Book Review: Batman: Arkham Unhinged vol #1

Book: Batman: Arkham Unhinged volume #1 (issues #1-5) by Derek Fridolfs and Paul Dini with illustrations and color by various artists

Edition: Reading the single print issues

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This was a fun read. Most of the stories were written by Derek Fridolfs with two short stories by Paul Dini. This not only had the feel of the video game but also a little bit of Batman: The Animated Series.

The story takes place right as Arkham City was starting up and now that the Mayor has given Dr. Hugo Strange the power to not only run Arkham City but also to do as he sees fit in capturing the criminals. Even the Gotham Police have pretty much been demoted.


Issue #1:

The issue opens with Catwoman having to evade Strange's storm troopers after they broke into her apartment following a tip off from Two Face.

She got away but after meeting up with Batman she took off with a plan to not only get back at Strange but also against Two Face. She ended up running into Two Face but with Strange's troopers joining the fight it didn't take long before they were both captured despite Batman showing up.


Issue #2:

In this issue Batman and Commissioner Gordon discussed the current state of Arkham City and how Batman was trying to bring down Strange, it had a nice twist at the end with Oracle (Barbara Gordon). Robin and Nightwing appeared as well.


Issue #3:

This issue focused on the Penguin and the feud between him and the Joker. The Penguin was telling some of his lackeys about how the Joker and Harley Quinn ruined the opening of his nightclub the Iceberg Lounge.


Issue #4:

This issue included three short stories, the first focused on the current state and condition of the inmates in Arkham and how day after day they seem to be experiencing problems. The inmates are not the only ones suffering the staff as well.

The second story had Harley Quinn feeling left out when the Joker starts spending too much time with the dummy Scarface.

And the last story, focused on Mr. Freeze's attempt to locate the whereabouts of his beloved Nora.


Issue #5:

In this last issue, Batman and Nightwing talked about the conjoined Abramovichi twins who are currently in Arkham and following a surgery are now both working for the Joker and the Penguin, whose rivalry is really starting to heat up.


This turned out to be better than I expected. I don't even think you necessarily need to play the video game to read this because the stories are easy to follow and the writing is good. The artwork is also really good.

I can't wait to read the second volume.