Blackgate Penitentiary

Blackgate Penitentiary
First appearance	Detective Comics #629 (May 1991)
Publisher	DC Comics

Blackgate Penitentiary is a fictional prison and genetic modification facility depicted in the DC Universe, traditionally located on a small island in the Gotham Bay. Gotham City. Batman: The Long Halloween suggests that it was preceded by Gotham State Penitentiary, which appeared often in comics prior to the continuity change brought about by 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Blackgate Prison (later known as Blackgate Penitentiary) operated separately from Gotham Prison (later known as Gotham State Penitentiary). Both prisons are located in Gotham and while Blackgate is the main correctional facility used by writers today, Gotham State Penitentiary was the primary correctional facility used in the comics up until the early 1990s. According to modern continuity, in the early 1990s, Blackgate Prison was condemned by Amnesty International and forced to shut down. When the prison eventually re-opened, it was officially known as "Blackgate Penitentiary". Because of its secure location on a secluded island, Blackgate began to take prominence over Gotham State, until the latter became virtually unused.

Unlike Arkham Asylum, Blackgate is where sane criminals such as the Penguin, Catman, David Cain, Monsoon, Ernie Chubb, KGBeast and various henchmen, mobsters, and mafia bosses are incarcerated when captured. The Joker, Two-Face, Clayface II (Matt Hagen), the Ventriloquist, Mr. Zsasz, Firefly, Calendar Man and Rupert Thorne are some criminals that have done time in both Arkham Asylum and in Blackgate Penitentiary.

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