Wednesday 30 March 2011

arkham asylum - a serious house on serious earth - grant morrison

After finishing The Invisibles yesterday, l thought l would re-read Arkham Asylum again, as it has been a while (It originally came out in 1989). Impressive storytelling and impressionistic artwork by Dave McKean, once again, far removed from most peoples ideas of 'comics'. Batman goes into the Asylum (as the inmates have taken it over) and confronts his own past and madness. Grant Morrison said
"the story is woven tightly around a small number of symbolic elements, which combine and recombine throughout, as if in a dream: the Moon, the Shadow, the Mirror, the Tower, and the Mother's Son. The construction of the story was influenced by the architecture of a house — the past and the tale of Amadeus Arkham forms the basement levels. Secret passages connect ideas and segments of the book. There are upper stories of unfolding symbol and metaphor. We were also referencing sacred geometry, and the plan of the Arkham House was based on the Glastonbury Abbey and Chartres Cathedral. The journey through the book is like moving through the floors of the house itself. The house and the head are one."
Heavy going man

toodle pip

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