Legendary comic book writer Grant Morrison has revealed that he is currently well into writing a sequel to one of the most iconic Batman comics of all time, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which he also wrote.
Released in October 1898, just after Tim Burton’s Batman stormed cinemas, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is a pitch-black tale which sees Batman entering the famous mad house after his greatest enemies escape and take the staff prisoner.
It’s a surreal, hellish but beautiful read that completely deconstructs Batman and his Rogues’ Gallery, leaving you exhausted, but man, is it worth it, especially when paired with Dave McKean’s terrific, overpowering art.
Writing on his Substack, Morrison says of the sequel: “The Arkham Asylum sequel has its first 40 pages completed and is currently waiting on negotiations with an artist and a contract… Some of the influences on the Arkham book include the relationship between Goethe’s Faust Part One, which he wrote when he was 23 and Part Two which he completed when he was 80. The art of Francis Bacon. The Casa Malaparte on Capri and its creator, Curzio Malaparte, who began as an Italian Fascist before converting to Marxism. Jim Aparo’s art. Analogue horror.
“The Arkham sequel is subtitled A House Like Me and the opening scene takes place 1000 years from today.”
Sadly, Dave McKean has mostly stepped back from comic book art these days, which is why Morrison confirms that he is currently trying to find an artist.
I can only imagine what comes next in Arkham, but whatever it is, I am fully on board.
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The inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over Gotham’s detention center for the criminally insane on April Fool’s Day, demanding Batman in exchange for their hostages. Accepting their demented challenge, Batman is forced to endure the personal hells of the Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and many other sworn enemies in order to save the innocents and retake the prison. During his run through this absurd gauntlet, the Dark Knight’s must face down both his most dangerous foes and his inner demons.
This is the critically acclaimed Batman story that helped launch the U.S. careers of Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. The classic confrontation between the Dark Knight and his archnemeses, this story is well known for its psychological intensity and probing portraits of Batman and the Joker.
Arkham Asylum includes groundbreaking art that influenced scores of artists by introducing a new school of storytelling and technique to comics.
Thoughts? I know you have them and I wanna hear ’em all.
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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