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Ravencroft

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The Ravencroft Institute is a fictional maximum security prison for the criminally insane appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The place later grew to one of the leading maximum-security facilities in the country specializing in the treatment of superhuman criminals.[1]

Ravencroft Institute
First appearanceWeb of Spider-Man Annual #10 (1994)
Created byJ. M. DeMatteis
Sal Buscema
In-universe information
TypePrison
LocationsWestchester County, New York
Marvel Comics

Description

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Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane was a maximum-security asylum for the mentally ill.[2] Many insane murderers and supervillains, such as Carnage,[volume & issue needed] and Venom,[volume & issue needed] have been kept at Ravencroft.

Publication history

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The institute was first mentioned in Web of Spider-Man #112, written by Terry Kavanagh. The institute officially opens in Web of Spider-Man Annual #10 (1994), written by Terry Kavanagh, with art by Jerry Bingham.

History

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Early days

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Ravencroft Institute was built on land that was considered cursed by local indigenous tribes since before the 15th century, having been claimed as territory by a cannibalistic cult worshipping the dark god Knull. In the 16th Century, Giovanni da Verrazzano visited this land to investigate some disappearances and left when what he saw spooked him. In the 17th Century, Cortland Kasady (an ancestor of Cletus Kasady) purchased the land and later killed his wife Molly Ravencroft.[3] In 1783, a battle during the American Revolution occurred on this land where a revolutionary named Steve Rogers was killed by a stray cannonball. A bunch of stuff happened in the 19th Century. In 1804, worshippers of Shuma-Gorath used this land. In 1820, the Headless Horseman (depicted as a wielder of the Spirit of Vengeance) visited this land. In 1862, Tyrannus and his Tyrannoids emerged from the ground there during the American civil war. In 1891, some Skrulls landed on the property during one of their invasion plans.[4] Dr. Jonas Ravencroft, a descendant of British settler Molly Ravencroft, who was murdered by her husband, Cortland Kasady (an ancestor of Cletus Kasady) in the 17th century,[3] purchased the land in Westchester County in 1899, determined to provide proper psychiatric care for the people of New York. Despite numerous setbacks including an arson activity where one person involved claimed that Mephisto told him to do it, he had established the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane by the early 1900s.[4] At some point, Dr. Ravencroft took to recording a journal detailing the history of Westchester County, his family, and the Ravencroft Institute.[3]

In 1909, Dr. Ravencroft gained Dr. Nathaniel Essex and Dr. Claudia Russell from Romania as Ravencroft Institute's latest doctors. It was also revealed that Logan was a patient there upon being accused of being the Knickerbocker Killer. Victor Creed was there as an orderly who tried to deal with Logan only for Dr. Essex to intervene. When Creed later tried to kill Dr. Russell, she turned into a werewolf where she was tranquilized by Dr. Essex. He later sent Dr. Ravencroft a resignation letter while leaving a hidden room with his known unusual specimens behind.[4]

In 1918, Master of the World was an inmate there. In 1923, a younger Al Capone and Silas Burr were inmates here before they escaped. In 1932, Ravencroft Institute received a Skin Walker. In 1933, Loki was briefly an inmate here until he escaped and played a prank on the orderly. During World War II, Weapon Plus commandeered Ravencroft Institute and collaborated with Dracula. Captain America and Bucky visited Ravencroft Institute. Dr. Ravencroft unleashed some vampire monstrosities before committing suicide.[5] As the last quarter of the 20th Century approached, Louise Kasady was later committed to Ravencroft and gave birth to Cletus.[6]

Modern era

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In the modern era, Dr. Ashley Kafka was the founder and first director of Ravencroft.[7] John Jameson was head of security.[volume & issue needed] Both get fired in Spectacular Spider-Man #246, and Dr. Leonard Samson becomes Ravencroft's new director.[8] The institute hasn't appeared since and in Leonard Samson's recent appearances, he owns a private practice.

When Cletus Kasady was an inmate at Ravencroft, it was here when he first bonded to the Carnage Symbiote. He would later meet Shriek when he made his escape.[9]

Dr. Judas Traveller later visited Ravencroft and learned of some of the inmates' grievances towards Spider-Man and planned to put Spider-Man into a dilemma where one action by Spider-Man will either have the inmates killed or released.[10]

During the "Decimation" storyline, Sally Floyd visited Ravencroft and found that only three of its mutant inmates still have their mutant abilities.[11]

The institute reappeared in Vengeance of the Moon Knight. In this incarnation, it housed mostly non-superpowered psychopaths and had an imposing metal front gate with a Gothic façade similar to DC's Arkham Asylum. Moon Knight fought Bushman, Hood, and Scarcrow when they broke into Ravencroft and slaughtered some of the orderlies.[12]

Massacre soon escaped and shot Dr. Kafka in the process.[13]

