SOURCE: Rollin, Lucy. “Guilt and the Unconscious in Arkham Asylum.” Inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 1, no. 1 (February 1994): 2-13.

In the following essay, Rollin argues that Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum is a powerful work that has both puzzled and fascinated readers due to its intense, surrealistic exploration of the subconscious.

One does not need to be an avid reader and collector of comic books to be aware of the remarkable transformations comic art has undergone in recent years. Once aimed at children and young adults, comic books were chiefly action tales told in serial pictures, printed on pulp paper and full of advertisements. Now, the comic market includes longer and more complex tales aimed at an adult readership. Printed on high-quality paper and free of advertisements, these books have been designated “graphic novels” to distinguish them from more traditional comic books, and their contents are certainly worthy of...