote forested area, the backgrounds in the game seem to place it on the waterfront, directly across the bay from Gotham.
  • Arkham is featured prominently in Batman: Dark Tomorrow. Three fourths of the way through the game, Batman must infiltrate Arkham Asylum through a secret sewer entrance in order to rescue James Gordon, who has been kidnapped by the Joker. Along the way Batman fights Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Mr. Freeze. After receiving the highest security key from Dr. Arkham, Batman is able to enter the high security wing where he encountered Mr. Zsasz and finally the Joker and his gang.
  • Arkham Asylum is one of the levels of the video game counterpart to Batman Begins.
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum is a video game for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. It is based on the long-running comic book mythos, as opposed to most other Batman games which are adaptations of the character in other media besides the source material. It was released in the US on August 25th, 2009 then in the UK and throughout Europe on August 28th. The game takes place on the island itself, where Batman is in the process of returning the Joker to the island, but gets caught up in an elaborate trap set up by the Joker. Batman must now survive being locked up with his most deadly enemies and figure out what is really going on in Arkham Asylum.

Toys

Music

  • Ryan Adams has written a song named "Arkham Asylum" though it has not been released on any of his studio albums.
  • Common Market released a song entitled "Escaping Arkham" with lyrics referencing the federal bailout of banks. The song seems to reference the unfair treatment and withholding of taxpayers of their money to reimburse banking interests.

References

  1. ^ Batman: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker/Doug Manke
  2. ^ Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files #1
  3. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #27
  4. ^ Battle for the Cowl #1
  5. ^ Batman: Gotham after Midnight #1; July 2008
  6. ^ Batman Confidential #21
  7. ^ Batman Confidential #21
  8. ^ Detective Comics #782
  9. ^ SUICIDE SQUAD Vol. 1 #34
  10. ^ Showcase '94 #3
  11. ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
  12. ^ Batman #690
  13. ^ Batman: Shadow of the Bat #69
  14. ^ Batman and Robin #3
  15. ^ Detective Comics #840
  16. ^ BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #205
  17. ^ BATMAN #596
  18. ^ Batman Confidential #21
  19. ^ BATMAN #654
  20. ^ BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #205
  21. ^ DC: The New Frontier
  22. ^ ACTION COMICS #560
  23. ^ Batman: Journey into Night #11
  24. ^ Batman: Journey into Night #11
  25. ^ BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #38
  26. ^ UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED: DEVIL’S ASYLUM
  27. ^ JSA SECRET FILES #2
  28. ^ Batman: Journey into Knight #11
  29. ^ Batman: Journey into Knight #6
  30. ^ WONDER WOMAN Vol. 2 #35
  31. ^ BIRDS OF PREY #37
  32. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 2) #117
  33. ^ BRAVE & BOLD Vol. 1 #143
  34. ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
  35. ^ WORLD’S FINEST #254
  36. ^ JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #175
  37. ^ SUPERMAN AND BATMAN VS. VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES #6
  38. ^ Animal Man #24
  39. ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
  40. ^ DETECTIVE COMICS #838
  41. ^ WORLD’S FINEST #247
  42. ^ Shadow of the Bat #3-4
  43. ^ Batman: Journey into Night
  44. ^ Shadow of the Bat #1-4
  45. ^ DETECTIVE COMICS #635
  46. ^ Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stories; SWAMP THING Vol. 2 #52
  47. ^ World's Finest Year 3
  48. ^ IDENTITY CRISIS #7
  49. ^ Showcase '94 #3
  50. ^ Batman: Journey into Night #11
  51. ^ Batman: Dreamland
  52. ^ JLA #120
  53. ^ Suicide Squad #33
  54. ^ Batman: Arkham Asylum - Underworld Unleashed
  55. ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
  56. ^ Batman: Journey into Knight
  57. ^ Batman: Journey into Knight #11
  58. ^ SUPERMAN FAMILY #197
  59. ^ Batman: Widening Gyre by Kevin Smith
  60. ^ Batman #678
  61. ^ JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #218
  62. ^ DETECTIVE COMICS #635
  63. ^ Crisis on Infinite Earths
  64. ^ ROBIN #167
  65. ^ BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES & ORIGINS #1
  66. ^ Batman #605
  67. ^ BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES & ORIGINS #1
  68. ^ Batman: The Long Halloween
  69. ^ Legends of the Dark Knight #171, November 2003
  70. ^ DETECTIVE COMICS #786
  71. ^ BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES & ORIGINS #1
  72. ^ THE DEMON Vol. 3 #9
  73. ^ BATMAN #402
  74. ^ H-E-R-O #9
  75. ^ BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES & ORIGINS #1
  76. ^ CHRONOS #11
  77. ^ Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
  78. ^ ANIMAL MAN #7
  79. ^ BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #80
  80. ^ BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM - TALES OF MADNESS
  81. ^ Batman: Journey into Night #11
  82. ^ BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #80
  83. ^ BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #38
  84. ^ BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM - TALES OF MADNESS #1, May 1998
  85. ^ SHOWCASE ‘95 #11
  86. ^ JLA: BLACK BAPTISM #2
  87. ^ Arkham Asylum (The Batman) - Batman Wiki
  88. ^ Arkham Asylum (Schumacher Films) - Batman Wiki
  89. ^ DVD Active.com: Review of Batman & Robin
  90. ^ Arkham Asylum (Nolan films) - Batman Wiki


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arkham_Asylum&oldid=314488437"