Wurtz presents talk on “Arkham Asylum”

On Thursday at 3:30 p.m., Dr. James F. Wurtz, assistant professor of English, presented a talk entitled, "Batman's Dark Night of the Soul: Space and the Spatial in Arkham Asylum," in Root Hall A-264.

Wurtz's speech was the latest installment of the Landini Memorial Speaker Series, which is made possible by the Department of English. 

The text focused on "Batman: Arkham Asylum," which was created by author Grant Morrison and artist Dave McKean in 1989.

Wurtz started his presentation by talking about the history of graphic novel and some of the main contributors.

"In the 1980s, writers like Frank Miller, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison established a grittier version of the classic D.C. characters," Wurtz said.

In "Arkham Asylum," the plot centers primarily on Batman, who has been called to action when the criminals of Arkham Asylum have taken over the establishment.

Throughout the graphic novel, Morrison uses limited plot, but is able to achieve a unique vision through the play of sanity and insanity. 

Wurtz also commented on the limited use of plot throughout the work.

"Though the plot can be small in scope, one way that the Arkham Asylum is able to captivate the attention of the audience is by the Batman character, who sometimes can be experiencing the darkest recesses of his psyche," Wurtz said. 

Another way this was accomplished is the illustrations made by McKean.

"The journey through the asylum is a journey through the unconscious," Wurtz said. "By McKean's use of both Christian and pagan symbols it sometimes creates a dream-like environment for the reader."  

Student sentiment about the speech was also well received.

Sam Clark, sophomore English and theater major, commented on his perception of the event.

"Being a Batman junkie, I thought it was really interesting that something of pop culture can be put in an intellectual perspective," Clark said. 

Jaylee Williams, a junior English teaching major, also agreed with Clark's opinion.

"I am a Batman fanatic as well, and I found it to be wonderful that Wurtz took such a unique approach to the ‘Arkham Asylum' [graphic novel]" Williams said.  

The graphic novel, itself has become an institution among academia, where more and more professors are instating graphic novels as part of their required text.

"I am currently teaching classes that have graphic novels as a part of the required reading and MLA has adopted as a form as well," Wurtz said. 

This lecture was taken from part of an article that Wurtz has constructed to be included in an academic journal focusing on graphic novels as part of American culture.