Boom Tube
A Boom Tube is a portal used as an FTL means of travel in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
When the Old Gods perished, their bridge to Earth was similarly destroyed. (New Gods v1 #1) The worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis were separated from the rest of the cosmos preventing their inhabitants from leaving or even stopping others from arriving on those two worlds. It was only the creation of Boom Tubes that allowed the New Gods to make contact with the outer universe which also meant that entry to those two worlds was impossible without a Mother Box to generate the teleportation vortices. (Cosmic Odyssey v1) The discovery of the Boom Tubes was made by the New God Metron. (New Gods v1 #1)
In his search for the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid had numerous humans secretly brought to Apokolips for study. He determined that the Equation resided on Earth and transported his Elite there to find it. At the direction of the Source, Orion would arrive on Apokolips only to find Kalibak waiting for him. It was only the intervention of Metron did Orion learn of the captive unconscious humans. Metron would create a Boom Tube to Earth where Orion freed the humans and went to the human homeworld to continue his quest to defeat Darkseid. (New Gods v1 #1) After learning of the Forever People, Superman sought them out to learn about their home and sought to travel to Supertown through one of their Boom Tubes. (Forever People v1 #1)
After the capture of the International Ultramarine Corps by Gorilla Grodd, Batman received the emergency message and retrieved his Boom Tube gauntlet. He took his jet to the scene of the battle where he saved a falling Squire from certain death and used the gauntlet to open a wormhole to Pluto space as he required Squire's help to free the rest of the Justice League. (JLA Classified v1 #1)
Upon the emergence of Kara Zor-El, Darkseid sought her capture and dispatched forces to invade Themyscira to claim her when they succeeded in bringing her to Apokolips. Without a conventional means of travelling there, the Trinity met with Big Barda and had her Mother Box open a Boom Tube to Apokolips in order to save Kara. (Superman/Batman v1 #11)
As part of his test to be Castellan of Checkmate, Carl Draper was placed in charge of the defenses of the Castle from a number of attacks. To handle the multiple threats, he made use of a Boomtube whose entry and exit point connected to one another in an infinite loop thus trapping the hostiles within it. (Checkmate v2 #17)
At some point, Apokolips suffered from an embargo with Boom Tubes being declared illegal technology. However, under President Luthor's administration, the United States possessed Boom Tube technology that they used to send a salvo of nuclear weapons against a gigantic Kryptonite meteor heading towards Earth. Despite the attempt, the warheads had no effect and the large Kryptonite mass continued its heading towards the planet. (Superman/Batman v1 #2)
John Henry Irons had reverse engineered Boom Tube technology to create a secret interdimensional bubble located in hyperspace between the Hall of Justice and the orbiting Justice League Watchtower that was to serve as a meeting ground for the Trinity. (Justice League of America v2 #21)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different series of events.
In an effort to escape the First Born, Orion would activate a Boom Tube to New Genesis where he along with Wonder Woman, Lennox, Zola and her baby Zeke attempted to flee. However, the First Born managed to keep the dimensional doorway open through his sheer strength causing it to destabilize. This forced Lennox to attack the First Born to prevent the Boom Tube collapsing allowing the others to complete their journey to New Genesis. (Wonder Woman v4 #21)
After an encounter with the New God Malhedron, Guy Gardner sought to take the fight to the New Gods of New Genesis. Simon Baz then took him to meet Cyborg at the Justice League to use his technology to open a Boom Tube to New Genesis. (Red Lanterns v1 #36)
Overview
These doorways were said to be dimensional bridges. (Forever People v1 #1)
They were noted to adjust the size of the occupant during transit to match the size of the inhabitants of the target location. Thus, whilst the New Gods normally appeared to be the size of mortal races, in actuality they were gigantic in size but shrunk due to the use of the Boom Tube. (New Gods v4 #10) These portals were designed to connect any two points within the universe. However, in order to exit, the entrance of the Boom Tube needed to be closed and any being able to keep the opening portal from closing meant that the doorway built up to critical mass. The danger meant that Boom Tube would implode and atomize any travelers within it unless the source of the disruption at the entrance was stopped. (Wonder Woman v4 #21) Similarly, people familiar with New God technology were able to disrupt an open Boom Tube and cause it to collapse. (Action Comics v1 #971) Travel to Boom Tubes was near lethal to regular human beings. (Earth-2: World's End v1 #23)
One machine utilising the technology were Boom Cubes that were cube shaped devices allowing one to remain in contact with another over great interstellar distances across dimensions. (Superman v4 #36) There were portable Boom Tube generators that were capable of being placed in the field. (JLA v1 #40) Special Boom Tube Gauntlets were known to be used where they resembled large gloves that were massive compared to the human hand. These devices were capable of opening space-time wormholes under their own power and at the control of their wearer. (JLA Classified v1 #1)
Notes
- Boom Tubes were created by Jack Kirby and made their first appearance in Forever People v1 #1 (March, 1971).
