Arkham Reborn #1 Review

Arkham Reborn

Arkham Reborn #1 threw me on my first read through.  After all it has the same creative team of David Hine and Jeremy Haun that was found in Battle for the Cowl’s: Arkham Asylum, but where that book was creepy and introspective, this was one feels much more optimistic and a lot lighter in tone.

For those of you who missed the one shot, I’ll give you a brief run down of what happened in Arkham Asylum. Following a massive breakout from Arkham, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham is left with only his three special patients to keep him company.  These patients are an odd mixture of much more sedate patients, one a man who is completely lacking a face and often uses paints to express himself, another is the very definition of narcissism and finally, a woman who cannot stand the sight of herself, nor will she allow anyone else to look at her.  These three help to inspire Dr. Arkham’s to carry out his Uncle’s vision of creating a much more peaceful asylum.

This three issue series picks up a few months from where the one shot ended.  We see the new Arkham being rebuilt as Jeremiah begins to show a concerned party made up of Bruce Wayne (not sure if this is Tommy Elliot in disuise or not), Commissioner Gordon and District Attorney, Kate Spencer.  As Arkham gives the tour we are treated to some beautiful panels detailing the abrupt departure from the cold, grey halls of Arkham to a much more pristine environment.  After the tour though we get to see what’s going on behind the scenes as one of the doctors is apparently in Black Masks’s pocket and an inmate finds himself under attack.

With the beginning of this issue I admit I was a bit disappointed by the seeming optimism of Dr. Arkham and his vision.  I missed the disturbing aura that seemed to hover around the one-shot David Hine had written a few months earlier.  Yet I found as I kept reading that there’s more going on below the surface of this new Arkham Asylum and I look forward to reading more and more as the mystery unfolds.