Rating: ***

A few months ago during the Battle for the Cowl series, DC Comics released accompanying one-shots that expanded on the state of Gotham City and its inhabitants during the initial disappearance of Batman. Some were good and some were bad, but one stood out as great. Batman Battle for the Cowl: Arkham was the story of Jeremiah Arkham and his attempts at recovery after the destruction of Arkham Asylum. The story was similar to the mini-series Arkham Asylum: Living Hell in that it focused more on the inmates of Arkham and not Batman. This Battle for the Cowl issue introduced us to several unseen inmates who were special to Jeremiah: No Face, The Hamburger Lady, and the Mirror Man. This is the first issue of a three part mini-series that continues the story of Jeremiah and the inmates from that issue.

The first issue of Arkham Reborn begins with the reopening of Arkham Asylum. Now I didn’t catch this until after I read the issue, but in the opening scene Jeremiah Arkham is showing off the new asylum to a group of Gothamites. Some of these characters include Commissioner Gordon, new Gotham D.A. Kate Spencer aka the super-hero Manhunter, Aaron Cash head of Arkham security, Jeremiah’s new assistant Alyce Sinner, and ....Bruce Wayne?! I had to do a Wikipedia search to discover that Thomas Elliot, who surgically altered his face to look like Bruce Wayne, escaped from his cell and is now out and about as Bruce Wayne. I think the editors should have mentioned this, as I believe this all happened in the Streets of Gotham title and I don’t read that book.

Jeremiah Arkham has a very liberal, idealist attitude in the way he looks at and treats his patients. This new Arkham Asylum is more like a spa than it is a prison for the criminally insane. The story mainly focuses on a new inmate by the name of Benjamin Wiley who is known as the Raggedy Man. The Raggedy Man is a serial killer who wears different items from his victims in the form of a hooded cloak. Jeremiah is able to get the cloak from the police and feels that by returning it to the Raggedy Man, a bond and a form of trust will be established between them. The three special inmates introduced in the Battle for the Cowl one-shot also make an appearance as they are in a separate room away from everyone else.

We discover that the reason Dr. Arkham has hired his new assistant Alyce Sinner because she was a victim in a religious cult. Dr. Arkham feels that past history will be beneficial to his work - unfortunately, she’s not really working for Dr. Arkham, she’s really working for the Black Mask. Both Alyce and the Black Mask are unhappy with Arkham’s methods and feel its time to initiate the Amadeus Code. The code is named after Arkham’s uncle Amadeus who was the head of the asylum prior to Jeremiah. Amadeus’ wife and daughter were murdered by an inmate and Amadeus patiently waited six months to exact his revenge on the inmate. Is this what the Amadeus Code is about? Will the Black Mask use the Raggedy Man in a plot to drive Jeremiah to break down and commit murder like his uncle?

I’m not sure what’s the purpose behind the Black Mask’s desire to see Jeremiah break down and change his methods in dealing with the Arkham inmates. The current Black Mask is not the same man as the first. Could this new Black Mask be Amadeus Arkham back from the dead?

A good start to this mini-series. My only problem was the confusion with the Bruce Wayne thing in the beginning. I love all of these new inmates. Would love to see an on-going series that simply focused on Arkham. Maybe this series is a test run. Pick this one up.