Trivia / Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

• Creator Backlash:
  • Dave McKean grew disillusioned with his work on the book rather quickly, saying that he didn't take the subject seriously enough, and that his overly lavish art hampered the story.
  • Grant Morrison had a similar opinion on McKean's artwork, feeling that its abstract style clashed with Morrison's writing. They preferred in hindsight to have had Brian Bolland draw the novel instead.
• Throw It In!: The scene where Batman stabs his own hand with a shard of glass had the script call for Batman to draw a small amount of blood to snap himself out of his daze. Dave McKean however, drew the scene with Batman driving the shard through his hand. Grant Morrison was delighted by this (since it made an already freaky scene absolutely nightmarish), and kept it in.
• Troubled Production: Grant Morrison's early version of the script was passed around for people to look at and most of them balked at the attempt to integrate psychological horror and heavy symbolism. Morrison would later proudly insult those people in the 15th anniversary issue by saying "Who's laughing now, asshole?"
• What Could Have Been: Originally intended to be a canon story, and with several elements later being added to the main storylines (most notably Mad Hatter's implied pedophilia, Destiny's power growing as his body withered, Killer Croc's recovery from nerve gas, and the implication that the asylum itself is an Eldritch Location that feeds on, spreads, and magnifies insanity). The implication that Two-Face was starting to go sane did not get followed up on, however.
  • Grant Morrison mentions in the annotated script that the existing Who's Who entry for Amadeus Arkham said he died singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Being non-American, Morrison had gotten confused and accidentally wrote him as singing The Star-Spangled Banner instead^note the song itself is reasonably well-known in the UK, but the title "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is much less so and most British people would instead know it as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory Hallelujah". Morrison seemingly mistook "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to be an alternative name for the US anthem. Using Battle Hymn of the Republic would not only have had fidelity with the existing source, it has a determined and vaguely madcap feel to it that would have suited Arkham's actions at the time. The lyrics also have some resonance with the themes and symbolism of the book.
  • Robin was to make an appearance in the book through interludes at a police station. However, Dave McKean found that Robin's costume completely clashed with the abstract nightmarish atmosphere he had going, and tried everything in his power to make him fit in. Planning sketches show that Robin was to be dressed in a trenchcoat so his colorful costume would be obscured. It was eventually decided to just drop Robin completely from the story, although the Joker mentions Robin at one point as a way to get under Batman's skin.
  • The Joker was originally going to be dressed like Madonna, wearing make-up and black lingerie. However, DC Comics removed these due fears that readers would assume the then upcoming Jack Nicholson portrayal of the Joker in the 1989 Batman film was that of a transvestite. This is Hilarious in Hindsight after the uber-serious The Dark Knight included a scene where the Joker cross-dresses.
  • The annotated script also includes a deleted, extended sequence where Batman meets the assembled villains (Joker, Max Zeus, Scarecrow, Clayface, Mad Hatter, Black Mask and Doctor Destiny and a hulking brute named Bambi) before they actually go after him. The removal of this scene turns most of them in essentially One-Scene Wonder or The Cameo situations, and the inmate known as Bambi gets essentially removed wholesale from the story (a brief cameo watching TV aside).