Belle Reve

Infobox comics location


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subcat = DC Comics
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Belle Reve Penitentiary is a fictional prison and sanitorium in the DC Universe.

Fictional background

Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary ("sweet dream" in French) is a special prison for metahumans and other supervillains. It is located in Louisiana near the Gulf of Mexico, and is surrounded by miles of swamp land. Being the prison for many supervillains, it was chosen by Amanda Waller as the headquarters of the Suicide Squad. Criminals can reduce their sentences by working on the missions. Some of the more untrustworthy ones are required to carry devices, which will cause maiming or death if they try to escape.

Many, but not all of the staff, work both as prison employees and facilitate Suicide Squad operations. Some of the staff are friends with the more level-headed Squad members. Mechanics work on Squad vehicles. Prison doctors treat prisoners and Squad staff alike. The existence of the Squad brings the facility under attack many times.

The prison has been the focus of much governmental investigations, as it would be a scandal to learn that the United States is using murderous supervillains to further its own ends. Noted reporter Lois Lane did an investigation, only partly turned away by a fake warden installed to divert attention away from Squad activities.

Barbara Gordon briefly relocated to Belle Reve to work with the Suicide Squad under the alias "Amy Beddoes".

Amanda Waller actually served time in Belle Reve when she was convicted on charges stemming from her Squad operations.

Belle Reve was the site of a Mageddon-caused riot in "JLA #34", in which many guards and other prison staff members were killed, including the warden (it is not made clear if this is the same warden featured in the pages of the Squad). The villain Hector Hammond had been taken over by an emissary of Maggedon, which influenced much of the riot. Members of the Justice League, namely Aquaman, Green Lantern, Zauriel and Plastic Man managed to calm the riot. Most of it was stopped by Plastic Man, who used his shape changing abilities to fool the prisoners into thinking Batman was on the scene.

Another Belle Reve prison riot is calmed by Superman and the time traveling Kal Kent in "One Million" #1.

During the "Day of Judgement" storyline, one of the many portals to Hell opened near the prison. Plastic Man and some of the prisoners worked together in containing the situation.

The name is an allusion to the fictional ancestral home of Blanche and Stella DuBois in Tennessee Williams' play, /A Streetcar Name Desire/Fact|date=July 2008. In the play, Blanche mourns the loss of the plantation to creditors before eventually going insane herself. The final scene depicts her being escorted to a mental asylum.

Alternate versions

Kingdom Come

In the DC Comics Elseworlds limited series and graphic novel "Kingdom Come", Belle Reve is destroyed by Genosyde, killing all its occupants.

Appearances in other media

"Justice League Unlimited"

Belle Reve appears in the "Justice League Unlimited" episode "Task Force X." In this version, the Suicide Squad is called Task Force X; their headquarters, like their comic book counterparts, are in Belle Reve Penitentiary.

"Smallville"

On the television series "Smallville", Belle Reve Sanitarium is an insane asylum. The meteor freak villains Clark fights are almost always held here for their insanity, similar to how many of Batman's enemies end up in Arkham Asylum. In the episode, "Freak", Chloe Sullivan laments that all meteor rock-infected Smallville citizens end up either dead or in Belle Reve, indicating that insanity is a likely side effect of kryptonite exposure in humans.

ee also

* List of correctional facilities in comics