The original name of the asylum was 'Arkham Hospital'.

The one-shot graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth establishes that the asylum was named after Elizabeth Arkham, the mother of founder Amadeus Arkham. He was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the same asylum he had been building. Serving as a Gotham City psychiatric hospital, Arkham Asylum has a long and brutal history, beginning when its own architect became mentally unwell and hacked his workers to death with an axe. Origins Īrkham Asylum in Detective Comics (vol. Gotham criminals deemed 'criminally insane' or 'mentally unfit' by the court of law generally are treated at Williams Medical Center before being deemed dangerous enough to be sent to Arkham Asylum. Freeze is not always depicted as mentally ill, but he requires a strongly refrigerated environment to stay alive Arkham, with special conditions required for certain patients or inmates being a regularity rather than an exception, is seen by authorities to be an ideal location under certain circumstances. In addition, prisoners with unusual medical conditions that prevent them from staying in a regular prison are housed in Arkham. Jonathan Crane and Professor Hugo Strange, have become mentally unwell. Harleen Quinzel, Lyle Bolton and, in some incarnations, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, as well as staff members Dr. Amadeus Arkham, and his nephew, director Dr. Furthermore, several staff members, including its founder, Dr. Lovecraft, and in particular his fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, the asylum was introduced by Dennis O'Neil and Irv Novick and first appeared in Batman #258 (October 1974) much of its back-story was created by Len Wein during the 1980s.Īrkham Asylum has a poor security record and high recidivism rate, at least with regard to the high-profile cases-patients, such as the Joker, are frequently shown escaping at will-and those who are considered to no longer be mentally unwell and discharged tend to re-offend. Although it has had numerous administrators, some comic books have featured Jeremiah Arkham. Located in Gotham City, Arkham Asylum is where Batman's foes who are considered to be mentally ill are brought as patients (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary). 6.1 Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth.6 Graphic novels featuring Arkham Asylum.

Batman arkham asylum poster