Arkham Manor #1 Review

Duggan's setup for "Arkham Manor," spinning out of this week's "Batman Eternal," is fairly simple. With Arkham Asylum destroyed, Wayne Manor is eventually seized and turned into the new home for so many of its prisoners. And so, with Bruce having sealed the entrance to the Batcave with concrete, his ancestral home is now full of the freaks that he's been putting away. But now, of course, who better than Batman to go undercover inside a building that he's lived in since birth?

I like the concept of "Arkham Manor," which is a little silly sounding at first but is played seriously and works surprisingly well when you stop and think about it. Duggan takes his time establishing the new status quo within the title; rather than jumping into lots of flashbacks, we instead move forward throughout the process until we get to the post-"Batman Eternal" timeline that "Batman" itself has already stepped into. The upside to this is that by the time the issue is over, there's no need for any future setup; you understand the concept and the thrust of the comic, and he can hit the ground running. The one downside is that it does provide for a slightly slow debut issue, and it makes me miss the old days of a double-sized first issue where you can include not only the setup but the immediate follow-through in one fell swoop.

"Arkham Manor" #1 is a reasonable enough start to the series. With the setup presumably complete, the second issue will make or break the comic. For now, though, I'm pleased enough to want to see what happens next. If the pace picks up a bit, we'll have a real winner. For now, I'm optimistic. Not bad at all.

Get full review from Comic Book Resources here