Batman: The Origin of Arkham Asylum

One writer that keeps fascinating me with his mindboggling ideas is Grant Morrison whose main work can be found in the comic world. He has written stories for the X-men, the Justice League and more recently Batman though some of his best work can be found in titles that are not precisely considered "mainstream". I have read several of his works and the one that keeps coming to my mind is a Batman graphic novel that was illustrated by groundbreaking artist, Dave Mc Kean, (that itself guarantees that reading this novel is a visual experience). The story is not only about Batman, but the past of the house that came to be Arkham Asylum  and its original inhabitant and founder of the asylum, Dr. Arkham. Morrison tells the story in two different times, past and present, with events that are closely connected. In the past story, Dr. Arkham is a benevolent and devoted psychiatrist who goes insane after one of his patients brutally (emphasis in brutally) rapes and murders the doctor's wife and little daughter; and in the present, the immates of the asylum have been released by a mysterious figure with ties to Dr. Arkham. Of course, Batman arrives to put things in order.  
One of Batman's enemies, Two Face, has been under treatment to erase his compulsion to use his coin  in order to make decisions. As part of the treatment one of the doctors of the asylum has managed to convince Two Face to use a deck of cards, but this in turn has made Two Face's problem more complex since even the making of a simple decision such as going to the restroom is near impossible: the pack represents too many possilities for Two Face. Surrounded by his enemies Batman has no way out and the Joker feeling victorious proposes to grant him a last wish. Batman asks for Two Face to decide. Two Face is no longer the imposing enemy he was in the past and says "no" first afraid of the many dpossibilities that his deck of cards impose him, but then Batman throws him back his scarred coin. Two Face takes the coin and then confidently flips it. Next Two Face announces the Batman can go free and surprisingly the villains keeps their word. With our priviledged perspective us, readers, can see what really happened. Everybody has left and Two Face is still inside looking at the sum of his twisted personality back in his hand: it is the scarred side that fell up, Two Face lied!
If only for that moment I'd say this work is extraordinary, and believe me, I have read lots of comic books and graphic novels. However the merit is in Morrison offering us a new untold story of the legend of Batman, that about the origin of the most sinister place in all of Gotham city. Arkham asylum is now a place that seems to a sentient being, one that feeds on the tragedies of its own inhabitants as though it was an unnamed dark soul that hungry awaits to be fed by his unsuspected keeper, ironically a champion of justice, the Batman himself. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you say MIRADOR in English?

Image
"Hmm, why do I have this nagging feeling that someone is watching me watching?" In Spanish, a MIRADOR is any place that allows a privileged view of the surroundings. In English, a MIRADOR is a VIEWPOINT or a LOOKOUT. Another possible translation is VANTAGE POINT, though in a tourist context this term is a bit less common.
Read more

The Maps of Ship-Trap Island

Image
Once I had my high school students read The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell. Rainsford, the main character, is a professional hunter traveling by ship to his next hunting area, accidentally ends up in an island called Ship- Trap island. When he goes into the island he finds there are two men living in a palace in the island. One of them is a Cossack general and the other, his brutish servant.  The Cossack is called general Zaroff who is also  a game hunter but has become bored of hunting regular game and now uses the island's unique position to capture sailors from shipwrecks. He lets them go first and next after some time he hunts them down. Rainford's arrival who is worldwide famous presents Zaroff with a rare opportunity to find excitement in hunting again by hunting another hunter. Little does Zaroff know that Rainsford is The Most Dangerous Game in the World and hunting him will not be easy at all. My students enjoyed themselves at reading...
Read more

Portmanteau

Image
A Portmanteau is not a port and it is not a word, but a combination of words and their meanings into one. One good example of that is the word Info mercial which is the result of the blending of the words Information and  Commercial . A Portmanteau takes from the meanings of the words that were used to make it up and at the same time it does not because it is created to refer to a new concept. Here is another example:  Br unch , a term that results from the combination of the words Breakfast and  Lunch. It is neither but that quick meal that you take in the mid-morning, too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. What is the translation of Portmanteau in Spanish? There is none for the meaning used here, but Portmanteau may also refer to what in Spanish is called BAUL DE VIAJE. The name Guayaquil would be another example of a portmanteau.
Read more