Line #4 ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-arkham_asylum_living_hell_2_8861.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[InsanityDefense "Plead insanity"]], they said. [[TemptingFate "What could go wrong?"]], they said.]]
3
4	''Arkham Asylum: Living Hell'' is a six-issue limited comics series, published in 2003 and set in the Franchise/{{Batman}} universe. It was written by Dan Slott and features art by Ryan Sook, Wade Von Grawbadger and Jim Royal. Like many mini-series, it has since been collected into a [=TPB=]. The series presents us with an inside look on day-to-day life in Gotham's infamous madhouse. The result is basically ''Series/{{Oz}}'' with supervillains.
5
6	Batman does show up a few times in the story, but his role in it is tangential at best. The series actually focuses on two entirely new characters.
7
8	The first is Warren White, an embezzler who pleaded insanity and got sentenced to Arkham. Initially, he smugly believes that he got the better end of the deal by avoiding a prison sentence. As he gets to know his fellow "patients", however, he realizes that this is very much not the case.
9
10	While all this is going on, security guard Aaron Cash is trying to cope with a near death experience and a devastating loss. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to do that ''and'' keep Batman's Rogue's Gallery in order at the same time. Batman might catch them, but Aaron has to live with 'em.
11
12	What neither man realizes is that the entire asylum is about to become a part of something very, very horrifying; and that they'll both have to work together in order to come out of it alive.
13
14	Definitely not to be confused with ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'' by Creator/GrantMorrison and Creator/DaveMcKean, although both books were used as source material for a [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum certain critically acclaimed video game]].
15	----
16	!!Tropes:
17	* ActionSurvivor: Aaron initially is like this until the end where he reveals that he's a genuine badass.
18	* AlliterativeName: '''W'''arren '''W'''hite.
19	* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Warren and Humpty are the ones who made sure the demons leave the place.
20	* BedlamHouse: Amazingly, it's not Arkham this time.
21	* BewilderingPunishment: At the end, Batman suggests to Dr. Arkham that the entire thing was another experience with Scarecrow's fear gas. Finding this rather more logical and easy to stomach than that demons from Hell unleashed chaos in the Asylum, Arkham accepts the suggestion and has Scarecrow tossed in solitary.
22	* BigDamnHeroes:
23	** Batman arresting Jane Doe (then disguised as Anne Carver) just as she's about to murder Warren and steal his identity.
24	** Aaron Cash. The moment the [[spoiler:demons]] see him, they identify him as a 'champion' and [[spoiler:send monsters made from possessed supervillains to fight him.]]
25	* BigFun: Humpty Dumpty is a hefty fellow and probably the number one most kind and well-meaning inmate in Arkham Asylum.
26	* BodyHorror:
27	** All the people who [[spoiler:get possessed turn into terrifying monsters.]]
28	** Warren [[spoiler:after he gets locked in the Freezer; he loses his nose, lips, ears, hair, various fingers and a thumb to frostbite]].
29	** What Bullock finds in the cabinet of [[spoiler:Jason Blood]].
30	* BookEnds: The first comic has new inmate Warren White mocking the Riddler's question mark spandex. [[spoiler:The last one has White helping Riddler acquire a question mark-shaped helicopter, before noticing the arrival of a new inmate.]]
31	* CardboardPrison: It's Arkham! {{Lampshaded}} by having Commissioner Gordon early on express outrage at Doodlebug's release (who added insult to injury by scrawling "Gone to Arkham. Back after lunch.") to Dr. Carver, who issued Doodlebug's release. [[spoiler:The fact that the "Dr. Carver" in question is really Jane Doe supports Gordon's point, as does the reveal of Doodlebug being a serial killer who uses his victim's blood in his paint.]]
32	* ChekhovsGun:
33	** Aaron left Arkham after Killer Croc bit off his hand, only coming back when Jeremiah points out that A: he's still gutsy enough to work there, and B: as long as he keeps it vaguely under control, he can abuse the more violent inmates to his heart's content. The problem with that is [[spoiler:though everyone thought Croc had swallowed it, Junkyard Dog ''kept the severed hand''. Since he came back, inmates were able to [[BloodyBiometric use it as a key]]!]]
