Batman: Battle for the Cowl - Arkham Asylum #1

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE PLACE WHERE BEAUTY LIES Jeremiah Arkham returns to Arkham Asylum and finds it utterly destroyed. As he enters the place and walks through the destroyed hallways, he starts recalling the events during his last day in his asylum.  Dr. Arkham talked to some of the best know inmates like Humpty Dumpty, Mr. Zsasz, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and Clayface. After being taunted by them all, Dr. Arkham decided to visit some of the lesser known inmates.   Dr. Arkham went to a special chamber underneath the asylum, designed as Solitary Confinement, where only he had access. The first inmate he visited was Alessio Morandi, who suffered a terrible accident as a kid that disfigured his face and prevented him from showing any emotion, thus earning him the alias "No-Face". Arkham kept him away from the other inmates to prevent him from being damaged by them and his therapy consisted on letting Morandi use his face as a painting canvas to express his own emotions.   Then, he visited the Mirror Man. This man had no real name and he would spend hours staring himself in the mirror. However, what made it all weird, was the fact that his facial features where disproportionate compared to other people. Finally, Dr. Arkham visited Myrna Freud, a woman whose hideous appearance was said to turn every person insane at sight. Arkham tried to convince Freud that beauty was in the eye of the beholder and in order to show her that he practiced what he preached, Arkham turned on the light and stared right to her face. As he did so, a revelation came to him and he finally understood what needed to be done.   When Dr. Arkham returned to his office, he found that someone had broken inside. His mirror was damaged and on his desk was a box with some burned paper in it. As he picked the pieces of paper, he realized that it was part of his uncle Amadeus Arkham's burnt diary. Jeremiah was confused as who could have retrieved the pieces of the diary that he burned years ago, but as he started reading the notes from the burnt pages, he realized that Amadeus had a vision. Following the instructions of the diary, Jeremiah found the blue prints of a colossal building that was his uncle's vision for the future Arkham Asylum.   Jeremiah decided to build his uncle's dream, but he was betrayed by Guy Dax and his gargoyles, who beat Arkham and left him unconscious. After a few weeks, he recovered his consciousness and wandered the streets of Gotham City, where he learned that Batman had gone missing and was most likely dead, and also that Joker poisoned the Asylum, so the inmates had to be transferred to Blackgate temporarily. On their way back to the Asylum, they were freed by Black Mask and the Asylum itself was destroyed in a giant explosion.   Dr. Arkham walks to his office where he locates the blue prints and he listens to a scream coming from underneath the asylum. He goes to the solitary confinement cells, where the three special inmates were left behind and takes them with him. They had been alone for days and Arkham wants them to join him. However, before leaving the cells, Arkham tells Myrna Freud to uncover her face and show it to the others. As soon as that happens, they start moving along, but No-Face stays a little more, to paint his face. Arkham tells him to put on a happy face and No-Face, after watching the horrific face of madness, paints his face to resemble the Joker.