Arkham Reborn is a Batman storyline written by David Hine and illustrated by Jeremy Haun. The story features Dick Grayson as Batman, focusing on Arkham Asylum and its administrator Jeremiah Arkham. It was published in three parts beginning as a Battle for the Cowl one-shot, followed by a three-issue Arkham Reborn mini-series and a two-part conclusion in Detective Comics.
Synopsis
Battle for the Cowl
Jeremiah Arkham worries that he can't fix his violent inmates and takes comfort in his non-violent ones, treating the patients Hamburger Lady, Mirror Man and No-Face. In his office, he finds clues leading him to a blueprint for a new Asylum designed by Amadeus Arkham.[1] However, he loses control of the Asylum to Le Bossu and the Black Glove when they beat him and leave him for dead during Batman R.I.P..[2] He is an amnesiac for several weeks until he finds himself stumbling through the streets, shocked to find that Batman has gone missing, and the Asylum has been destroyed by Black Mask.[3] Despite these setbacks, he returns to the ruins for his three favorite patients and announces they will build a new Asylum together.[1]
Arkham Reborn
The new asylum is built and Jeremiah Arkham unveils it to Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon and D.A. Spencer, alongside his head of security Aaron Cash and new assistant director Alyce Sinner. It's revealed that Sinner is secretly an agent of Black Mask when she reveals the asylum's true functions: brutally punishing patients instead of rehabilitating them, beginning with Raggedy Man,[4] who goes missing inside the walls, while several other patients are attacked, including Clayface, Killer Croc and Mister Freeze.
Jeremiah holds a fundraiser gala with Gotham's wealthiest citizens, but he's interrupted when Sinner uses the voice of Amadeus Arkham to taunt her victims and start a massive prison riot.[5] Batman arrives to help put down the riot, and they get the systems back online as Raggedy Man crawls out of the walls, dead. Batman gives Arkham evidence on Sinner and he confronts her, leading her to try and stab him as he has her incarcerated. Later in private, Arkham realizes he's insane when an aspect of his psyche called the Jester confronts him, and the Three Beauties are revealed to be in his imagination.[6]
Beneath the Mask
Jeremiah Arkham is revealed to have been actually Black Mask, and is kept in his own Asylum, diagnosed with schizophrenia.[7] He becomes leader of the inmates again after threatening the Mortician, and Batman comes to interrogate him when a man's life is in danger due to Black Mask's plans. Batman indulges Arkham's schizophrenia to get deactivation codes to his bomb, but Arkham brutally murders his Three Beauties when Batman allows him to confront them.[8] Arkham is confined again, and he explains that his schizophrenia is a result of manipulation by Hugo Strange and the Joker, who have been secretly drugging him for years.
Meanwhile, Sinner is promoted to Director of Arkham Asylum and uses this position to determine whether Jeremiah is the cowardly man she hated or the ruthless man she loved. He's put in solitary confinement after carving his initials into Zsasz's eyelids, and she embraces him again as her lover.[9]
Issues
- Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum #1
- Arkham Reborn #1
- Arkham Reborn #2
- Arkham Reborn #3
- Detective Comics #864
- Detective Comics #865
Notes
- This story is divided into three segments each of which are published in different series and take place at different times. The first issue is published as part of Battle for the Cowl and takes place during that event.[1] This is followed by the three-issue Arkham Reborn mini-series which takes place concurrently with Black Mask's appearances in the Life After Death storyline.[4][5][6] The conclusion is a two-part arc Beneath the Mask published in Detective Comics after the conclusion to Life After Death.[8][9]
Recommended Reading
Links and References
Batman Family Storyline This event or storyline is specifically related to Batman, or to members of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Batman Storylines category. |