34	** Humpty Dumpty's habit of speaking in rhyme. [[spoiler:White ropes him in to help negotiate with Cthuga, who ''only'' understands words spoken in rhyme]].
35	* ChekhovsGag: Joker's plan to [[spoiler:kill everyone whose name is a palindrome]] shows up when Dr. Arkham calls National Guard Captain Allen Evenella for assistance.
36	* ComicBookFantasyCasting: ComicBook/TheRiddler is clearly modelled after Frank Gorshin, who played him in the [[Series/Batman1966 '60s TV show.]]
37	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Warren ruined the life of millions with his frauds and actually enjoyed seeing his accountant's despair when he realized he would take the fall.
38	* CoversAlwaysLie: Batman is barely in the series, but that doesn't stop him from being featured on the cover of issue 1 or the cover of the [=TPB=].
39	* CuteGhostGirl: The ghost of the girl Death Rattle killed shows up trying to convince him to sacrifice himself for the salvation he promised. [[spoiler:It's just her lying and getting revenge on her murderer.]]
40	* DemonicPossession: The demons can turn people into monsters.
41	* DevilsJobOffer: The story's VillainProtagonist Warren White goes from handsome ButtMonkey NewMeat in the prison to a [[BeautyToBeast hideous]] but competent and powerful supervillain, and in addition to his worldly "success", he manages to outwit some demons seeking to deal with him and so impresses ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} that he's offered a cushy job when he inevitably ends up in Hell after death.
42	* DidntThinkThisThrough: White's entire plan. He had his trial moved to Gotham as he'd read that almost no one pleaded insanity there and thus it could help him pull it off. Too bad he never bothered to check and find out '''''WHY''''' no one in their right mind would enter that plea in that particular location.
43	* DissonantSerenity: Warren White becomes ''disturbingly'' calm and cheerful after he finally cracks. To the point that he's not bothered by [[spoiler:the ghost of Humpty's grandmother, and casually strangles the ghost of Rich Milton.]]
44	* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: While Jane Doe's best known as looking being bald and skinless now, that look only came to be when she fought [[ComicBook/ManhunterDCComics Kate Spencer]]. Her look here sees Jane with skin and brown hair.
45	* EarnYourHappyEnding:
46	** [[spoiler:Dr. Carver]] is dead, but Aaron is clearly on the mend and things are finally looking up for him.
47	** On a darker note, so do both Warren and Humpty, since Warren ends up being in a position of great power once again at the end and Humpty finds a best friend in Warren.
48	* EldritchAbomination: Cthugha the demon lord, a sort of squid head who speaks in rhyme.
49	* EnemyMine: Aaron hates Warren's guts (and rightly so), but he still has to work with him in order to save everybody.
50	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
51	** The Joker, of all people. Of course, since it's the Joker, he might have said that just to mess with Warren. But at the same time, alternatively, considering that basically everyone HATES Warren, this might be a rare example of Joker having a genuine standard.
52	--->'''Warren:''' B-but you're the Joker! You ''kill'' people!\
53	'''The Joker:''' Yes, but I don't take their kids' college funds! whispers You know, I could use your head as a commode and sell it on [=eBay=]...
54	** Pretty much everyone hates Warren. Possibly because while they are evil, he's just an asshole, and while to various degrees all of them are aware that what they do is awful, Warren continuously denies that he did anything wrong.
55	* FromBadToWorse: Warren starts his time in Arkham by having to share a room with a serial killer, and it gets worse. Cash goes from recovering his lost limb to fighting demons.
56	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In one of the panels while Humpty is telling his backstory, there's a man and what appears to be a giant chicken.
57	* FunWithPalindromes: After escaping Arkham, Joker flips through a phone book and suggests killing everyone in the phone book whose name is a palindrome. He immediately finds a Nora Baron, and Batman eventually catches up with him after he just attacked a Colonel Allen Evenella.
58	* GadgeteerGenius: Junkyard Dog. Oddly, he seems restricted to using garbage and refuse to make his gadgets, either by his mental condition or how his "power" works.
