YMMV / Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Batman really think Scarecrow was behind the events of the comic, or did he just tell Dr. Arkham that for the staff's own peace of mind? (It's not like Batman hasn't had his fair share of supernatural experiences.) Or was he even suggesting it as a cover story to keep from frightening other people?
  • The jury accepting White's plea of "Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity." Did the jury genuinely buy into whatever White's high-paid lawyers were spinning? Were they corrupt and paid off to deliver this verdict (as the Judge claimed)? Or did they realize just what a guilty verdict would mean for White and set him up to be sent to Arkham? He is, after all, "The worst man you've ever met."
  • Does the Joker actually consider himself a better person than White? Or is he just saying that to mess with him?
• Complete Monster: Daedalus "Doodlebug" Boch is a Mad Artist who killed and mutilated many people across Gotham, using their blood to paint massive murals. During his later escape of Arkham Asylum, Boch kills his longtime cellmate, Junkyard Dog, and allies with the demonic forces seeking to bring Hell on Earth. Boch begins sacrificing every prisoner and guard in the Asylum to the forces of Hell, condemning them to a burning torment while he plans to finish his artistic "vision" — even if it means dooming humankind.
• Funny Moments:
  • The Running Gag of everyone from Joker to an actual demon telling Warren that "[he's] the worst man [they've] ever met".
  • Warren being transported into Arkham and insulting Riddler's costume.
  Warren: What's the question mark for, sexual orientation?
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • The final issue has Dr. Arkham saying he wasn't worried, because he knew Cash had it under control.
  • Shark nonchalantly saving Humpty from his abusive grandmother's ghost and comforting him afterwards, reassuring the poor guy that the things we fear can be overcome and drastic changes are sometimes for the better.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Once out of Arkham, Joker decides to go kill everyone whose name is a palindrome just because. Eleven years later, Batman would face another villain with a palindrome fixation.
  • There's a 1950s Batman story called "The Crazy Crime Clown", in which Joker feigns insanity to get himself committed. His plot is to get close to a patient there, an insane banker who knows the location of a hidden cache of money, and Bats duly thwarts it, leaving Joker Laughing Mad behind bars. This is almost the inverse of Warren White's role in this story.
  • Warren insults the Riddler's costume at one point by asking if the question mark is for his sexual orientation. Nineteen years later, in Strange Love Adventures, Riddler is revealed to be bi, while his incarnation in Harley Quinn (2019) came out as gay in Season 3.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Warren White. After he embezzles the life savings and pensions of nearly every one of his company's clients, he decides to plea insanity to try to beat the rap, only for the furious judge to sentence him to Arkham Asylum instead. He quickly becomes the most despised, reviled, and hated inmate in the place. Jeremiah Arkham, the head doctor, outright calls White "the worst person I've ever met"— Arkham houses some of the deadliest mass murderers, sociopaths, serial killers, and outright inhuman monsters in all of fiction. One of those mass murderers—the Joker himself—also declares White the epitome of evil, remarking that "I didn't steal [victims'] kids' college funds." Never mind that the Joker has probably slaughtered a college campus' worth of people... Somewhat justified in that, while the other inmates of Arkham have committed deadlier crimes than White, they at least have the reasoning of actually being mad to fall back on; White, who is 100% sane, doesn't get that excuse. Also Jeremiah just got his retirement plan pushed back because of the embezzlement so he is stuck with the murderers and inhuman monsters because of White and White does not even try apologizing.
• Jerkass Woobie: Warren. He's an absolute scumbag who ruined countless lives with his embezzling and definitely deserved to be punished for it, but it's hard not to pity him with the sheer amount of abuse he goes through during his stay in Arkham.
• Squick: Among other things, there's what Jason Blood keeps around when Bullock visits him and all the stuff in Nightmare Fuel.
• Tear Jerker: Humpty Dumpty's back story. A kind, gentle guy whose life was a series of bad luck since childhood. As a child, his house was demolished by accident, dog ran over by an ice cream truck, and parents crushed by their Christmas tree. Then he was taken in by his physically abusive grandmother, who beat him and forced him to repair shoes for her. But he remains a kind, gentle guy, and all his crimes are merely him trying to fix problems in the world, even the murder and stitching of his grandmother.

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