Vault (comics)
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"The Vault" is the widely used nickname of a defunct prison facility for super-human criminals (predominantly supervillains) in Marvel Comics' Marvel Universe. The prison's full official name is the United States Maximum Security Installation for the Incarceration of Superhuman Criminals.
It first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986). It ceased being used after the facility was destroyed in Heroes for Hire #1 (February, 2001), although the facility still occasionally appears in flashbacks in various Marvel publications.
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[edit] Publication history
"The Vault" first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986) by writers Steve Englehart and Danny Fingeroth, artist Steve Ditko and editor Mark Gruenwald. It is unclear whether Englehart, Fingeroth or Gruenwald (or all three) originated the concept.
The Vault was not the first super-human detainment facility to appear in comic books. Marvel had shown their characters detained in various penitentiaries (usually alongside regular criminals) prior to Avengers Annual #15, most often at "Ryker's Island" (a fictionalised Rikers Island). Also DC Comics' Arkham Asylum predates the Vault by over 12 years (though Arkham is technically a psychiatric hospital, not a prison). There is also Takron-Galtos, a prison planet which incarcerated many of the Legion of Super-Heroes' villains which first appeared in Adventure Comics #359 (August, 1967).
However, "the Vault" was the first prison said to be built specifically and exclusively for the detention of super-villains, and the first to be widely used across a line of comic books. Similar institutions in other comic book universes, such as "the Slab" and Iron Heights in the DC Universe, first appeared years later.
After its debut, "the Vault" quickly began to appear throughout Marvel's line of titles as it became the standard destination of imprisoned super-humans in the Marvel Universe. Several storylines were based around the notion of superheroes being imprisoned in the facility or a number of inmates coordinating a prison break. In 1991, the facility was the subject and main setting for an original graphic novel, Avengers: Deathtrap, The Vault (later republished as Venom: Deathtrap, The Vault), which was written by Danny Fingeroth with art by Ron Lim.
After Heroes For Hire Vol. 1 #1, the concept was abandoned. Comic book writer Kurt Busiek explained some the reasoning for this in a Usenet posting in February 2001 [1]
- " the Vault is a dramatically-flawed idea -- either villains escape a lot (which is what happened) and the result is that this supposedly-cool place looks like it's made of cardboard, or they don't, in which case villains get captured and vanish from the Marvel U. forever, since Marvel time mitigates against their sentences ever being naturally completed."
[edit] Fictional history
Prior to the creation of the Vault, super-humans in US custody were usually imprisoned in special wards in Ryker's Island; however, concern about the danger posed to non-super-human inmates by the frequent breakouts by the super-human population in the prison led to those wards being closed.
Another venue, the energy research facility Project: Pegasus, was also briefly used, though the unsuitability of such an institution for use as a general prison led to the imprisonment of most criminals there being discontinued eventually. The US Government then set about building a unique penitentiary dedicated and designed exclusively for the detainment of super-human criminals. Using expertise, research and technology pioneered at Project: Pegasus, and extremely robust materials such as adamantium and osmium steel, they built an underground three-level structure over 40 feet below ground level in the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado.
Security guards at the prison wore armoured Guardsmen uniforms. These suits, similar in appearance to the armour worn by the original Guardsman, used technology adapted from Tony Stark's Iron Man armour designs. Originally Stark disagreed with this unauthorised use of his work, and this led him (in his Iron Man guise) to forcibly remove all his technology from the armour (Iron Man #228; March, 1988, during the Armor Wars). However, Stark's opinion later partially changed, as he went on to contribute to the design of a later model of the suit, limited to work only in the Vault itself and the close environs thereof (Avengers Spotlight #29; February, 1990).
The first individuals to be detained at the Vault were 11 members of the East and West Coast branches of the Avengers, who were suspected of treason (Avengers Annual #15). Though they eventually escaped, it was only with outside aid as they found the facility internally impenetrable. They were eventually cleared of all charges.
After those events the prison filled with inmates, as super-human criminals were transferred there from all over the country. It quickly became the site of numerous breakouts and break out attempts. One of the most frequent escapees was the Spider-Man villain Venom, who escaped from the institution at least twice (Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #315 and 331 (May 1989 and April 1990)), in the process killing at least one guard. At another point, during the events of the Avengers: Deathtrap, The Vault graphic novel, he led a revolt among the inmates which necessitated the intervention of both the Avengers and Freedom Force.
