Batman: Arkham Asylum

by Grant Morrison, Dave McKean (Illustrator)

Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's all-time classic Batman story is now available in a portable, 5.5" x 8.5" format!

Written by legendary comics creator Grant Morrison and beautifully drawn by artist Dave McKean, Batman: Arkham Asylum stands as one of the most perennially revered Batman comics of all time. Now, this celebrated graphic novel is more accessible than ever before, in a casual reader-friendly Compact Comics Edition!

In 1920, following the death of his disturbed mother, brilliant psychologist Amadeus Arkham began the conversion of his ancestral home into a hospital for the treatment of the mentally ill.

More than half a century later, the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a place of dismal corridors and oppressive shadows—a dark riddle in stone and timber, best left unsolved.

Within its claustrophobic walls, the demented and deformed enemies of the Batman brood in padded cells and unlit cellars, dreaming of a day when they might rise up and overthrow the world of reason.

That day has finally come.

It is April 1st, and the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Led by the Joker, Arkham’s inmates issue a terrible ultimatum to the man responsible for their imprisonment.

The Batman must descend into this heart of darkness, confront his greatest foes, and face the truth of his own divided identity — or condemn himself to share their fate.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Collections, Fiction, Comic Book

144 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2025

About the author

Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.

In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't gotten the Compact edition. The Joker's dialogue and a lot of fine details were a STRUGGLE. Loved Harvey's arc though, and had fun with how disturbing parts of this were!

[Nesrin]

note to self:
- this joker looks absolutely terrifying, nightmarish
- plot is basically how arkham came to, and batman in the labyrinth of arkhams walls
- this is a more psychological take on batman and shows that he too could lose control of his normal self (as the asylum has that effect) so he needs to escape the asylum before he becomes like the patients he put in there yada yada
- oh harvey dent you are so loved by me i'm sorry

[Jordan Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually STUNNING but not suited to the DC Compact run. Deserves to be read/experienced in full form.

[Ramón S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the time I want the comic book to finish as soon as possible. Boring, lame and pointless

[Jack Mansfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some truly haunting panels in Arkham Asylum that really deserved a larger print than this DC Compact Classics edition (although I really am a sucker for this format they’re putting out.) Dave McKean’s art is the star of this book, elevating a relatively thin plot into something that has its moments that arrest the reader.

While this iteration of the Joker is visually one of the most interesting I’ve come across, I’m not a fan of how his dialogue is displayed - the red, jagged text, free of any speech bubbles, is a neat idea; the trouble is that it’s laid atop such dark pages, making it a real struggle to read at times.

Worth a read, for sure, but not one I’d jump to recommend over some of the other Compact Classics I’ve picked up in the past few months.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is super trippy and surreal, I was super unsettled by the content but Arkham was never meant to be settling. I enjoyed every page.

[Brinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

I mean.. it was fine. Just not my favorite thing ever. Especially when comparing it other comics I’ve read and love.

[Novo Gaspar · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great DC Compact Comic. It's really good, and the art work is incredible!!
The text, especially the joker talking part, is in some parts extremely hard to read, as well as other characters.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly overrated. The artwork and page layouts are beautiful but the story is as whatever as you can get.

[Sotiris Kosmas · Rating 1 out of 5]

There might be a good story in there. Nevertheless, you'll never find it since the art and the font choice ( for the Joker) makes it impossible to read half of the dialogue.

A case of style over substance unfortunately and a wasted premise.

[Jose Diez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic among others I have read is just more than just another Batman comic. The dark twist into the subconscious, psychological aspect of Bruce Wayne a the Batman really show here. I found it quite amazing, with a hint of philosophical views. Anyways give it a read ! Honestly who considers themselves to be sane ?

[Adann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this title when I read it in the proper format.
This compact edition, however, is extremely difficult to read.
the Joker's lines are an extra struggle.

I love DC Compact issues for giving accessibility to many readers, but this one in particular is suitable for the collection.

[James Neill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dark and grim just for the sake of it. Very difficult to read most of the Joker's dialogue. Liked the Harvey subplot.