59	* GentleGiant: Humpty. He's a large, polite, well-meaning guy and the only person who never tries to escape or cause problems in Arkham, and takes in Warren because he legitimately wants to help him. His crimes, [[spoiler:including the murder and reassembling of his grandmother's corpse]], were all because he saw something as broken and wanted to fix them.
60	* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: One of the inmates Warren has working for him by the end is named Felcher. [[SchmuckBait Don't look it up.]]
61	* GoAmongMadPeople: The entire plot. Warren White goes into Arkham as just another [[WhiteCollarCrime White Collar Crook]]. A few weeks in Arkham leave him [[spoiler:without a nose, hair, lips, ears, or trace of sanity — thus making him eligible to join Batman's RoguesGallery as The Great White Shark.]]
62	* GoodIsNotNice: Jeremiah Arkham. Granted, he never was nice to begin with, but it's implied his behavior towards Warren stems from the fact that he and the asylum were among the victims of Warren's scam. There's also the judge of Warren's trial, who was so disgusted with the jury actually buying Warren's insanity plea that he put Warren in Arkham indefinitely.
63	* GruesomeGrandparent: Humpty Dumpty was also raised by a physically abusive grandmother, until he "[[SelfMadeOrphan fixed]]" her with an axe and put her back together again with bootlace. It's ambiguous whether Humpty consciously understood what he was doing the whole time, or if he's genuinely mentally-arrested enough to not realize.
64	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: First it's about life in Arkham, then Doodlebug's painting takes a more sinister turn.
65	* HandicappedBadass: Aaron Cash is missing a hand after Killer Croc bit it off, but that doesn't stop him from kicking ass and taking names.
66	* HateSink: Warren deserves everything that happens to him, and the story won't hesitate to remind you. Every time he gets an edge, he goes back into being a smug prick. When a psychologist asks why he is there, he says it's because he got caught; later, he chides at Dumpty it's not his fault no one read the fine print, and when confronted by the man who took his life after Warren scapegoated him, Warren calls him weak and strangles the ghost. His file even says he actually took pleasure in seeing people's life being ruined.
67	* HatedByAll: ''No one'' likes Warren. Including psychopaths and literal demons.
68	* HeartbrokenBadass: Aaron; Killer Croc tearing off his hand was one thing, but finding out what happened to Dr. Carver destroyed him.
69	* HiddenInPlainSight: Beneath one masks on Dr. Carver's wall is [[spoiler:where Jane Doe hid the real Dr. Carver's skull.]]
70	%%* HybridMonster
71	* InsanityDefense: If White had been more familiar with Gotham City, he might have realized that pleading insanity in that town was a terrible idea.
72	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Dr. Arkham goes through this early in issue 4 when he realizes that he hasn't gotten any calls from Arkham.
73	-->'''Dr. Arkham:''' ''I haven't had a full night's sleep in years... Always some idiot on the phone with some new problem... "Dr. Arkham, the Scarecrow's trying to hang himself!" "Junkyard Dog flushed something, now all the toilets are broken!" "ComicBook/TheJoker got hold of [[LockingMacgyverInTheStoreCupboard the cleaning supplies]]. He's going to kill us all!" It's always something. But tonight? Nothing. Quiet as the grave. This can't be good. Damn. [[BigDamnHeroes Better get down there...]] ([[DramaticGunCock CHU-CHUKK]]) ... Before [[{{Irony}} all hell breaks loose]].''[[note]]It [[TheLegionsOfHell almost]] [[LiteralMetaphor did]].[[/note]]
74	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: InUniverse. Warren White is a smug a-hole who unrepentantly embezzled billions of dollars worth of pension funds (ruining the livelihoods of millions of people) and set up his accountant to take the fall. Everyone considers him "the worst person [they've] ever met", and these statements come from people who regularly face serial killers and mass murderers--and even those killers themselves.
75	* KarmaHoudini: Warren White, AKA [[spoiler:The Great White Shark. The culmination of his StartOfDarkness. As he's negotiated a deal for a cushy job in Hell when he dies, he can do whatever the hell he wants while he's still alive, as he'll never be punished for any of it.]]
76	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's not clear whether Death Rattle was really seeing and talking to ghosts the whole time. Cash is left wondering; he definitely used mundane means to learn about Warren's red file but he also clearly knew Cash was 'flipping him off' with his missing hand.
