Arkham Asylum Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a fictional mental hospital near Gotham City in the DC Universe, where many of Batman's foes (most famously the Joker) wind up after they are captured -- and recaptured; those who are 'cured' and released tend to re-offend. Arkham Asylum does not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases. (Furthermore, several staff members, including at least one director, have ended up as residents. See also Harley Quinn.)In addition, prisoners with unusual medical conditions that the regular prisons cannot accommodate are housed here, like Mr. Freeze who requires a strongly refrigerated environment to stay alive.
In the world of the Batman stories, the Asylum is named after its founder; but in real life, it is thought to have been named in honour of Arkham, one of the settings of H. P. Lovecraft's horror stories.
Allegedly, H.P. Lovecraft met Bob Kane, Batman's co-creator, in 1935 on a train. The young Kane told Lovecraft that he loved how he wrote his stories and told him about a vigilante that had literally gone insane with vengeance over something that cannot be destroyed: the essence of evil itself. Kane was so grateful for being able to meet Lovecraft only two years before his death that he created Arkham Asylum as a means of paying tribute to his hero. This explanation for the origin of Arkham Asylym is at least partly apocryphal. In fact, the Asylum was not Kane's creation at all. It was first mentioned in an issue of the Batman comic series published in 1973, which described it as "the state hospital for the criminally insane." The Asylum was first identified by name in a story published over a year later. These stories were published years after Kane had retired from the industry.
Known inmates (or past inmates) of Arkham Asylum include:
- Killer Croc
- Hugo Strange
- The Joker
- The Scarecrow
- Mr. Freeze
- Harley Quinn
- Doctor Milo
- The Mad Hatter
- Two-Face
- Zsasz
- Poison Ivy
- The Riddler
Graphic novel
Arkham Asylum is also the name of an acclaimed Batman graphic novel written by Grant Morrison and painted by Dave McKean. It was at one point the biggest-selling original graphic novel (as opposed to collection or trade paperback) of all time. Morrison explored various mystic ideas, including the symbiosis between Batman and the criminals he captured and recaptured.
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