[Chandler Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was simply not for me. I honestly found the artwork atrocious. Many times I could hardly tell what was going on. It’s like trying to tell a story through abstract art, or just extremely dark panels. Didn’t really like any of the character designs, and a lot of pages/panels just looked meaningless or full of clutter. Also, Grant Morrison’s writing: after this and All-Star Superman, I’m starting to think I don’t like Morrison’s writing. The way he writes Batman’s dialogue does not characterize Batman at all for me. Batman just sounds like a casual dude throughout this book. And the lettering for Joker’s dialogue was almost illegible. I kept waiting for a satisfying payoff to the story, but there wasn’t one really. The only thing about this graphic novel I can say I like is a redemption arc for Two-Face at the end, and the absurdist/Alice in Wonderland influence on the story, though there is a difference between absurdism and just complete nonsense or incoherence which this story feels like. These may be the only reasons I give this 2 rather than 1 star. Probably one of the worst graphic novels I’ve ever read, but I guess it has quite the fan base since it has become a classic in the Batman mythos.

[Xavier Schembri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The atmosphere, artwork, and story were all great things about the book. In typical Batman stories, it feels like he is never at risk but throughout this story, it feels as though he is on the verge of death or insanity.

However, the book in the “compact comics” form has some issues. Because of the quality of the paper, some artwork is incredibly hard to see. This becomes a major issue in action sequences, where I had to really analyse the pictures to understand what was going on. I’ve also heard that some of the text is difficult to read, however I never really had that issue.

[Tia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my friend’s favourite comic book ever, so rating it 2 stars feels like a betrayal. If he ever sees this: I’m so sorry, twin.

The art was incredible but the compact edition was awful to read. Joker’s text was nearly impossible to read, I really had to focus to make out the words. Some panels were so dark it basically looked like a black box, the printing quality isn’t suitable for the art at all.

Also, I just didn’t really understand what I was reading tbh 😭 But I liked that Harvey had a bit of focus on him. I love Harvey Dent. That’s my guy. Probably the best part of this, for me.

[JSpringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10.
The art in this was really good but also trippy. On reading the Compact Comics edition, some of the Joker's dialogue is difficult to read on the black paper.
Batman didn't really seem like Batman in this in that he seemed fearful and a bit pathetic. Maybe that was the point in the writers wanted to show Batmans weaknesses and emotional vulnerability in the battle with his inner self but I think this has been done many times and better many more times.

[Aaron St. John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arkham is the main character. Madness is the journey. Joker is the facilitator. Batman is the victim.

Not a detective story, but an experience nonetheless. Batman struggles with his identity and sanity in the house or Arkham with the insanity he has placed there. Great story and artwork that creates and reflects the madness of the story back upon itself.

Not my ideal coloring or artwork, but this completes the story so well that it brings out the fourth star.

[Justin Biondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a review of the book, I’ve done that before it’s an all time fav. This edition just could have been better. The art looks great but read the full sized version it’s much better and I’d probably still buy this. Couldn’t understand a thing Joker said even remotely. In short, amazing story that I picked up more from but this was a good idea for a compact but needed some stronger execution

[Jared Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly should have gotten the full sized copy. It was difficult to read much of what the Joker was saying and understanding what was drawn on each page was sort of a challenge. I enjoyed that I was confused almost the entire time and will more than likely reread this at some point later on to get a better understanding. Again, the size is my major issue

[Doug Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the artwork was really cool and the nature of the story was neat, but the writing felt a bit lackluster overall. definitely still good on the whole but also not on par with some of the other Batman stories I've read recently.

[Kyle R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tries way too hard to be serious. Equal parts impossible to read due to lettering and the monotonously shadowy art makes it impossible to decipher what's happening. What's more, the plot is uninteresting.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful art style but sometimes it does too much and whatever imagery is trying to be told, gets lost easily.
The actual story is also hard to follow and I don’t really understand the entire plot.
Maybe get a revisit one day

[Riley Sipes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d really give this more of a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 but this easily probably the darkest Batman may ever get…dark atmosphere and the art style just added so much to that atmosphere…an excellent read…and pretty short too

[Ryan Ohm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman is terribly written. I mean Batman goes to talk to commissioner Gordon and says, “What’s up??” Who are you bugs bunny? Decent story with little to no pay off. Can’t read half of Jokers dialogue because it doesn’t have a text bubble.

[Scott A. Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be a personal favorite for self-contained stories that are outside of the main continuity.

[Louis Yank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most uniquely drawn Batman story you’ll ever read, but the plot is not so groundbreaking.

[Tika Reads Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was too cryptic for my liking, but the art was unreal like actually best dc art ever

[Cmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

extremely eerie, very disturbing at points, and phenomenal art.

[Vinícius Salmeron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story by story, it's insanely good, even though it deserved a larger size.