77	* MeaningfulName: Warren White (who becomes the Great White Shark); also Doodlebug's real name - Daedelus Boch - is a reference to Hieronymus Bosch.
78	* {{Mukokuseki}}: A rare and ''deliberate'' Western use of this trope for Jane Doe, which sort of makes sense for her. She's got a slightly dark-ish skin tone that indicates non-caucasian heritage... or maybe she's just a bit tanned?... and her eyes are vaguely Asian-ish... but not really. She even lacks large breasts (which is surprising for this universe), which allows her to pass herself off as a dude with relative ease.
79	* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:Jane Doe ''almost'' succeeds in escaping the Asylum with her BorrowedBiometricBypass tools and a voice recording of Dr. Carver. Then she slams the door open to see Batman standing on the other side. Since her disguise was ruined at the moment, he instantly realizes her real identity, punching her lights out.]]
80	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Dr. Arkham deliberately allows their patients to indulge in their quirks, such as giving Humpty things to put back together or letting Doodlebug paint. The latter is what led to the Asylum getting overrun by demons.
81	* NonMaliciousMonster: Humpty. In all the years that Batman's been around, he's possibly the first and ONLY Rogue's Gallery member that actually fits the legal definition of insanity. He had no idea he was harming anyone. He's simply too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. He is still scary though.
82	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Doodlebug]] who looks like a low key villain added to the story, but he was sent to Arkham for a good reason. And he is also a main antagonist.
83	* OhCrap:
84	** Warren realizing Dr. Arkham was one of the people he scammed... and knows it.
85	** The reaction of the [[spoiler:demons]] when they see Aaron Cash charging them.
86	* OriginsEpisode: The series is basically an origin story for how Warren White goes from a regular white-collar crook to an insane crime boss and a part of Batman's RoguesGallery.
87	* PetTheDog: Warren [[spoiler:saving Humpty from his Grandmother's ghost.]]
88	* PhraseCatcher: Whether you're a prison guard, The Joker, or the hellspawn in charge of torturing the biggest sinners in hell, Warren White is "the worst person you've ever met".
89	* {{Prequel}}: It was published at the time Michael Akins was police commissioner and Harvey Bullock was off the force, but according to a footnote in issue one, it takes place before ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' and features Jim Gordon as commissioner and Harvey Bullock as a cop.
90	* PrisonRape: As a PariahPrisoner, Warren White is regularly assaulted by his fellow inmates. One panel shows him being pinned down by his cellmate Death Rattle while the latter [[LecherousLicking licks his face]].
91	* PunnyName: Doodlebug's real name? ''Daedelus Boch'', which sort of sounds like "Doodlebug" if you put your hand over your mouth.
92	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Jeremiah Arkham. "Pragmatic" might be a better word, but he is quite accommodating with inmates who keep the violence to a minimum; He regularly lets Humpty Dumpty re-assemble broken objects, Two-Face gets to keep his coin, Doodlebug his paints, etc. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, that last one ''really'' ends up biting him in the ass.]]
93	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:At the climax, the ghosts of Arkham's inmates' victims flood the Asylum, and most are dragged to Hell since they immediately lash out against the monsters who killed them. However, Dr. Carver stops herself from going after Jane Doe in order to help Aaron Cash, and succeeds in giving him a fighting chance and ultimately saving him, allowing her true repose at the end.]]
94	* RememberTheNewGuy: All the new Arkham inmates introduced in this story (Doodlebug, Jane Doe, Death Rattle, etc.) are treated like they've always been there.
95	* RhymesOnADime: Humpty has a fixation with nursery rhymes and tells Warren his life story via whimsical storybook rhyming. Believe it or not this is significant to the climax: [[spoiler:Warren needs his "rhyme-to-English" comprehension to broker a deal with Cthugha and get the demons out of the asylum.]]
96	* TheScapegoat: [[FlatEarthAtheist Doctor Arkham]] can't admit to himself that the asylum was overrun by demons, so at the end, Batman suggests Scarecrow must have released fear gas into the vents. He has Crane put in isolation for three months. Which makes even less sense, given Batman's experiences with the Justice League, but he could've suggested that as a cover story. A bit later, Jason Blood outright tells Harvey Bullock they're pinning the blame on Scarecrow.
