The Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths event in the DC universe kicked off with “The Death of the Justice League.” However, the titular death really just trapped the Justice League in their own perfect worlds that serve as fantastic prisons. Pariah took the League completely out of the action as he worked with the forces of the Great Darkness to end DC’s multiverse.
Pariah’s universal prisons are just one of the many examples of effective comic prisons. So many powerful supervillains in each respective comic universe have led to the creation of bigger and better prisons in order to contain different power sets. While some prisons managed to do this effectively, others have failed time and again.
10 Arkham Asylum May Be One Of The Least Effective But Most Terrifying Comic Book Prisons
One of the most well-known comic prisons is Arkham Asylum, which first appeared in 1974’s Batman #258. Located on the outskirts of Gotham City, Arkham Asylum holds the most deranged and iconic Batman villains. While other villains are held at Blackgate Penitentiary, only the most dangerous cases make it to Arkham.
Unfortunately, it’s not the most effective prison at all. The doctors of Arkham have failed at almost every attempt at treatment or rehabilitation of villains like The Joker and Victor Zsasz. Arkham Asylum also has a bit of a revolving door, as criminals break out frequently. Even some of the staff have become villains over the years, like Dr. Harleen Quinzel’s corruption into Harley Quinn.
9 S.H.I.E.L.D. Operated Supervillain Prisons Like The Raft, The Cube, The Vault And Gamma Base
The Marvel universe has a number of prisons designed specifically to contain the various powersets of supervillains. The security organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. has operated a few different facilities that have each had varying levels of success. Some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most successful prisons were The Raft, The Cube, The Vault and Gamma Base.
The Raft was an island fortress near New York that locked criminals deep underground, though it was prone to breakouts. The Vault was one of the earliest supervillain prisons and staffed by an armored squad of Guardsman. The Cube was a classified prison for alien prisoners kept off the books. Finally, Gamma Base housed gamma-powered characters, though not very effectively.
8 Belle Reve Is A Prison Run By Amanda Waller Who Uses Criminals To Form Her Suicide Squad
1987’s Suicide Squad #1 featured the first appearance of Belle Reve, a supervillain prison located in Louisiana outside of St. Rochs. Amanda Waller chose the prison as the location for her Task Force X operation. She outfitted the prison to better contain metahuman villains that she could then utilize to undertake missions as her Suicide Squad.
The highly-advanced Belle Reve is one of the most secure prisons in the DC universe. Most of the prisoners are kept in line through a common feeling of fear. Fear of Amanda Waller. She implanted explosive devices in every member of the Suicide Squad in case they ever felt like disobeying. The punishment for attempting to break out would pale in comparison to the explosives.
7 The Big House Shrinks Down Superpowered Prisoners With Pym Particles For Rehabilitation
Dr. Hank Pym and his many costumed identities designed a new prison that utilized his Pym Particles to shrink down supervillains. It became known as The Big House and focused on attempting to rehabilitate the shrunken villains. Unfortunately, the Big House experiment proved to be a failure. The criminals not only failed to be rehabilitated but they were also able to escape.
Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne worked together to create a second experimental prison. They again used Pym Particles to shrink down powered supervillains. They named it the Lang Memorial Penitentiary, though it was more commonly known as the Ant-Farm. This was due to the prison’s attempt to limit corruptible guards in the prison by using ants instead.
6 Prison 42 Was A Massive Prison Created By Geniuses In The Otherdimensional Negative Zone
During Marvel’s Civil War event, smart minds like Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Hank Pym pooled their intellect to create 100 world-changing ideas. The 42nd idea was eventually revealed to be a prison for superhumans. It held both villains and their fellow heroes who refused to sign the Superhuman Registration Act.
The prison existed in another dimension known as the Negative Zone. Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four first discovered and explored the anti-matter realm. Portals at secured locations were the only access points, making the prison nearly inescapable. However, the prison eventually fell to the forces of Blastaar and was lost to the Negative Zone.
5 The Slab Was Designed To House Metahuman Supervillains And Keep Them Away In Antarctica
Slabside Penitentiary was one of DC’s first supervillain prisons and was originally located in New Jersey. It became known as The Slab by the prisoners because the only way to get out of the prison was feet first. The Slab eventually hired a warden who specialized in escape artistry. Shilo Norman was the second Mister Miracle before he took on his new position at The Slab.
It became nearly escape-proof and was on track to becoming one of the most effective comic book prisons. However, The Joker released a powerful new toxin that launched a devastating riot. The Slab was ultimately lost in another dimension. When it returned to Earth, The Slab relocated to Antarctica which made it even more inescapable.
4 The X-Men Keep Prisoners In Suspended Animation Within The Island Of Krakoa’s Pit Of Exile
The Dawn of X rebranding of Marvel’s mutants relocated the X-Men to the island of Krakoa where they established a new society. They initially worked with dangerous mutants like Sabretooth to set up and protect Krakoa. However, the ruling Quiet Council soon turned on the villainous mutant after he killed humans on a mission.
Since the Quiet Council refused to turn Sabretooth over to human authorities, he was instead imprisoned within Krakoa’s Pit of Exile. Other mutant prisoners soon followed, and they were all kept in suspended animation without much hope of being released. Sabretooth was able to take control of their mental prison to turn it into his own private hell for everyone.
3 The Phantom Zone Is A Timeless Pocket Universe Created By Jor-El To Become A Kryptonian Prison
Superman inherited one of his father’s inventions known as the Phantom Zone Projector. It was capable of opening a doorway to a timeless parallel reality that was filled with criminals from Krypton. It wasn’t Superman’s favorite option, though he did use it to imprison some of Superman's most iconic villains like Doomsday and General Zod.
The Phantom Zone is incredibly effective because anyone trapped inside was turned into a ghost-like state. This negated any powers or abilities they had in the real world. Superman occasionally released imprisoned Kryptonians to the bottle city of Kandor after they fulfilled their sentences. While the Phantom Zone was escapable for some, it wasn’t an easy feat.
2 The Kyln Is A Galactic Prison Located Near The Edge Of The Marvel Universe That Can Contain Cosmic Gods
Prior to Marvel’s Annihilation space epic, a galactic prison known as The Kyln first appeared in 2004’s Thanos #7. It was a high-tech ring of spherical moons that was policed by the galactic law enforcement group known as the Omega Corps. They transported prisoners from other groups like the Nova Corps or the Spaceknights to The Kyln.
The Kyln earned a reputation as a prison with a death sentence since most didn’t survive more than a few years inside. It held all kinds of galactic prisoners, which included characters like Star-Lord, Gladiator and Thanos at one point. The Kyln was even capable of containing powerful cosmic gods before it was destroyed by the Annihilation Wave.
1 Takron-Galtos Is An Automated Prison Planet That Has Housed Prisoners For Many Centuries
DC's Guardians of the Universe have their own secure prison system on Oa known as the Sciencecells, though they sometimes use an alternate option for certain prisoners. The prison planet known as Takron-Galtos was an option in the 21st century, though it really came to prominence in the 30th century.
Takron-Galtos first appeared in Adventure Comics #359 in the era of The Legion of Super-Heroes. The Science Police were the main jailers on Takron-Galtos, though the original members of the Legion of Super-Heroes assisted in stopping more than a few breakout attempts. Brainiac 5 eventually created an impenetrable force shield around the planet that made it even more effective.