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, Boom Tubes made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, Boom Tubes were shown being used by the forces of Apokolips in the episode "Tools of the Trade" when Kanto uses one to transport to Earth to offer advanced technology to Intergang. After Mannheim was defeated by Superman, he fled with Kanto through a Boom Tube where he would meet his benefactor, Darkseid. In ""Apokolips... Now!", a wounded Orion of New Genesis would stumble to Earth to warn Superman of Darkseid's machinations. Afterwards, Boom Tubes were opened to allow Apokolips forces to begin their invasion of Earth but Orion would summon the people of New Genesis that similarly arrived on the planet via Boom Tubes leading to Darkseid retreating. In "Little Girl Lost", Granny Goodness and her Female Furies would use a Boom Tube to secretly arrive on Earth to recruit human teenagers to serve as a criminal gang to acquire parts to redirect a comet to the planet but this plot was discovered by Supergirl. In "Legacy", Superman was brainwashed by Darkseid where he attacked Earth but after regaining his memories he stole a Boom Tube generator to return to Apokolips to battle the New God dictator.
- In Batman Beyond, Boom Tubes make an appearance in the episode "The Call". The future Justice League use one to travel to the Fortress of Solitude to confront Superman who had been secretly taken over by the Starro parasites.
- In Justice League, Boom Tubes would appear in the episode "Twilight". Darkseid would use one to travel to the Watchtower in Earth's orbit to request the Justice League's help against Brainiac who had attacked Apokolips. Superman would not trust Darkseid's claim and asked both Batman as well as Wonder Woman to use a Boom Tube to travel to New Genesis to request the New God's help. On Brainic's asteroid base, Darkseid would Boom Tube to the lair where he betrayed the Justice League and Brainiac in an effort to reshape reality according to his image. Orion would later use a Boom Tube to journey to the asteroid to confront Darkseid though he was defeated. Batman would trigger Orion's Mother Box to activate a Boom Tube to send the New God, Superman and himself to New Genesis leaving Darkseid behind as the asteroid exploded seemingly killing him as well as Brainiac.
- In Justice League Unlimited, Boom Tubes made multiple appearance in various episodes. In "The Ties That Bind", Virman Vundabar used technology that interrupted the space-time portals of the Boom Tube to prevent entry into his base. In "Destroyer", a Boom Tube would be used to return the reborn Darkseid to Apokolips where he rallied his forces who used multiple Boom Tubes to invade Earth in large numbers.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, boom tubes were described as dimensional portals used by the forces of Apokolips in the episode "Darkseid Descending". Apokoliptian forces use them to invade Earth and following conquest they create a Boom Tube Generator that allows Darkseid onboard his flagship to arrive on the planet. The invasion was defeated when the Question disguised as a Parademon reverses the frequency of the Boom Tube Generator that forcibly sends all the Apokoliptian forces back to their homeworld.
- In Young Justice, Boom Tubes made a number of appearances in the animated series. The Light's managed to secure an alliance which saw the New Genesphere being transported to Bialya through a Boom Tube.
