BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!
First of all, I'd like the say that I've always been fascinated with the human brain. After all, there would be literally nothing without our own, right? It's the place where all our senses, feelings, reasonings, and beliefs are stored. It's where every single thing in the universe can exist, because that is where it ALL exists. There's a quote by G.K. Chesterton that says, “Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.” I find this quote...poignant. Food for thought, you know? The kind that is really spicy.
But we often don't know ourselves well enough to examine ourselves. Really, how much do you know about yourself? I'm not talking about colors you like or what your favorite food is. I mean, do you, the reader, actually know your mind? How it processes, how it reasons, how it decides, how it reacts? All that it knows? All that it thinks it knows? When was the last freaking time you were in bed and thought?
If you don't know what kind of person you are, than isn't that ignorance?
And if ignorance is bliss, than what else is bliss? For example, I have a friend who is very intelligent: a smart guy, the kind that are rare. But he is so damn oblivious, so naive with a skewed sense that life is easy when you got money and a head full of air that I doubt if he even knows how he knows. It's like a computer--all it does is process information and nothing else. And unfortunately, there are millions of people on this Earth who are, quite frankly, no more than living computers.
Surely, there are certain people in the world who are blissfully unaware of certain events. But there are different kinds of unawareness and oblivion. Which brings me to my point.
I believe that sometimes, there isn't a line between oblivious and mentally inept. Meaning, the oblivion we sometimes confuse ourselves with as being mentally challenged or retarded is not much different than the human nature's. If neither know themselves, than what is the difference?
Let's face it--some of us are insane.
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Dave McKean and Grant Morrison is a very intriguing graphing novel of human conception and very blankly, how far the human mind can stretch before it is destroyed by insanity.
This story tells the origin of Arkham Asylum and, as Batman is forced to go through it, the idea of madness becomes a huge part of the story. Alot of symbolism was used, too.
I have to face it, this book isn't particularly new, but I just got it a few weeks ago. Let's talk art. Here is a panel from the book:
Obviously, this is some very disturbing yet artful...art. I especially like the trees in Batman's panel background. It's McKean's eerie style that could not have been more perfect for the story. With the photos of bloody bolts, red twine and cracked stone, the reader can't help but feel that he/she's entering the world of insanity. No other artist could have achieved the tone.
But unfortunately, I felt that the art was SO intense and so concentrated that it was distracting in some parts. Where expression or a scene was needed, it was blurred and distorted so the reader couldn't really see what was going on. The Scarecrow scene especially put me off balance. If the art was a little more visible in the action scenes, than it would have gotten a 100% as far as art goes.
Story wise, I was a little disappointed. The co-existence of Amadeus Arkham's story and Batman's journey through mental instability was a good idea. But it seemed a little brisk--the idea was so good, there could have been a huge expansion on the characters.
For example, I would have liked to see the examination of Killer Croc, Clayface, and the other insane patients of Arkham. The inmates of Arkham are amongst my favorite characters of all time, so why not expand on their origins?
Also, I found that Batman's character was suprisingly minimized. Most of the time,
he was actually a little incompetent. Seriously--he could have taken down alot of those freaks there easily,but was instead helpless through alot of it. Perhaps it was the fact that the atmosphere was so blurred and disturbing in that asylum that it was hard to think straight? This seems more logical, but they should have made that point.
But all in all, I would have liked to see a stronger point. Most award winning novels include a very strong and very true fact about humans. Well, the idea of madness and all that it comes with is a perfect, PERFECT example. The concept in this graphic novel, that madness is sometimes what makes us, was present but not as portrayed as forcefully as if could have been!
I think that Batman could have been an excellent character to learn a lesson--he did, but it seemed more of a statement than an understanding when he admitted it. Madness is what makes us: the asylum was made out of madness, the inmates were there out of madness, and Batman was in there because of madness. It is inevitable. After all, who's the one who goes out at night and fights bad guys in a suit? This is what I think the main point was--especially since it applies to everyday people (hence--Amadeus himself).
At the end of the Anniversary Edition is an original script, one that seemed more intense. There's no doubt that Morrison wasn't afraid to take risks--it was both unsettling and compelling. Just the help of a few more elements could have made this a very notable book.
~Heroine
