"Arkham Asylum" is a dark story. The inmates at Gotham's repository for the criminally insane riot and take hostages, offering to release them if Batman will come and spend the day - April 1, no less - with them. Needless to say, Batman goes in, and the day turns into a hellish trip into his own psyche.The first thing you will notice about "Arkham Asylum" is that it looks different from any normal comic. The art looks like a mix of painting and photography, lending an appropriate amount of otherworldliness to an incredibly twisted story.One thing I really like about this particular edition is that the original script is included as an addendum - it's a good side companion, explaining the myriad plot points in detail and weaving all the themes together and explaining them nicely.

I thought this book was mainly going to be about the villains, but it was mainly about Batman's struggle to stay sane and come to terms with his past and present during his stay in Arkham! Even though I was a bit disappointed that the Joker wasn't featured more in this one,the few times he was featured had me laughing. His lewd comments made this a must read for me! Plus, the drawings in this book are more dark and gothic than in other Batman novels,so I had to buy it. This is definitely not a read for kids, but, if you love Batman and want to read about him making his way through the creepy, dark halls of Arkham, and also want to know about the grim history of Arkham Asylum, then you must buy this book!

I didn't like how the Joker was portrayed or drawn. The drawings were hard to follow in some scenes but it wasn't too bad. You would like this story if you're into crazy things. Aleister Crowley is in this. I would have liked to have seen Batman more mentally exposed in the nut house. It was a great story and the script made it better. It's a nice re-read.

This is a amazing book and I definitely put it up there with the greats of batman comics like the killing joke, the dark knight returns. But I have mixed feelings on how the joker is portrayed in this book and I will admit I also have mixed feelings on the art but overall its a great book and should be read.

After watching The Dark Knight I was very excited and eager to read more about Batman. I have been a comic book addict ever since I can remember, but mostly I bought Marvel comics and had only occasionally read Batman. Anyway, I researched in the internet for the best / most important Batman TPBs available and Arkham Asylum was listed everywhere as one of them (in some places even among the top 5). For this reason and also because of the reviews here, I decided to buy this one. But it turned out to be a huge disappointment. The art is really bad, you often can't make out what is on the page... may be it's just a different style, but it doesn't match my taste (I'm more of Jim Lee fan kind of guy). The story itself - the writing I mean - was ok, but I wouldn't qualify it as being one of the best Batman comics - certainly not after reading Year One, The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns.

dont buy into the hype. The art is garbage and the story is so short. Its under a ten minute read.