Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (a review)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a very mundane and boring year to offset whatever the hell 2020 was.

So, I’ve mentioned a while ago that I try to read Flex Mentallo every year on New Years because it’s one of my favorite comics. I’ve also reviewed a number of Grant Morrison’s comics because they are one of my favorite authors. And while I do try to stretch out how often I revisit an author to prevent turning into a fan blog. . .

Ah, what the hell! I declare this month to be Morrison month! And what a better way to start than with the comic that launched them into popularity. How big was this book? When the editor called Morrison up to give them the sales numbers, they simply started with “you’re rich”. True story.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place on Serious Earth is a graphic novel published by DC comics in 1989. It was written by Morrison with art by Dave McKean, who also worked on Neil Gaiman’s Violent Cases and Black Orchid. If you’re wondering what the second part of that title is all about, it’s a line from the last stanza of a poem titled “Church Going” by Philip Larkin’s. And if you’re thinking “is that…