Week Thirteen

For Reconsidering the Superhero week, I read “Arkham Asylum.” I was immediately surprised by how dark it was. My experience of superheros mostly come from TV shows. I watched the Warner Brothers kids channel when I was younger. I watched Teen Titans and the animated Batman. I also watched Young Justice and Justice League. I also watched Marvel movies like Avengers and the new Spiderman. Therefore, my impression of superheros were that they were all about justice. They were all good. They never did anything immoral. They never wavered in their decisions.

Then, I was really surprised when I read “Arkham Asylum.” The drawing style struck me first. The lines are chaotic and frenzied. Nothing is crisp and clean cut like the older style superhero comics. The panel boundaries were barely there. I could hardly keep track of the order. But I think the artist wanted to do that on purpose because the story is about how the characters went insane.

I think Batman is one of the most interesting superheros. He is the only hero I know that has no superpower. He can’t fly or shoot lasers or read minds. His only powers are his incredible intelligence and wealth. I guess Robin is the same way. Batman also has this incredible sense of morality. However, I feel like since he doesn’t have any real superpowers, he’s forgiven if he wavers in his way of delivering justice. But at the same time, I feel like he’s also held to higher expectations since he has to keep up with Superman and Wonder Woman.

In Justice League, he was always the outlier. He was the one who would be the safety net if the others went astray. And he has the capability to take down all the superheros. I think the Joker is also an interesting character because you can’t figure out his motivations. He’s insane. He plays with Batman. He does things just for the effect for being cruel. I read up on him more and found out that he cut off his face and wore it as it rotted. That’s why I think he’s such a captivating character. He’s so unpredictable. You just want to find out more about him.