Arkham Asylum was a clever addition to the world of Batman. Having some of Batman's worst enemies locked up together in an insane asylum was an original alternative to prison. But it does have two drawbacks: 1) writers must continually contrive ways of having the villains escape; and 2) if the asylum's guards can keep all the criminals under control, it lessens the importance of Batman; ordinary people shouldn't be able to accomplish what he does, no matter how many there are.

Arkham Asylum: Living Hell sidesteps both of these potential problems: 1) Although some of the criminals do escape, it's temporary and incidental to the story. For the most part Living Hell takes place inside Arkham; 2) Batman only makes a couple of brief appearances. The good guy who gets most of the attention in this story is Aaron, a guard who's had his hand bitten off by Killer Croc. By making Aaron a hero, it isn't as noticeable that "ordinary" people are doing Batman's job.

A lot of Batman's old enemies show up in Living Hell, including the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and the Mad Hatter. They play minor roles, but add to the agreeably convoluted background. For example: The Mad Hatter taunts Two-Face, who breaks a mirror, which in turn is put together by Humphry Dumpler; as a result, administrator Dr Jeremiah Arkham, realizes a piece is missing. Doodlebug has it, and uses it to trade with Ms. Magpie for sexual favors, etc.

A few new villains are introduced, some interesting, others not so much. But not all of them are still alive by the end of the book, giving writer Dan Slott some freedom in determining what happens to the characters.

Humphry Dumpler and Warren White are the two inmates who get most of the attention in this story. Right from his first appearance, White (a.k.a. the Great White Shark) is so arrogant he's instantly unlikable. Responsible for the greatest stock fraud in American history, he pleads insanity in order to avoid a prison sentence. He has no powers, none of the bizarre twists that are common to Batman's villains. But White is referred to as "the worst person I've ever met" by others, including (of all people) the murderous Joker. This story acknowledges that white collar crime can be just as life-destroying as other crimes.

White's plotline is both complimented by and contrasted to Dumpler's (a.k.a. Humpty Dumpty). Dumpler, a murderer, has an obsessive compulsion to put things back together. His early life is revealed as a series of tragedies topped off by an upbringing by a tyrannical grandmother. White, on the other hand, is driven mad by his experiences in Arkham. The difference is that Dumpler started off as a potentially good person, while White was already immoral. He only becomes a different kind of criminal. (The comic doesn't make excuses for murderers. Dr Arkham makes it clear to Aaron that he is free to treat the inmates without compassion.)

More a Horror story that a typical superhero comic, Living Hell has its share of grotesque moments (especially what happens to Dumpler's grandmother, as well as to White after his encounter with fellow inmate Jane Doe). But towards the end, it relies more and more on demonic fantasy elements that feel a little out of place in the world of Batman. But then DC makes the sometimes clumsy attempt to have their characters exist in the same universe.