How much horror can one person take?
To celebrate one of my most favorite months, I decided to review one of the most dark, and craziest comics that i've found within my collection, and I decided to review a book that tried its very best to show an audience the meaning and visuals of pure insanity.
But was Sam able to give us a story that would have the children suffering at night with the most horrible nightmares of DC's beloved Joker and a selected cast of Arkham Inmates, or was this a project that was too much for Sam to handle as a writer and an artist?
Well, despite the cartoonish artwork that many modern day fans are probably not used too, Sam Keith would introduce new forms of art and skills as he tries to define what insanity is and also focus on something much more worse when involving some humanity into this mangled masterpiece of a story.
But as much as Sam tried to design and create the best of his worst, this was probably the most difficult and fustrating storyline that he probably ever did, almost to the point where he ended up losing his sanity.
So lets take a look inside Sam Kieths Arkham Asylum: Madness and see if all the effort he put into this paid off and had me scared crapless or go on the verge of !! Madness !!
Sam Kieth would use the combination of pencil drawings, water coloring, and digital manipulation to really define the moments and the meaning of what we would see as sanity and insanity. As an example, this story would start of with the main character, Sabine, who's a day shift nurse for the Asylum and is on her way to be dropped off at work, it's the moment when you see her leave her son to start the days work you begin to feel a little bit uncomfortable, right at the first moment you see signs of Sabine disliking her job as she first steps into the building, and it would be the artwork that would help this storyline be so convincing, to where you wouldn't want Sabine stepping through the doors of Arkham, but to turn back and go home, to quit............................... and yet, thats just the beginning of the book.
So with Sam mastering his cartoonish blended masterpiece to have his audience blend into the storyline, the story does an outstanding job with the main character Sabine, who managed to meet the Sam Kieths goal.
To show the audience how much can one person go through and endure. To show that quitting can be much more of a horror than the Joker himself, (which is shown within this storyline)
Seriously, any normal person would instantly quit this job as a day-shift nurse where every single day is hell or possibly become a victim for an inmate outbreak or something much worse, but for Sabine there is a real reason, a motive to support her son and family, and as an audience we will see her go through the most difficult challenge of her life as we go along with her and wonder if she would take that step and finally quit.
and thats the rewarding answer, does she quit, or not? and yes, there is an answer to that question.
Some characters really creeped me out with their short appearances like Killer Croc who I couldn't tell if he was dead or not, and Man-Bat who found a way to cure headaches, I felt that Sam really hit the spot with these two monsters and the Joker.
Despite the two character misshaps, my opinion is that Sam Kieth really hit a home run with this comic. I liked how he had me convinced and on the edge of my seat wondering how the main character Sabine would survive through the day and night within the walls of Arkham. With Sam Kieth trying to make a horror story with the main character going through the most painful steps to get home and see her son, I would find myself convinced that every dollar was worth it for this comic.
So if your picky about artwork, I highly advise leaving this issue alone so that you don't have to be an asshole to shame this madness masterpiece that damn near sent Sam to the nuthouse. I also highly advise to give this storyline a try, with the expectations of being creeped out, seeing suspense, and thrills, you probably find yourself worshipping this comic.
Im That Badguy saying thankyou for reading, have a nice Halloween, and make sure that you dont turn into some jibbering nutjob if you do decide to read this comic.
