Welcome to the Mad House
**Spoiler Alert** (skip the first paragraph to avoid spoilers)
Wayne Manor is no more. Instead, it is replaced with an all-new Arkham Asylum AKA. Arkham Manor. How did this happen? Well, since the destruction of the old "mental hospital", Gotham has needed to find a new place to house it's criminally insane. Where do you house all these nut-cases? Shoving them all in a stadium has raised a few eyebrows so a better idea needs to be thought of. And that better idea is converting Bruce Wayne's family home into a new facility. According to the mayor "It's perfect" because "The idiot son lost the family fortune, nobody lives there" and "The neighbours are rich but they live far enough away". Okay then, nothing can go wrong. Seriously, there are no problems. Unless you call two murders problems and Batman certainly does. In order to solve these cases, the Dark Knight takes the identity of a dead man and gets himself put in previous home. Who committed these crimes? Why did they commit these crimes? Will Bruce drop the...no, I won't go there.
If there's one thing this issue is good at then it's setting the tone and you the mood of the book is done very well. The melancholy artwork adds a "feel" to the book and, although it's not perfect (Batman has a pretty massive chin in some panels), the drawings and colour certainly fit the spirit of the story. I also like Bruce's monologues and the dialogue between characters. The (insert noun) is a cancer/has a tumour thing may be an over-used opening line but apart from this, I saw no problems with any thought or speech. As for the actual plot, I feel as if it could be a mix between Arkham City and Batman: The Last Arkham. However, I don't believe it's copied these arcs so much that it becomes boring and when Batman's been around for so many years then you're bound to see similarities between stories.
Now for the not so good. Although there was nothing that made me jump out and say "What is this garbage!?", nothing made me jump out and say "What is this wondrous sorcery". As I said before, this isn't a particularly original concept so unless there was something like a stunning action scene or a tear-jerking moment then this was never going to get five stars. I can't say anything bad about the book but it's not anything special either.
In conclusion, if you like Batman and don't need a fight scene on every page then you might want to think about reading this. Even if you are hungry for action, it's not too bad. However, I would not suggest this is something every reader should purchase and you do need to have some interest in Batman's personal feelings. Personally though, I would say this is a pretty good comic.