In many ways growing up, I believe comics played a big part in shaping my appreciation of abstract media, not only when it comes to art but also what I’ve grown to love in writing and film as well. While I’ll fully admit I was a big fan of the artwork from uber-popular guys like Jim Lee and Todd McFarlane, I was equally entranced when I picked up the mind-warping artwork of Jae Lee in Namor and the cartoonish yet extremely detailed pencils and inks of Sam Kieth. His covers on Marvel Comics Presents were among my favorites, depicting X-Man Wolverine as a man-beast that appeared even more animalistic and vicious than ever. And then there was The Maxx, a comic that in every way transcends the medium and is truly a piece of art in the most basic definition of the term. So when I saw Arkham Asylum: Madness sitting on the stands, it certainly caught my eye; his previous work on Batman has been fun, but the idea of Kieth running wild in Gotham’s house of delirium seemed the perfect fit. Much to my delight, I was right on the money.

The thing that makes Arkham Asylum: Madness stand out is not just Kieth’s distinct style, but that the story focuses just as much attention on the doctors, nurses, and orderlies that make their living inside the crazed walls of Arkham as it does the institution’s infamous patients. The real star and driving force is Sabine Robbins, a young wife and mother who’s only driving force to make it through the day working as a nurse is the thought of seeing her family at the end of her shift. Sabine is joined by a distinct group of Arkham staff that is all new to the Batman universe yet wonderfully defined and memorable. We get to follow them, as well as inmates such as Two-Face, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and of course the Joker, as they all attempt to make it through an average day inside the walls that Amadeus Arkham built. Throughout the day the staff is kept on edge via an oddly ticking clock that begins to drip blood, the feeding of a volatile Killer Croc, the distracting antics of the Joker, and the idea that once Arkham gets into your blood, it will haunt you forever.

Arkham Asylum: Madness is without a doubt a haunted house tale. The establishment is arguably the main character of the narrative, as it affects everyone, even those that are simply earning a living within its confines and get to leave every day. The tale is not an upbeat one; it’s dark, depressing, and downright bleak, but it worms its way under your skin exactly in the way that it should. An insane asylum is not a happy place to be, and it translates into every corner of the book. The mental anguish that permeates throughout Arkham and its staff is not a new angle in the Batman universe; Dan Slott played with the ideas in Living Hell, although at the end of the day that story still was more about the inmates than those that keep the place running. Kieth holds true to examining the workers and their interactions and impressions of Arkham’s haunted halls and its denizens than placing the focus the other way around, which makes the book pretty unique when stacked up against its brethren.

Sam Kieth’s artwork is absolutely amazing here. He uses a couple of distinct techniques, one of which is alternating back and forth between doing just the pencils and inks, leaving coloring duties to Michelle Madsen and Dave Stewart, and doing fully painted pages that are simply amazing to look at and evoke a hell of a mood. Another nice touch utilized is the degradation in line work as the night moves on; some of the later panels are very cartoonish and simplistic, conveying the tone of the slowly disintegrating sanity experienced by everyone as they impatiently wait for sunrise. There’s no denying that Kieth has chosen an art style equal to a fever dream that sees it working hand in hand with the story he’s telling in morbid harmony.

While I doubt Arkham Asylum: Madness will go down in history and be remembered as fondly as Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s influential graphic novel, it stands as a testament that experimentation is a welcome thing in DC’s universe, and sometimes a compelling story can be told in Gotham that has little to do with Bats or one of his many iconic adversaries. It’s a more personal, human tale that’s sure to strike a chord with anyone that dreads going to their job just to make ends meet, but it should at least give you an appreciation that your daily grind isn’t quite as ghastly as this.

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