- In Justice League Action, Boom Tubes made a number of appearances in the animated television series. In "The Fatal Fare", a Mother Box was used to maintain a massive Boom Tube allowing for Apokolips invasion fleet to pass through. However, Superman attacked the flagship and secretly had the Atom placed on the Mother Box where he locked Darkseid's forces from opening a Boom Tube. They came to believe that Superman had infected the Mother Box was a virus that prevented them from using it. Afterwards, Superman used a portable Mother Box was used to defeat Darkseid by opening a Boom Tube to strand him on an isolated world. In "Best Day Ever", Desaad had given a Mother Box to the Joker who used its Boom Tube to break Lex Luthor out of prison whilst having confronting with various superheroes around the world. This was to get Luthor to suggest going to his secret base where he had developed a powerful bomb that the Joker activated with the intention that the heroes pursuing would be killed when the warhead detonated. Despite their powers, the superheroes were unable to combat Joker who used the Mother Box's capabilities to defeat them. It was only Lex Luthor who tricked the Joker into lowering his guard did he get defeated with the Mother Box being taken away from him.
Films
- In Justice League: War, Boom Tubes created by multiple Mother Boxes were used to bring the Apokoliptian invasion forces to Earth. The link allowed Parademons to capture humans and bring them to Apokolips where they were converted into new Parademon soldiers. During the battle against the Justice League, Cyborg who had an link to technology managed to interface with a Mother Box where he reversed their ability to force the Parademon hordes along with Darkseid back to Apokolips.
- In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Boom Tubes were once more shown as being the technology of the New Gods. Orion had gifted his fiancée with the Wonder Sword that had a Mother Box built into the hilt and had Boom Tube capabilities. She used it to depart Apokolips after the death of her husband Orion during Highfather's treachery to kill Darkseid. Upon arriving on Earth, the United States government had attempted to replicate the abilities of the Boom Tube and later succeeded in jamming its effects. Will Magnus had secretly had built Mother Boxes that he had placed in three of his Metal Men that allowed them to rapidly deploy to murder scientists from Project: Fair Play. These three Metal Men merged into a single unit who used the Boom Tube to tactically battle Superman until he used his heat vision to blast the Mother Boxes out of the mechanical creature and allowed him to ultimately destroy it. Magnus ultimate goal was to end world conflict with his nanite bomb that utilized Boom Tubes to deposit a nanite into the brain of everyone on Earth who would fall under his control. To achieve the power requirements for the task, he required the Kryptonian reactor at the Justice League's headquarters but was ultimately defeated by the heroes.
- In Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, a Boom Tube appeared in the direct-to-video animated film where it was used by Darkseid's ship to escape Bizarro World.
- In Justice League, Boom Tubes appeared in the 2017 live-action film set in the DC Extended Universe. The Mother Boxes on Earth used them to summon Steppenwolf to the planet where he sought to transform the world into a copy of his homeworld. He used them to rapidly move across the planet as he sought to acquire the three Mother Boxes that were abandoned there thousands of years ago. When he was defeated by the Justice League, a Boom Tube was called sending back into exile.
- In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Boom Tubes appeared in the setting of the 2020 animated film. The Justice League used one generated by Cyborg to teleport to Apokolips as part of a surprise attack against Darkseid. However, Darkseid was aware of their onslaught and had prepared an ambush that led to many of the heroes being slain by the villains Paradooms. This paved the wave for the conquest of Earth that was gradually strip-mined of its assets to feed Apokolips. Boom Tubes were used to transport troops and supplies between the two worlds. The resistance used the link from LexCorp Tower to stage one last desperate attack against Darkseid. This saw them freeing their captive comrades including Cyborg who used the Boom Tube network to transport all of Darkseid's Paradooms back to the planet. He then generated a massive Boom Tube around Apokolips that ripped the planet apart and sent all those within it trapped in another dimension.
Video Games
- In Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, Boom Tubes were used by the robotic Inter-Bots during their various crimes sprees across Metropolis.
- In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the intro sequence showed Darkseid and Shao Kahn both attacking their respective universes where they were defeated whereupon they attempted to flee. Darkseid attempted to escape from Superman through a Boom Tube but was attacked by the Man of Steel whilst he was entering. This combined with a similar attack on Shao Kahn attempting to escape from a portal caused the two villains to merge into a single being known as Dark Kahn
Appearances
- Forever People v1:
- JLA Classified v1 #1:
- JLA v1 #40:
- Justice League v2:
- Wonder Woman v4 #21: (2013)
- Red Lanterns v1:
External Links
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