Comic Review: Arkham City: The Order of the World

I've been going hard on IDW comics lately, so I felt it was time to change things up. I've never seen this DC comic before, and it is in the Batman Verse, as it has Arkham in the title. The cover villain looks creepy, so I highly hope for this one. Not reading to the kids, hahaha.

Title: Arkham City: The Order of the World #1-6

Author: Dan Watters

Illustrator: Dani Strips

Blurb: Arkham Asylum has been destroyed—unleashing Ten-Eyed Man, Professor Pyg, Mad Hatter, and more onto the streets of Gotham. Can the Asylum's last remaining doctor retrieve her patients?

The Joker's attack on Arkham Asylum left the long-standing Gotham establishment in ruin, most of the patients killed or missing, and only a handful of surviving staff—a few nurses, a gravely injured security guard, and one doctor. In the chaos of the assault, it is believed that several asylum patients escaped and scurried off into the dark nooks and crannies of Gotham City. Now, these Arkhamites walk among us, and it's up to the Asylum's one remaining doctor, Jocasta Joy, to round up her former patients.

Meet these: a woman with no face, a pyggy in search of perfection, a man who feels nothing and burns everything, a woman who must devour life to save herself, a man unfit for the waking world who looks instead for Wonderland, a body with more than one soul, a being unbound from time who lives in the present and the past, a boy who seeks the comfort of vermin, and the twisted man who sees them all for who they are. And witness the avenging angel who stalks them.

This volume collects Arkham's The Order of the World #1-6, the complete story by Dan Watters and Dani.

Format: 144 pages, Paperback

Buy here: Amazon Affiliate Link to Kindle, which has a stunning price.

Review

Wow. Glad I did not read this to my kids, it scared the crap out of me (ha), and for that alone, I loved it. It's a dark tale compared to where I have been over the last few weeks of reviews. We follow a psychiatrist, Dr. Jacosta Joy, who is suffering from survivor's guilt following Joker's attack on Arkham Asylum during the A-Day event (not read, but it sounds like the computer games?).

With Arkham Asylum in ruins, many patients have managed to flee into the city, while staff and inmates' body count still rise, including the fear of Batman being lost. In a city gripped by fear, Dr. Jacosta Joy is attempting to save her patients before the cops find them first. This story arc is unique as it is a side of Gotham I have never read. We have a new narrator, the doctor, who gives us first-hand experience dealing with the repercussions of a Joker attack. It also deals with the grey areas of madness: are the inmates truly mad, or is the new breed for Gotham needed to survive and make sense in a city that has gone off the edge?

The artwork was unique and took me back to the ‘90s when I started reading comics; the painting absorbed me wonderfully and did a great job of terrifying me. I will include my favourite page below. But I can safely say this version of Ten-eye Man will haunt my dreams for a while.

It is worth the read and the nightmares afterwards.