The Psychotic Perspective: Arkham Unhinged #48
Slough of Despond
Arkham Unhinged has been a pain in my butt to review every week due to its low quality, but I was pleasantly surprised when last week’s issue turned out to be good. In general, “The Slough of Despond” arc has been okay, but it really seems to have found its stride in the last issue by introducing an interesting villain, exploring logical conflicts arising from the construction of Arkham City, and presenting its story at a good pace. Does this issue continue the new positive trend, or does Arkham Unhinged return to its regular poor form?
In this issue, Batman deals with some street punks as he contemplates the Bookbinder.
The Book Worm
Though he was not even in this issue, I still find Bookbinder to be the most interesting element of this entire arc. I am sure there have been other villains who have killed in a Darwinian attempt to clear the flock of humanity of its more idiotic elements, but I cannot think of one at the moment. Regardless, his scholarly motivation and Jigsaw like trap makes for a somewhat unique style that sets him apart in the Batman universe. My only fear is that this will turn out to be another regular Batman villain just doing a slight variation on his normal theme. It would be more interesting to have a brand new villain plaguing Gotham.
Plugging the Plot Holes
One of my largest complaints about the plot of Arkham City is that it required the citizenry of Gotham and the U.S. to stand idly by as law abiding citizens were locked up. Honestly, I would not be surprised if the United States does reach that level of oppression someday considering its current slide into government control, but I do not believe we are there yet, and I can’t imagine any U.S. city simply standing by scratching their heads as citizens are locked up without apparent reason.
In this issue, we witness the moment when Batman first discovers that citizens are being wrongfully imprisoned, and I hope that this plot hole is resolved by the end of this arc.
Conclusion
Batman: Arkham Unhinged is still a long way from my favorite Bat book, but it has shown a marked improvement. If it has one more good issue, then I will start to recommend this series.