I've read some of David Hine's work in the past with X-Men: The 198 and wasn't all that impressed. He impressed me here and I look forward to any Bat-stories he may do in the future. Maybe an on-going comic similar to "Gotham Central" with a book centered on the inmates of Arkham. So pick this one up. It's a great read! Read Full Review

This is Hine's second foray into the Batman Universe (Joker's Asylum: Two-Face being the other) and personally I would love to see him play a part in it more often. He tells the story from a disturbing and enlightening perspective when it comes to the rogue gallery of players. Jeremy Haun also has some experience with the world of Batman as he provided pencils on Two-Face: Year One. I would love to see more of the Hine/Haun creative team delving into those dark and disturbing corners of Batmans world. If you only pickup one tie-in book to Battle for the Cowl, this needs to be the issue. Read Full Review

Part of me wants to know how the new Arkham Asylum is going to be run, but its going to depend a lot on who is writing the book. It can either be handled very well or horribly. Maybe this was a tryout for Hine to write an ongoing about Dr. Arkham and his band of freaks. Read Full Review

Why all these one-shots and specials? Could DC be hinting at a new direction for the Batman universe, and are prepping us for the coming shake-up, or could it be a way writers who might not normally get the chance, to work on some Batman related books? The answer of course is C) They're in it for the money. In any case, Arkham Asylum #1 is an issue that I think most readers could pass on and not miss a single story beat later. Sadly, Arkham Asylum gets a very meh rating of 2.5 Stars. Read Full Review

The big problem is, though, the comic is just a one-shot. At the end of the issue we get the note that the story continues in "Battle for the Cowl," but with only one issue to go in that mini-series I can't help but doubt that it's a true statement. So for the time being (and with no word so far on a follow-up anywhere) this feels like a lot of lead-up to absolutely nothing at all. In a word, it's frustrating. Maybe next month, DC's August 2009 solicitations will reveal a new project from Hine that goes forward from here. But for now, it feels like a promising road turned the corner and hit a dead end. It's enough to drive one mad... Read Full Review