Welcome To Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a staple of the Batman universe, evolving into a franchise comprised of comic books, graphic novels, video games, films, television series and more. The Arkham franchise, supposedly light-weight entertainment, has tackled weighty issues in contemporary psychiatry. Its plotlines reference clinical and ethical controversies that perplex even the most up-to-date professionals. The 25 essays in this collection explore the significance of Arkham's sinister psychiatrists, murderous mental patients, and unethical geneticists. It invites debates about the criminalization of the mentally ill, mental patients who move from defunct state hospitals into expanding prisons, madness versus badness, sociopathy versus psychosis, the "insanity defense" and more. Invoking literary figures from Lovecraft to Poe to Caligari, the 25 essays in this collection are a broad-ranging and thorough assessment of the franchise and its relationship to contemporary psychiatry.

Explore the town of Arkham, setting for the beloved Arkham Horror series of tabletop games, in this comprehensive, full-color, hardcover guide to its people, places and strange goings on… Witness Arkham like you’re walking its streets, peering into its shadows… It is the height of the Roaring Twenties. Flappers and young fellas dance the Charleston at raucous jazz clubs gleaming bright with electric lights. Beneath this gilded glamour, bloody turf wars rage, funded by gangsters and crooked cops who frequent rival speakeasies and gambling dens. Amid these changing times, old New England towns hold their secrets close. Off the Aylesbury pike, in reclusive Dunwich, rolling hills hide decrepit farms and witch-haunted hollows. Past Cape Ann, the remote fishing village of Innsmouth rots from within. At the mouth of the Miskatonic River, mist-shrouded Kingsport lies dreaming. All the while, historic Arkham broods on the upper banks of the Miskatonic, its famed university delving into the world’s darkest, most ancient mysteries. Welcome to Arkham invites you to venture deeper than ever before into this legend-haunted city, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and made famous by the Arkham Horror series of tabletop games. Welcome to Arkham is a complete guide to the city of Arkham and the neighboring towns of Dunwich, Innsmouth and Kingsport, detailing 115 fabled locations and featuring more than 500 illustrations. Walk the streets of Arkham, ride the Essex County Express, hitch a ride to Innsmouth (and pray you can find a way out), or take a ferry down the Miskatonic River, and read between the lines to discover what other mysteries lurk deeper still in the pages of this tattered old book… The definitive guide to the world of Arkham Horror.

Led by the Joker, the patients of Arkham Asylum take over the building and threaten to murder the staff unless Batman agrees to meet with them, a situation that results in Batman being pushed to the brink of madness himself.

Harley’s back in this new Vol. 1 graphic novel from DC Rebirth! Her name is Dr. Harleen Quinzel-better known to her friends and enemies as Harley Quinn. Her very-very-ex-boyfriend the Joker may be the Clown Prince of Crime, but Harley’s the Queen of Coney Island! So when the zombie apocalypse threatens her li’l seaside stretch of paradise, who else would ya call to give the undead a blow to the head? In these platitudinous pages, the baddest bad girl in the entire DC Universe joins forces with everyone from her gal pal Poison Ivy to the New York City punk scene to take down anyone who stands between her and a good time-living, dead or undead. Fists will fly, hammers will fall, dudes will be brutalized and the ladies will rule the night! The acclaimed writing team of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti joins forces with artists John Timms and Chad Hardin and draft a new beginning for DC’s craziest anti-hero in HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1: DIE LAUGHING-exploding from the blockbuster DC Rebirth event! Collects HARLEY QUINN #1-7.

"It is the House on Haunted Hill. It is the Last House on the Left. It is the place that Batman's most dangerous and psychotic villains call 'home,' and you are cordially invited to spend 24 hours within its walls. Welcome to the Arkham Asylum: Madness, 97-page special where readers will live and move and walk among the nurses, doctors, security guards, and inmates. It takes a special type of person to end up here, no matter what side of the law you're on, or what your job is. For when the midnight hour approaches, all hope is abandoned and inmates and workers alike will wish for the daylight-- and for their sanity. Pray you get out before the darkness comes. Pray you get out before your shift is over. Pray that you do not go mad" -- dust jacket.

The Dark Knight faces the strangest and most bizarre adventure of his career, as he meets comics' strangest and most bizarre hero, The Maxx! A devious new doctor at Arkham Asylum is conducting unconventional experiments into the human psyche, and he kicks off a chain reaction of disaster when he experiments on Arkham's newest patient, The Maxx! The city of Gotham is starting to merge with The Maxx's psychedelic mental landscape, known as the Outback, blurring the line between real and unreal. It's up to Batman to save not just Gotham, but all of reality, and he and The Maxx are going to have to travel through some of the darkest places imaginable–the twisted minds of Batman's greatest enemies! Join Batman and The Maxx on an off-kilter and unforgettable romp through the diabolical consciousnesses of Batman's greatest foes, including Harley Quinn, the Penguin, Killer Croc, and, of course, the Joker. Legendary artist Sam Kieth (The Sandman, Wolverine) returns to his greatest creation, The Maxx, after two decades, and to Gotham City as well.

"Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and à DC Comics"--Back cover.

Arkham Asylum, the legendary home for the criminally insane, now lies in ruins. Gotham City needs a replacement to hold Batman's most dangerous foes - and only one building fits the bill: Wayne Manor. With his family fortune depleted, Bruce Wayne goes underground - literally - as his ancestral home is transformed into a new prison for his archenemies. From his fortified Batcave below its foundations, the Dark Knight watches as evil moves in above him. But watching alone won't stop the killings that begin almost immediately in "Arkham Manor." To find the predator responsible, Batman must become an inmate himself. Now the World's Greatest Detective begins the most dangerous undercover mission of his life, working with - and against - the resident doctors, guards, and ghoulish supervillains to crack the case. Can he catch the killer and restore order to the chaos? Or will the insanity of Arkham Manor claim the mind of its latest patient? Writer Gerry Duggan and artist Shawn Crystal launch an unprecedented new chapter in the History of the Bat with ARKHAM MANOR, exploring the dark heart of the Dark Knight's world like never before! Collects issues #1-6.

One of the greatest Batman stories ever told, Batman: Arkham Asylum is back in a new edition of the classic hardcover! The inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over and are demanding Batman in exchange for their hostages. Accepting their demented challenge, Batman is forced to endure the personal hells of The Joker, the Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and many other sworn enemies in order to save the innocents and retake the asylum. Includes newly remastered artwork by Dave McKean, available for the first time in this format.