Asylum Earth

Artist, Charles Bragg brings us a view of his own special reality—and sheds new light on what we know of our own. In Asylum Earth, nothing is quite as it seems. Toulouse-Laurec shares a room with El Greco in "Art Heaven," while back among the living, an irate "Letter to the Editor" demands that someone go in and finish "all those impressionist paintings—why leave just an impression?" Irrelevant and brilliantly funny, Bragg brings us a view of his own special reality—and sheds new light on what we know of our own. Witticisms, satire, and irony abound, and no profession or institution escapes Bragg's sharp eye. Often compared to Daumier, Nast, and Bosch, Bragg is a master of observation. Once our human frailties are scrutinized by his myopic gaze, we may never see ourselves in quite the same way again! Illustrated throughout with Bragg's paintings and etchings.

Led by the Joker, the patients of Arkham Asylum take over the building and threaten to murder the staff unless Batman agrees to meet with them, a situation that results in Batman being pushed to the brink of madness himself.

Vol. 77- includes Yearbook of the Association, 1931-

Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a staple of the Batman universe, evolving into a franchise comprised of comic books, graphic novels, video games, films, television series and more. The Arkham franchise, supposedly light-weight entertainment, has tackled weighty issues in contemporary psychiatry. Its plotlines reference clinical and ethical controversies that perplex even the most up-to-date professionals. The 25 essays in this collection explore the significance of Arkham's sinister psychiatrists, murderous mental patients, and unethical geneticists. It invites debates about the criminalization of the mentally ill, mental patients who move from defunct state hospitals into expanding prisons, madness versus badness, sociopathy versus psychosis, the "insanity defense" and more. Invoking literary figures from Lovecraft to Poe to Caligari, the 25 essays in this collection are a broad-ranging and thorough assessment of the franchise and its relationship to contemporary psychiatry.