Batman: The Last Arkham
Encyclopedia
"The Last Arkham" was a four-part Batman
story arc
that started the Shadow of the Bat
comic book
series in mid-1992
. The storyline began in Shadow of the Bat #1 (Jun, 1992), and finished in Shadow of the Bat #4 (Sept, 1992). DC Comics
later compiled the four issues into a trade paperback
in 1996
. The comic was written by Alan Grant and drawn by Norm Breyfogle
and was responsible for the introduction of several new characters into the Batman universe.
at the hands of its new administrator, Jeremiah Arkham
, who inherited it from his deceased uncle, Amadaeus Arkham. The asylum is revamped and fitted with numerous new security measures.
When Batman stumbles upon a series of murders, resembling the serial killer
Zsasz's MO
, Batman begins to investigate only to find Zsasz has been imprisoned in Arkham Asylum during the course of the murders. Determined to prove Zsasz guilty, Batman and Commissioner Gordon
stage Batman's insanity in order to get him committed to Arkham and further investigate. However, Jeremiah Arkham is unaware of this plot and begins to break down Batman mentally and physically. Learning of Batman's incarceration through private talk with Jeremiah, Zsasz guesses Batman's insanity is obviously a ploy and begins to plant seeds of hatred towards Batman in Jeremiah's mind. This explodes when Jeremiah forces Batman to fight Amygdala
and other inmates from the asylum, including the Joker
, Mad Hatter
, and Egghead.
Whilst this continues, Zsasz escapes through the tunnels which he had purchased and kills the builder and another inmate in order to cover his tracks. Batman defeats all the inmates and begins to wonder about Jeremiah Arkham's sanity
, as Amadaeus Arkham was in fact the asylum's first inmate. Batman is put back into holding, but is freed by Nightwing
, who had come to investigate. The pair split up and Nightwing encounters Zsasz in the tunnels below the building. Zsasz collapses the tunnel in on Nightwing, but is stopped by Batman who had made the agonising journey through a microwave sensor to stop him. The pair fight in the sewer and Commissioner Gordon arrives in time to arrest Zsasz.
; Zsasz
, Jeremiah Arkham
, and Amygdala
, who were reunited in a story arc during the "Knightfall
" crossover.
Zsasz was originally created by Alan Grant and was named after psychiatrist
Thomas Szasz
when Grant saw the name while visiting his girlfriend in her university library. Despite getting complaints that the character was similar to Hannibal Lecter
, Grant thought that Zsasz and Arkham Asylum would be able to start off a successful comic book series.
Alan Grant drew Jeremiah Arkham's personality from another book he at his girlfriend's library; the biology
book Superstition in the Common Pigeon by B. F. Skinner
. Throughout the comic book, Jeremiah Arkham states that if you "Change the behavior, the mind will follow". This line was drawn from that book and gives light to Jeremiah's sadistic methods of dealing with inmates. In the Last Arkham, Jeremiah's background is touched upon during a flashback and explains that his understanding of the human mind comes from one instance when he was 16 and a store was being held up by a maniac from Arkham Asylum. Jeremiah coolly calms the gunman when he goes to shoot him, and watches him commit suicide
.
:
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
that started the Shadow of the Bat
Batman: Shadow of the Bat
Batman: Shadow of the Bat was a comic book series featuring Batman, published by DC Comics. The series ran for 96 issues, from 1992 to 2000. The stories took place in Batman's then-current continuity along with Detective Comics and Batman, in contrast to Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, which...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series in mid-1992
1992 in comics
-Year overall:* Image Comics explodes onto the scene, releasing eight ongoing and limited series, starting with Youngblood in April; followed by Spawn in May; Savage Dragon in July; and Brigade, Shadowhawk, and WildC.A.T.S. in August....
. The storyline began in Shadow of the Bat #1 (Jun, 1992), and finished in Shadow of the Bat #4 (Sept, 1992). DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
later compiled the four issues into a trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
in 1996
1996 in comics
-Year overall:* Malcolm Jones III commits suicide at circa age 37.* Boody Rogers, creator of Sparky Watts, dies at c. age 92-January:* January 19: Bernard Baily, co-creator of The Spectre and Hourman, dies at age 79.* January 28:...
. The comic was written by Alan Grant and drawn by Norm Breyfogle
Norm Breyfogle
Norman Keith "Norm" Breyfogle is an American comic book artist, fine artist, illustrator, and writer. He was involved with the character of Batman consistently from 1987-1995. Breyfogle has worked on many different characters for most comic book publishers at one time or another...
and was responsible for the introduction of several new characters into the Batman universe.
Storyline
"The Last Arkham" begins with the destruction of the old Arkham AsylumArkham Asylum
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to simply as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Comics Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman...
at the hands of its new administrator, Jeremiah Arkham
Jeremiah Arkham
Jeremiah Arkham is a fictional character in DC Comics' Batman comic books, in which he serves as the current head of Arkham Asylum, an institution for the criminally insane. He debuted in 1992 in Shadow of the Bat #1 during the four-part story arc, Batman: The Last Arkham, that kicked off the new...