A Guardsman named Hugh Taylor was killed by Venom in one of his breakouts. This led his father, General Orwell Taylor, to assemble a group of embittered former Guardsmen from the Vault. Calling themselves The Jury, the group then illegally used modified versions of their armour to try hunt down and exact revenge against Venom, beginning with their first appearance in Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (February, 1993). The group was later reformed under the leadership of U.S. Agent.
In New Warriors (Vol. 1) #25 (August, 1992), Vance Astrovik (Marvel Boy) was sentenced to imprisonment in the Vault, after being found guilty of the manslaughter of his father. While he was en route to the facility, a group of his teammates in the New Warriors overwhelmed some Guardsmen and attempted to aid his escape, but Astrovik chose to stay in captivity and serve his time (New Warriors (Vol. 1) #26; June, 1993). While incarcerated, he helped foil an attempted prison break (New Warriors Vol. 1 #36; June, 1993). Astrovik was released from the prison in New Warriors Vol. 1 #43 (January, 1994).
On at least one occasion, a criminal were not freed from the Vault itself, but rather while they were en route to the Vault. The mutant terrorist group known as the Resistants attacked a prisoner transport van, killing or incapacitating the Guardsmen operating the van, and freed the mutant criminal known as Mentallo.
Mass breakouts did occur at the institution on at least four occasions. The first occurred as a result of Iron Man having disabled the Guardsmen's armour as a part of the Armor Wars in Iron Man Vol. 1 #228 (March, 1988). The resulting jailbreak occurred in Captain America (Vol. 1) #340 (April 1988), though the escapees were quickly recaptured. The second large-scale breakout, instigated by Loki, was one of the major contributing factors to the numerous supervillain attacks on various heroes during the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover, with the jailbreak itself occurring in Avengers Spotlight #26, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #1 (December 1989) and Quasar #6 (January 1990). The facility was restored to functionality by the time of Avengers Spotlight #29 (February 1990), after Loki's alliance of criminal masterminds had collapsed and most of the escaped inmates had been recaptured. Another breakout was recounted in a flashback in Thunderbolts Annual '97 (1997) (it had actually occurred prior to the events of Thunderbolts (Vol. 1) #1; April 1997), although only a handful of escapees were named. The fourth and final mass breakout occurred in Heroes For Hire (Vol. 1) #1. In that final prison break, the facility was destroyed by the U-Foes.
As a result of the facility's destruction, the US government abandoned the concept of a single penitentiary for super-humans, instead dispersing the detainment of such criminals in a number of normal prisons such as Seagate Prison and The Raft (a part of Ryker's Island, located on an adjacent island). Later the idea of a dedicated institution was revived, this time in drastically different fashion with the experimental "Big House", where criminals were reduced dramatically in size through the use of Pym Particles. Another dedicated prison, nicknamed "The Cage", is an isolated island in international waters with a forcefield nullifying all superhuman powers. It is unclear whether the Raft or the Big House are still in operation as both have recently suffered major prison breaks (New Avengers #1 and She-Hulk Vol. 3 #5, respectively).
[edit] Appearances in other media
The Vault appeared in episode 21 of the 1994-1995 Iron Man animated television series ("The Armor Wars, Part One", original airdate 18th November 1995). The story is an adaptation of the Armor Wars storyline, with Iron Man breaking into the Vault to remove his technology from the Guardsman uniforms (though he later learns that they do not actually use his technology).
In 1998, Toy Biz released a small line of "Vault" themed action figures featuring villains from the Marvel Universe [2]. The line comprised figures of Stegron, Typhoid Mary and Ultron. The packaging of each was designed to resemble the interiors of a cell in "the Vault" as they had been presented in the comics. Toy Biz also released a Guardsman figure in their Spider-Man toyline.
A prison based on the Vault, according to Cerebro, appeared in the X2: Wolverine's Revenge game, and was called The Void. It contained mutant supervillains, as opposed to human supervillains. The Prisoners were Magneto, Juggernaut (even though he isn't a mutant), and Omega Red but were later freed by Sabretooth.
In the superhero-themed cartoon Loonatics Unleashed, based on the Looney Tunes, the supervillains are being held in a Subterranian Maximum Security Prison, which is obviusly based on the Vault.
[edit] See also
List of correctional facilities in comics