97	-->'''Scarecrow:''' [[NotMeThisTime WHAT?!]]
98	* SeeYouInHell: A rare ''non-vengeful'' use. The demon ComicBook/{{Etrigan}}, impressed at how cleverly [[spoiler:Warren]] has wheeled and dealed for himself in both Arkham and his future afterlife down below, smiles and says, "Guile and style. You'll do well. Keep in touch, I'll see you in hell."
99	* SerialKiller: A few are introduced here, most notably Jane Doe, Doodlebug and Death Rattle.
100	* SlipperySoap: Warren finds The Joker in the same shower area as him. The panicked Warren drops his soap... only for The Joker to politely hand it back to him and [[EvenEvilHasStandards chew him out verbally for using stock frauds to take other people's kids' college funds]].
101	* StealthPun:
102	** A particularly plot-relevant one. Riddler hints that he was probably the first one to notice [[spoiler:that Jane Doe had replaced Dr. Carver]] when he refers to her as "deer girl"[[note]]it's panel 7 on page 21 in the collected edition[[/note]] instead of "dear girl". Or, to put it another way [[Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic a female deer.]]
103	** Another horrifying one appears in a flashback with Aaron Cash. Cash is about to drag off Riddler for vandalizing a tiled floor that he was supposed to be soaping. Before the flashback ends, we see what Riddler was scribbling in the soap suds: [[spoiler:"Who got out by getting ahead[?]"]]
104	* {{Stripperiffic}}: ComicBook/PoisonIvy and Miss Magpie. Justified for Magpie, as she offers certain favors to male prisoners and guards in exchange for shiny things.
105	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In this story, Magpie plays the role of Poison Ivy's somewhat immature companion much like ComicBook/HarleyQuinn (Especially the Animated Series version of her).
106	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: The beginning of Issue #2 has a flashback of Warren White destroying several paper documents right in front of his accountant to ensure that he takes the fall for White's crimes while the accountant looks on in despair. In the next panel, White makes the same despairing expression as Dr. Arkham destroys all of Anne Carver's paperwork after the reveal that she is actually Jane Doe in disguise, including the papers that had approved White's transfer to a minimum security prison.
107	* ThirdPersonPerson: Jane Doe refers to herself in the third person, because from her perspective "Jane Doe" isn't her true identity, just one she wears until something better comes along.
108	* TokenGoodTeammate: Humpty is a legitimately kind and well-meaning person [[spoiler:(despite the horrifying behavior his good intentions lead him to)]], which makes him really stand out from the other Arkham inmates, and even some of the staff.
109	* TooDumbToLive: Warren, initially. You'd be safer making a guilty plea in Gotham than an insanity plea, despite Blackgate not being a much better alternative. Justified as he is not from Gotham and only changed venue there because he heard it was the only place where the system is broken enough to believe his story.
110	* TookALevelInJerkass: Humpty goes from being a well-meaning, model inmate at the beginning to Warren's right hand man by the end. The final page of the series show the usually docile man now ordering around other inmates to line up before the Great White Shark to make deals with him.
111	* TraumaButton: After getting his hand eaten by Killer Croc, Aaron develops a fear of the latter and will avoid dealing with the Croc at all cost. He finally gets over this in the final issue after [[spoiler:Dr. Carver's ghost encourages him to save the other guards from demons]], and he manages to take down [[spoiler:a demonified Killer Croc]]--even getting an alligator-skin wallet after the whole chaos is over.
112	* VillainProtagonist: Warren White is an immoral white collar criminal who deserves part what he gets.
113	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[spoiler:Aaron is angry with himself for not asking Dr. Carver out when he had the chance.]]
114	* YouDontLookLikeYou: In most other comics, Magpie is usually drawn with straight black hair with white streaks (sometimes styled into wings) and a sharp, angular face that rather resembles her namesake. In this series, Miss Magpie has curly, red hair and a rounder face.

Context ComicBook / ArkhamAsylumLivingHell