During the "Absolute Carnage" storyline, Cletus Kasady was reanimated and took control of the Knull-worshiping cult, and had Jameson, whom he had infected with a branch of his symbiote, kill the guards and lure Spider-Man and Venom into a trap. Kasady infected the inmates with pieces of his symbiote, turning them into Carnage doppelgängers.[14] Carnage claimed the asylum as a base for the cult, resurrecting Demogoblin using Shriek as a sacrifice.[15] However, Deadpool unwittingly disrupted the cult's rituals and burned the asylum to the ground to escape.[16]

Crime lord Wilson Fisk - using his influence as the Mayor of New York - financed the cleanup of the destroyed asylum, intending to have it rebuilt to further his own nefarious purposes. During the cleanup, Dr. Ravencroft's journal was discovered as was as an underground facility hidden beneath the south wing.[3] Despite Reed Richards' efforts to ensure that the rebuilt Ravencroft Institute was a proper psychiatric institution, it was rebuilt as a prison for dangerous supervillains, with John Jameson lamenting that history would only repeat itself.[5]

Proving this prediction true, Mayor Fisk hired supervillains Norman Osborn, Dennis Dunphy, Taskmaster, Mac Gargan, Karla Sofen, Karl Malus, and Roderick Kingsley as staff members.[17]

Having been revived by Kindred during the "Sins Rising" storyline, Sin-Eater invaded Ravencroft to target Norman Osborn's sins. In the process, he purged Juggernaut of his sin and absorbed his powers which he used against Spider-Man at the cost of Ravencroft being heavily damaged.[18]

During the "King in Black" storyline, Ravencroft was attacked at the time when Mayor Fisk's Thunderbolts were sent to Ravencroft.[19]

During the "Fall of X", Anna Watson was later committed to Ravencroft after her Krakoan medicine that would've treated her dementia was tainted by Orchis.[20] While having turned down Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson's offer to be released following the "Gang War" storyline, she opted to remain a model prisoner as she befriends Sandman, Hippo, Human Fly, and Whirlwind. When Electro attacked Ravencroft to retrieve a reluctant Sandman, Anna was defended by Hippo, Human Fly, and Whirlwind.[21]

Known staff members

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Former members

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Known patients inmates

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Ravencroft's known patients and later inmates include:

In other media

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Television

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Film

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Video games

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Ravencroft appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tie-in game, in which Oscorp uses it to conduct secret experiments.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Spectacular Spider-Man #178
  2. ^ Marnell, Blair (December 31, 2019). "The History of the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane". Marvel.com. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  3. ^ a b c d e Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage #1. Marvel Comics.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Ruins of Ravencroft: Sabretooth #1. Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula #1. Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ a b c Web of Venom: Carnage Born #1. Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ a b c Spectacular Spider-Man #178. Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ a b Spectacular Spider-Man #246. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ a b c Spider-Man Unlimited #1. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ a b Web of Spider-Man #117. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ a b c Generation M #3. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3-6. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ a b Dan Slott (w), Ryan Stegman (a). The Superior Spider-Man, no. 5 (March 2013). Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ a b Absolute Carnage #1. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #1. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ravencroft #1. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #50. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ King in Black: Thunderbolts #1-3. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Amazing Spider-Man Annual Vol. 5 #1. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6 #45-46. Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ Ravencroft #5. Marvel Comics.
  23. ^ a b c Ravencroft #2. Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #48. Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ a b c Ravencroft #3. Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ Venom: Carnage Unleashed #1. Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ a b Moon Knight #188. Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #24-25. Marvel Comics.
  29. ^ a b c Carnage: It's a Wonderful Life #1. Marvel Comics.
  30. ^ a b c d Ravencroft #4. Marvel Comics.
  31. ^ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #6. Marvel Comics.
  32. ^ Amazing Spider-Man #390. Marvel Comics.
  33. ^ a b c Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #2. Marvel Comics.
  34. ^ a b c d Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #46. Marvel Comics.
  35. ^ Spectacular Spider-Man #230. Marvel Comics.
  36. ^ a b c d Web of Spider-Man Annual #10. Marvel Comics.
  37. ^ a b Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3. Marvel Comics.
  38. ^ Amazing Spider-Man #800. Marvel Comics.
  39. ^ Amazing Spider-Man #400. Marvel Comics.
  40. ^ Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins of Norman Osborn #1. Marvel Comics.
  41. ^ Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 #22. Marvel Comics.
  42. ^ Strikeforce #6. Marvel Comics.
  43. ^ Moon Knight Vol. 3 #2. Marvel Comics.
  44. ^ Daredevil Vol. 2 #7. Marvel Comics.
  45. ^ Spider-Man '97 #1. Marvel Comics.
  46. ^ Daredevil #348. Marvel Comics.
  47. ^ Spectacular Spider-Man #217. Marvel Comics.
  48. ^ Lesnick, Silas (March 18, 2013). "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Welcomes You to Ravencroft". SuperHeroHype.com.
  49. ^ Squires, Bethy (February 17, 2023). "What You Need To Know About Ravencroft From Venom: Let There Be Carnage". Looper. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
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