Written by GL
A lot of people would agree that one of the characteristics of the Batman comic storyline that makes it so cool is its atmosphere of darkness. Everything is covered in the shadows. Batman lurks in the cover of night. His villains are twisted and mad - in appearance and persona. And Gotham City is always dusty, urban and grey. But, in Gotham City, no place is as dark and menacing as Arkham Asylum.
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane was created in the DC Universe by Dennis O'Neil in 1974. The back-story and origins of the place, however, weren’t really written up until the 1980s.
And, if you didn't already know it, Arkham Asylum houses some of the meanest, ugliest and craziest Batman foes you've ever read about (those that have been declared legally insane - which most of Batman's foes are). Those arch-enemies that aren't declared insane are sent somewhere else; to Blackgate Penitentiary. Keep in mind that Arkham is also the forced-home for those criminals that require special medical needs, such as Dr. Freeze who requires refrigerator-level temperatures to survive and Clayface.
Arkham Asylum was founded by Amadeus Arkham, and named after his mother, Elizabeth. And this story goes way, way back.
In the early 1900s, Elizabeth Arkham committed suicide, ending a life of severe mental illness. Amadeus, her son, inherited the Arkham estate and decided to remodel it to serve the community by caring for the mentally ill. Amadeus, before starting renovations on the estate, had been treating patients at the State Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis. He had been living in Metropolis with his wife and daughter.
After the family moved to Gotham to check up on the remodeling of the estate, Amadeus received a call from the police, telling him that a patient-prisoner, named Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins, had just escaped. The cops wanted to know what Amadeus thought of the escapee’s mental capacity and state of mind.
On April 1, 1921, Amadeus return home to find the front door open. He discovered the raped and mutilated bodies of his wife and daughter. Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins had carved his name into the bodies of his victims.
Despite this, Arkham Asylum officially opened in November that same year – and one of its first patients was Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins. Amadeus treated Hawkins for about six months. On April 1, 1922, Amadeus strapped Hawkins into an electric chair and fried him like his was French.
The death was treated as an accident. But this incident began Amadeus’ spiral into total mental insanity. Eventually, the poor Amadeus was confined into the same hospital that he built. And, that same asylum was where he eventually died.
Just as bad as its history, the asylum’s track record really sucks.
At Arkham Asylum, escapes happen all the time. Some patients have even been let out by accident, due to relevant stupidity of the staff. Patients that have been deemed ‘cured’ always seem to repeat their insane behaviors. Just look at good old Joker. Furthermore, staff members have even ended up as patients in their own hospital, check Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harlequin) and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) to name a few.
The asylum itself has been badly damaged or demolished and rebuilt several times, through comic history and in sideline stories such as Knightfall – where the destruction of the asylum was caused by Bane.
The marketability of Arkham Asylum is good so far. You can find mention of Arkham in DC cartoons and comics, in games and even in toys. Did you know that Lego has an Arkham play-set too, that includes mini-mates of Scarecrow, Nightwing, Poison Ivy and the Riddler (released 2006)? If only they knew, they’d be very afraid.
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane was created in the DC Universe by Dennis O'Neil in 1974. The back-story and origins of the place, however, weren’t really written up until the 1980s.
And, if you didn't already know it, Arkham Asylum houses some of the meanest, ugliest and craziest Batman foes you've ever read about (those that have been declared legally insane - which most of Batman's foes are). Those arch-enemies that aren't declared insane are sent somewhere else; to Blackgate Penitentiary. Keep in mind that Arkham is also the forced-home for those criminals that require special medical needs, such as Dr. Freeze who requires refrigerator-level temperatures to survive and Clayface.
Arkham Asylum was founded by Amadeus Arkham, and named after his mother, Elizabeth. And this story goes way, way back.
In the early 1900s, Elizabeth Arkham committed suicide, ending a life of severe mental illness. Amadeus, her son, inherited the Arkham estate and decided to remodel it to serve the community by caring for the mentally ill. Amadeus, before starting renovations on the estate, had been treating patients at the State Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis. He had been living in Metropolis with his wife and daughter.
After the family moved to Gotham to check up on the remodeling of the estate, Amadeus received a call from the police, telling him that a patient-prisoner, named Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins, had just escaped. The cops wanted to know what Amadeus thought of the escapee’s mental capacity and state of mind.
On April 1, 1921, Amadeus return home to find the front door open. He discovered the raped and mutilated bodies of his wife and daughter. Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins had carved his name into the bodies of his victims.
Despite this, Arkham Asylum officially opened in November that same year – and one of its first patients was Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Hawkins. Amadeus treated Hawkins for about six months. On April 1, 1922, Amadeus strapped Hawkins into an electric chair and fried him like his was French.
The death was treated as an accident. But this incident began Amadeus’ spiral into total mental insanity. Eventually, the poor Amadeus was confined into the same hospital that he built. And, that same asylum was where he eventually died.
Just as bad as its history, the asylum’s track record really sucks.
At Arkham Asylum, escapes happen all the time. Some patients have even been let out by accident, due to relevant stupidity of the staff. Patients that have been deemed ‘cured’ always seem to repeat their insane behaviors. Just look at good old Joker. Furthermore, staff members have even ended up as patients in their own hospital, check Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harlequin) and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) to name a few.
The asylum itself has been badly damaged or demolished and rebuilt several times, through comic history and in sideline stories such as Knightfall – where the destruction of the asylum was caused by Bane.
The marketability of Arkham Asylum is good so far. You can find mention of Arkham in DC cartoons and comics, in games and even in toys. Did you know that Lego has an Arkham play-set too, that includes mini-mates of Scarecrow, Nightwing, Poison Ivy and the Riddler (released 2006)? If only they knew, they’d be very afraid.
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