InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "ice"

seawolf10 (seawolf10) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-25 06:01:00

Entry tags:

char: great white shark/warren white, char: scarecrow/jonathan crane, creator: dan slott, publisher: dc comics, title: arkham asylum: living hell

Does it still count as "mystery meat" if you wish you DIDN'T know what it was?
In keeping with the theme of reposting high-quality comics from the old s_d...

I'm not terribly fond of Dan Slott, but I consider his "Arkham Asylum: Living Hell" miniseries to be a must-read for any Batman fan. It ranges from darkly humorous to outright horrifying -- sometimes both at once.

The young lady there is an example of "outright horrifying," but the body being referred to is a fairly major plot element, so I won't spoil it, even though the trade's been out for years.

The screaming guy with the mustache is Warren White, one of the mini's viewpoint characters. We've seen him again occasionally in various Gotham-related comics (most notably, an issue of Paul Dini's recent Detective run, and the "Face the Face" trade -- although I forget whether that was a mini in and of itself, or an arc from one of the Bat-books) as "The Great White Shark" -- much the worse for wear (both physically and mentally) as a result of the events in this miniseries. If his brief appearances in those books intrigued you, you probably ought to get this.

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	icon_uk 2009-04-25 06:01 am UTC (link)
	"Face the Face" was the first OYL story arc featuring Batman (and Robin). Written by James Robinson, it ran across both Batman and Detective. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	seawolf10 2009-04-25 08:19 pm UTC (link)
	Ah, thank you. (Reply to this) (Parent)

killermoth1
2009-04-25 06:11 am UTC (link)

Oh I love this comic much, so fantastically written. The thing I love about Dan Slott is his great humour, especially when it can so quickly turn to disgust, horror or something else. Humpty Dumpty is an awesome character too, I wish we would see more of him, though he was seen in the recent Arkham one-shot so that was cool.

Regarding the scans themselves (thanks for posting seawolf too) I funnily enough never got the "body gag" until about the fifth time reading (I always go through my comics every now and then, always) and then I was gobsmacked!

The only bad thing for me was Two-Faces interpretation, he flicked the coin for everything. Joker was absolutely brilliant though, well done on the artist for that.

Personally I think this is THE Arkham book to buy that will scare your pants off, it beats Serious House by a country mile for me.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	filbypott 2009-04-25 07:59 am UTC (link)
	Yeah - "Serious House" was very artistic, very experimental, and very... out there. "Living Hell" was classic scare-you-witless horror. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mullon 2009-04-25 11:41 am UTC (link)
	That's because you can understand what is scaring you with this. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-04-25 02:30 pm UTC (link)
	Only if you read it all the way through. I missed an issue here and there, and was hopelessly scratching my head at all the identity switches and conspiracies going on. :P (Reply to this) (Parent)

	drsevarius 2009-04-26 02:54 pm UTC (link)
	What's the gag? (Reply to this) (Parent)

besamim
2009-04-25 12:18 pm UTC (link)

This is one of the books I bought as a result of s_d. Great mixture of old villains, newly-created ones and the anti-hero Jason Blood/Etrigan. Plus, Slott refreshingly did an Arkham story in which the Joker wasn't running the show. (Hey, I like a well-written Joker tale as much as the next fan but he does tend to, as it were, take over most stories he appears in, so good on Slott for letting some new villains, like the chilling Jane Doe and Humpty Dumpty, shine.)

(Reply to this)

	nymphgalatea 2009-04-25 04:05 pm UTC (link)
	Ah yes. One of the few books to make me outright wail in horror (the bit where Warren is in the freezer...) This book now lives at the bottom of my airing cupboard, tucked safely under all the towels where it can't get out. Stupid scarring book. (Reply to this)

rustedone
2009-04-25 11:47 pm UTC (link)

I picked up Living Hell before I ever really got into comics and was not disappointed. I love every morbid, twisted moment of it. I think one of the reasons it's so captivating is that big players like Batman and Joker make minor appearances, leaving the stage open for facinating people like White, Humpty, and Doe.

My one question, however: is Lunkhead one of Slott's inventions for the book, or is he a little-known Batman villain dug up to fit the role?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-04-26 02:11 am UTC (link)
	I was wondering that myself. Who IS that guy? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	filbypott 2009-04-26 07:41 am UTC (link)
	Slott created him for this mini. (Reply to this) (Parent)