Batman: Arkham Reborn

An excellent solo series that acts as a companion piece and supplement to the Batman Reborn era of comics. Starting with Battle for the Cowl and continuing in Batman Streets of Gotham Volume 1, Batman Long Shadows, and Batman Life After Death, we were introduced to a successor to Black Mask's mantle. The new Black Mask appeared to be tactical genius, outmaneuvering his underworld rivals Penguin and Two Face before launching a crime wave that nearly crippled Gotham. In Life After Death, Dick Grayson, as Batman, finally brings down Black Mask and reveals him to be Dr. Jeremiah Arkham. The head of the asylum had finally lost his mind and become as crazy as the inmates. Sadly, the twist reveal feels a bit out of left field in Life After Death as Arkham hadn't been fully established as losing it in the main Batman stories.Enter this great solo comic that traces Jeremiah's perspective from just before Black Mask's appearance, to the Asylum's destruction at Black Mask's hands, to the eventual reveal that it was Jeremiah under the mask the whole time. Arkham Reborn colors in the overall arc wonderfully and depict Jeremiah's slow collapse at his own hands. From the beginning something feels off with Arkham and the introduction of his three Beauties adds to that dynamic (supposedly three inmates in solitary confinement that no one aside from Jeremiah is allowed contact with). The only real downside to this book is its utter dependence on the aforementioned Batman Reborn titles. If you haven't read them then this story will seem weaker and jumpy (many of the issues skip ahead in time to keep up with the ongoing main series' arcs). If you are a fan of the Dick Grayson Batman stories, though, this is a must read as it fills in the backstory for the villain.

This book is a hidden gem.It follows the story of Amadeus arkham and we see the asylum and the world of Gotham through his eyes as he rebuilds arkham ......again.....or the 39th time.It's a fresh idea have arkham as the main character of the story. I enjoyed arkhams monologues as they are the polar opposites of batmans.With a couple of twists this book had me looking forward to the unravelling of the story.Excellent addition to anyone's pre new 52 collection.

Arkham Asylum has been reborn again and again. And this time they got it right. 4 stars for the new story and -1 star for the quality of the paperback.Great read for anyone who wants to see the depths of where Batman's rogue gallery rots!

Very well told story, a lot darker than expected (in a good way). Solid artwork. This is a sleeper hit.

After the fall of Arkham, a son decides to take over the legacy left behind by his father. He decides to rebuild things from the ground up, too, hoping to fix the shattered minds of the inmates while also catering to the needs of those hurt by the menace of Batman. That means a cage suited for Killer Croc and a place for a man made of clay to rest, not to mention the repair of a ragged man that was ripped apart by his youth and repaired only by kiling. He even restaffed the place with some of his own people, and new rules make things run like clockwork. The only problem is that all clocks sin gotham seem to have problems, and the new Arkham seems to start ticking wrong immediately. This leaves people to wonder who is behind everything and if this project is one that is done out of love or out of the need to placate a warped mind.When I first tuned into this mini-series, I was pleasantly happy with every turn the series took. Not only did it have a story worth looking into, but it also had the art and the the ideas to power it. That is good, too, because a rebirth of Arkham needs a masterful tocuh because, honestly, the place has suffered a lot. Releasing inmates into the world had become second-nature to this place and made readers like myself wonder what, if anything, this place was doing here. thankfully this book delves deeply into the subject matter, not only looking at the things going on behind the doors but also looking into the ways that the minds are hopefully repaired. In my opinion this was an interesting thing to look into because, if anything, the days between the murder and mayhem are left out in the cold.for people who enjoy the dark side of Gotham, this will be an enjoyable experience. It isn't one of those books you'll just pick up and figure out, nor is it something that is singular in purpose. You have punishment in some ways as well as minds working for their own reasons, and you have criminals here that are more focused upon that the Cowled Crusader most of the time. I like that now and again, enjoying both my bat and the things that kkeep him up at night.This is a solid 5 in my mind, keeping its secrets well into the reading.

Very underrated and a great read. Kept finding myself anticipating every turn of the page. Do yourself a favor - get this book!

This volume reprints material from Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum #1, Arkham Reborn #1-3 and Detective Comics #864-865. This is a rather strange storyline, and although has its share of action, is more of a character study than an action-adventure comic. It is reasonably-well written, and the artwork matches the content of the story.It tells the story of the rebuilding of Arkham following its destruction in the latest ongoing crime-war in Gotham. We follow the story of Jeremiah Arkham, the Aylum's director as he seeks to rebuild the asylum as a `sanctuary' rather than a prison. We meet a number of special prisoners that he has kept hidden from the outside world, who he sees as his special projects, and most successful patients, until all the dark secrets at the heart of the story are revealed, and we see just how Jeremiah fared against the long-running plots of Hugo Strange and the Joker, and finally understand the secret origin of the Black Mask. Some of the events are a bit implausible, until you realise just how deeply the Black Mask was involved, and we must assume that the `Bruce Wayne' who was financing the building was actually Hush when he was embezzling the Wayne billions, but that aside, it is a good Batman Family adventure.

Some plot machinations aside this is a good addition to the "where it all gets us to next Mr Wayne" comics have been playing for the last 35 years.

I really liked it. I found it was strange and very dark. It's written great. The art gets the point across fairly well and the overall story is amazing. Most Arkham Asylum stories tend to blend together but I found this one was somewhat different and brought new flavours to the table. My only problem is that there seems to be some time jumping without much explanation. They do a great job of getting in your head, and you really don't know what is truly going on inside the new Arkham Asylum.