Arkham Asylum

**Arkham Asylum** is a fictional institution in comic books published by the American company DC Comics. It first appeared in *Batman* #258 (October 1974), but its first appearance in *Swamp Thing* comics was in *Swamp Thing* Vol. 2, #30 (November 1984). It was created by Dennis O'Neil and Irv Novick.

## History

Arkham Asylum is located on the outskirts of Gotham City, and is where those of Batman's foes considered to be legally insane are incarcerated (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary). Although it has had numerous administrators, its current head is Jeremiah Arkham. The Asylum does not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases; escapes are frequent (on at least one occasion, an obsessive-compulsive multiple murderer was signed out of Arkham into the care of an incontinent, alcoholic vagrant, on the grounds that he "looked like a responsible citizen"), and those who are "cured" and released tend to re-offend. Furthermore, several staff members, including at least one director, have ended up as residents, notably Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Dr. Achilles Milo, Lyle Bolton and even the founder Dr. Amadeus Arkham and, in some incarnations, Doctors Hugo Strange and Charles Nigaff.

Originally known as Mercey Mansion, Arkham Asylum was founded and run by Amadeus Arkham. Arkham himself was slowly driven insane shortly following the grisly murder of his wife and child by a lunatic named Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins. Amadeus Arkham eventually became a patient on his own asylum until his death, after which the custodianship of Arkham Asylum was passed down to his nephew, Jeremiah.

In an early incident during the new administration, one of the staff members of Arkham found the secret hidden room which belonged to Elizabeth Arkham, Amadeus's mother, where Amadeus had hidden his diary. Upon reading the diary and learning of the inherited madness of the Arkham family, the orderly became insane and released the inmates of the Asylum, hoping to lure Batman into a trap to kill him and end Arkham's curse. With the Asylum taken over by the likes of Joker, Black Mask and Two-Face, Batman had to go in alone, confront his own demons, fears and enemies until order was restored.

Jermiah Arkham took a hardline approach towards the care of his patients. He completely renovated the interior of the hospital, tearing away the old Victorian-style architecture, replacing it with newly designed interconnecting corridors patterned in the style of old classical labyrinths. With little regard for the hospital's dark history, Jeremiah was certain to destroy old remnants of the old asylum, including his uncle's private journal. Arkham hired Hiram Contractors to handle the renovations. What Jeremiah didn't realize however was that the company foreman, Zolly Hiram, had been blackmailed by patient Victor Zsasz into building a secret corridor that connected to several padded rooms, including his own. This later enabled Zsasz to affect a temporary escape from the asylum.

Years ago, the original Arkham Asylum suffered massive structural damage when the criminal Bane orchestrated a large-scale break-out, setting dozens of patients free. As a result, Jeremiah Arkham was forced to close its doors and relocate. He established a new Arkham Asylum at the site of the abandoned estate of Eric Mercy on Mercy Island.

### Batman R.I.P.

Batman broke into Arkham and attacked the Scarecrow, took him to Joker's cell and beat him to learn the location of Hush's secret hideout, much to Joker's delight.[12]

Later, Dr. Jeremiah noticed that the inmates were all singing about Batman's death. Shortly after, Arkham Asylum was the chosen scenario by the Black Glove to eliminate Batman as part of their master plan. Guy Dax infiltrated the asylum by posing as a doctor and after having Nightwing incarcerated and dosed with drugs, he attacked Jeremiah Arkham and took control of the asylum. As part of the plan, Dax and his henchmen carried red and black roses into the building, they dragged Jezebel Jet inside and he released Joker from his cell. Arkham was then the scenario for the final fight between Batman and Joker, as planned by the Black Glove. Jezebel was locked in one of the cells and after Batman broke her free, he fell into a trap and was paralyzed.

The Black Glove buried Batman on the backyard of Arkham, but Batman managed to rise again and using a remote device he called the Bat-Radia, he activated a remote signal from the Batcomputer that shut all the exits of Arkham, locking all the members of the Black Glove inside.

While Joker escaped from Arkham before the lockdown, Batman confronted Jezebel Jet and chased Hurt to the rooftop of the building, where Hurt tried to escape on a helicopter. Batmam leapt to the vehicle and caused the pilot to lose control and crash on the river. Nightwing managed to escape from Dax and Scorpiana and retrieved Batman's cape and cowl from the rooftop of Arkham.

After the Black Glove's failed attempt to destroy Batman, all the inmates from Arkham Asylum were transferred to Blackgate until Arkham was completely decontaminated. On their way back to Arkham, the vehicles that transported the inmates were assaulted by a new Black Mask, who freed the inmates and destroyed the asylum in front of all of them.

## Security

Jeremiah Arkham installed the most state-of-the-art security measures when he took control of the asylum. Video recorders were installed in every room and a corridor with two guards stationed on every level twenty-four hours a day to discourage bribery. Even Arkham himself was required to present identification to access various levels of the hospital. All exterior windows at Arkham were installed with heat detectors and microwave motion detectors. Magnetic foils in the walls were used to block radio waves from penetrating locked cells. Although security protocols were highly efficient, they were not foolproof. Within weeks of the renovations both Mister Zsasz and Batman succeeded in breaking out of the asylum. Additionally, Batman's former partner, Nightwing even succeeded in breaking into Arkham.

## Residents

Although nobody actually lives in Arkham permanently, being an asylum, it has an infamous list of frequent residents. It's most notorious inmates throughout the years include:

* Abattoir
* Architect
* Bane
* Black Mask
* Black Spider
* Calendar Man
* Catman
* Cavalier
* Cluemaster
* Crazy Quilt
* Deadshot
* Death Rattle
* Doctor Destiny
* Doctor Double X
* Doctor Phosphorus
* Doodlebug
* Dragoncat
* Emperor Blackgate
* Enforcer
* Fear
* Film Freak
* Firefly
* Goblin
* Gunhawk
* Headhunter
* Hush
* Jaeger
* James Gordon, Jr.
* Joker
* KGBeast
* Killer Croc
* Killshot II
* King Tut
* Lock-Up
* Lunkhead
* Mad Hatter
* Maxie Zeus
* Mister Freeze
* Mister Zsasz
* Night-Slayer
* Nobody
* Orphan
* Owlman
* Penguin
* Polka Dot Man
* Quakemaster
* Reaper
* Riddler
* Scarecrow
* Steeljacket
* Temblor
* The Unicorn
* Two-Face
* Ubu
* Ventriloquist
* Vulture
* Wolf Spider
* Wrath
* Zodiac Master
* Zombie

### Employees

* Amadeus Arkham Founder
* Jeremiah Arkham Director
* Achilles Milo Director
* Aaron Cash Head of Security
* Hugo Strange Psychologist
* Charles Nigaff Psychologist

## In other media

*Main article: Arkham Asylum in other media*