Arkham's fictional history was not established until 1985, during an issue of 'Who's Who in the DC Universe', also penned by Wein. Nevertheless, in Batman #326 writer Len Wein described the asylum as being 'deep in the suburbs of Gotham City'. At this point it was simply described as 'Arkham Hospital' and implied to be somewhere upstate, in a rural setting. Īrkham Asylum first appeared in October 1974 in Batman #258, written by Dennis O'Neil and pencilled by Irv Novick.

As a result, DC's Arkham was supposed to mirror Lovecraft's dark and brooding literary characteristics while providing an essential intertextual supplement to the background atmosphere of equally dismal Gotham City. According to Batman Unauthorized: Vigilantes, Jokers, and Heroes in Gotham City, a compilation of contemporary analyses edited by Dennis O'Neil, the asylum was named for a somewhat similar facility known as 'Arkham Sanitarium' mentioned in the horror fiction of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Within the Batman mythos, Arkham Asylum was named for the mother of Amadeus Arkham, a Gotham psychiatrist who founded the institution after his mother's mental illness led to her untimely death in reality, Amadeus had euthanized her, although he repressed that memory.

8.2.1.3 Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Batman arkham asylum