, who inherited it from his deceased uncle, Amadaeus Arkham. The asylum is revamped and fitted with numerous new security measures.
When Batman stumbles upon a series of murders, resembling the serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Zsasz's MO
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, Batman begins to investigate only to find Zsasz has been imprisoned in Arkham Asylum during the course of the murders. Determined to prove Zsasz guilty, Batman and Commissioner Gordon
James Gordon (comics)
James Worthington Gordon, Sr. is a fictional character, an ally of Batman that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane...
stage Batman's insanity in order to get him committed to Arkham and further investigate. However, Jeremiah Arkham is unaware of this plot and begins to break down Batman mentally and physically. Learning of Batman's incarceration through private talk with Jeremiah, Zsasz guesses Batman's insanity is obviously a ploy and begins to plant seeds of hatred towards Batman in Jeremiah's mind. This explodes when Jeremiah forces Batman to fight Amygdala
Amygdala (comics)
Amygdala is the alias of DC Comics character Aaron Helzinger, who is a sometime opponent of Batman. He has reduced mental capacity, is prone to outbursts of violence and has super-strength due to medical experimentation on his brain, chiefly the removal of his amygdala.As demonstrated in...
and other inmates from the asylum, including the Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
, Mad Hatter
Mad Hatter (comics)
The Mad Hatter is a fictional supervillain and enemy of Batman in the DC Universe. He is modeled after the Hatter from Lewis Carroll's novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a character often called the "Mad Hatter" in adaptations of Carroll. He made his first appearance in Batman #49 in October...
, and Egghead.
Whilst this continues, Zsasz escapes through the tunnels which he had purchased and kills the builder and another inmate in order to cover his tracks. Batman defeats all the inmates and begins to wonder about Jeremiah Arkham's sanity
Sanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
, as Amadaeus Arkham was in fact the asylum's first inmate. Batman is put back into holding, but is freed by Nightwing
Nightwing
Nightwing is a name that has been used by several fictional characters in the DC Comics Universe. It was conceived as a Kryptonian analogue to the character of Batman, with Nightwing's frequent partner Flamebird based on Robin...
, who had come to investigate. The pair split up and Nightwing encounters Zsasz in the tunnels below the building. Zsasz collapses the tunnel in on Nightwing, but is stopped by Batman who had made the agonising journey through a microwave sensor to stop him. The pair fight in the sewer and Commissioner Gordon arrives in time to arrest Zsasz.
Character introductions
"The Last Arkham" launched three new characters into the Batman universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
; Zsasz
Zsasz
Mr. Zsasz is a fictional villain who appears in books published by DC Comics, usually as an enemy of Batman. He is a serial killer who usually kills with a knife and carves a tally mark somewhere on himself for every victim.-Fictional character biography:...
, Jeremiah Arkham
Jeremiah Arkham
Jeremiah Arkham is a fictional character in DC Comics' Batman comic books, in which he serves as the current head of Arkham Asylum, an institution for the criminally insane. He debuted in 1992 in Shadow of the Bat #1 during the four-part story arc, Batman: The Last Arkham, that kicked off the new...
, and Amygdala
Amygdala (comics)
Amygdala is the alias of DC Comics character Aaron Helzinger, who is a sometime opponent of Batman. He has reduced mental capacity, is prone to outbursts of violence and has super-strength due to medical experimentation on his brain, chiefly the removal of his amygdala.As demonstrated in...
, who were reunited in a story arc during the "Knightfall
Batman: Knightfall
"Knightfall" is the title given to a major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993...
" crossover.
Zsasz was originally created by Alan Grant and was named after psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Thomas Szasz
Thomas Szasz
Thomas Stephen Szasz is a psychiatrist and academic. Since 1990 he has been Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He is a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social...
when Grant saw the name while visiting his girlfriend in her university library. Despite getting complaints that the character was similar to Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer...
, Grant thought that Zsasz and Arkham Asylum would be able to start off a successful comic book series.
Alan Grant drew Jeremiah Arkham's personality from another book he at his girlfriend's library; the biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
book Superstition in the Common Pigeon by B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...
. Throughout the comic book, Jeremiah Arkham states that if you "Change the behavior, the mind will follow". This line was drawn from that book and gives light to Jeremiah's sadistic methods of dealing with inmates. In the Last Arkham, Jeremiah's background is touched upon during a flashback and explains that his understanding of the human mind comes from one instance when he was 16 and a store was being held up by a maniac from Arkham Asylum. Jeremiah coolly calms the gunman when he goes to shoot him, and watches him commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Collected editions
The storyline has been collected into a trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Batman: The Last Arkham (DC Comics, 1995, ISBN 1-56389-190-5; also published in the UK by Titan BooksTitan BooksTitan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
, 1996, ISBN 1-85286-665-9)