Batman: Arkham Asylum, Death by Design

Batman: Arkham Asylum

The writing by Grant Morrison isn’t as good as I remember.  To be fair, the opening sequence is burned into my brain:

Amadeus Arkham’s arc is suitably horrifying:

But the Batman side of it is a jumbled, pretentious discourse on the nature of madness, yadda yadda.  I don’t mind so much; Dave McKean saves it with his beautiful, disturbing, ethereal, nightmarish painting. 

Great Joker.  Barely legible font.

All the triangles remind me...

...of David Mack.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Batman: Death by Design

I bought this because writer Chip Kidd was the hotness at the time, bringing his graphic design skills to a number of high profile DC projects.  There’s something very James Robinson about this story, drawn by Dave Taylor.  The focus on the city and its architecture, the retro feel of the characters - It all feels like a Time Past issue from his Starman run.  Which is to say that I liked it.

Imagine if this was actually a thing...

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good