Mert Can Can থেকে Nong Phikun, Tak Fa District, Nakhon Sawan, Таиланд
This was my first forray into the huge world of Batman. I'm still not entirely sure whether it was the ideal start, but one has to start somewhere; and after having read "The Dark Knight Returns" I'm really glad I chose this one to start with. And Batman or no Batman, this is an absolutely fantastic piece of art. First of all, it was good to start with something familiar - I've loved Dave McKean's work ever since I read "Sandman", obviously. And I don't think I've ever seen a comic where the art fit so well to the story like with this one. On April 1, Arkham Asylum is taken over by its inhabitants, and according to the Joker's demands, Batman has to go in there, alone, in order to save the hostages. The Joker wants to show him that this, rather than the "sane" world, is where Batman belongs. At the same time, we also learn about the history of the Asylum, and the result is a wonderfully twisted tale of the past and the present. I was genuinely creeped out by the story and the art and the lettering (the Joker especially comes to mind), and the atmosphere was really - well, creepy and uncanny. I love it when that happens, since I don't tend to scare that easily. It really pulled me in, and it truly felt like I was in Arkham Asylum with Batman and his adversaries. In this edition, there is also the script of the comic plus some notes by Grant Morrison. I found them rather helpful and really really interesting (I always love to read how comics come into existance - I still am such a novice to this world and it's fascinating to peek behind the curtain). I was rather confused by most of the villains, since I pretty much only knew the Joker and Two-Face, but even though I suspect a lot of things went over my head, it was still a really enjoyable read. And more than that. It became an instant favourite, and I cannot recommend it enough.