Arkham Asylum is easily the most infamous institution in all superhero comics. More prison than hospital, it is home to the maddest of the mad supervillains that call Gotham City home. It is also a cornerstone of modern Batman comics, despite not being introduced until 1974. Unsurprisingly, the Absolute Universe has its own version of Arkham. However, as Absolute Batman #3 reveals, it is somehow even more twisted than the original.
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Nick Dragotta, Absolute Batman #3 opens with Alfred Pennyworth reaching out to Bruce Wayne. The elderly spy claims to work for an organization that has a vested interest in stopping the same powers threatening Gotham City. He proposes a partnership that would benefit them both.
As a show of good faith and a test of Bruce’s skills, Alfred gives the Absolute Batman a clue. With some help from his friends, Bruce unravels a thread that leads him to a secret prison being built off the coast of Gotham City. This prison, according to Alfred, is known as Ark M.
New Arkham Asylum is a secret prison for dissidents
Alfred claims Ark M is the largest and latest of several “arks” constructed by the people he is hunting. Alfred describes the Arks as “secret, unregulated prisons,” run privately and used by totalitarian governments to make people disappear. The first, Ark A, was built on the island of Santa Prisca, which Devout readers will recognize as the island prison that created Bane in the main DC Comics reality.
While a poor play on words, Ark M is a timely update of the classic Arkham. Beyond definitively being a place of containment rather than treatment, it is also a commentary on the use of for-profit prisons in the United States and a warning to the Absolute Batman of what he is facing and all he stands to lose with his rebellion.
Absolute Batman #3 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
