Front Matter and Section 1, pages 1-11 Summary

Arkham Asylum is a Batman graphic novel that tells the story of Joker and other insane Batman villains taking over the Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane where they are incarcerated. Batman goes into the insane asylum in exchange for the innocent hostages. The story of Amadeus Arkham, founder of Arkham Asylum, unfolds as Batman faces his own inner demons as well as the insane inhabitants. After discovering that the administrator of Arkham Asylum unleashed the inhabitants in order to lure Batman to his death, Batman destroys the asylum with an ax and gets the madmen to release him.

The front matter of Arkham Asylum includes a spread with an illustration of wood, a stylized, geometric cross, and nails, which calls the book a passion play. The following spread is an illustration of...