Cosmic Treadmill
The Cosmic Treadmill is a device that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
Cosmic Treadmill
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
At one point, the U.S. government spent years attempting to get into the timestream and looked to reverse engineer the cosmic treadmill as a time travel device for this purpose. Eventually, the Justice League learnt of these efforts leading to the project being scrapped and abandoned though knowledge of it was known to select people. (The Flash v2 #196)
Hunter Zolomon once requested Wally West to use the Cosmic Treadmill to go back in time to prevent the incident that led to him being unable to use his legs. However, the Flash refused and apologised to his friend where he talked about the dangers of time travel. Despite this, the talk caused a rift between Wally and Hunter with the latter resenting the hero for not helping him. (The Flash v2 #196)
In the 25th century, a rebuild Cosmic Treadmill resided in the Flash Museum with its existence being debated upon by scientific historians with some believing it allowed Barry Allen to test the limit of his powers whilst others believed it conferred the super-speed abilities to him. Professor Drake was the person who had managed to rediscover the existence of the mythical Speed Force until he was removed from the timeline by an older Reverse-Flash leading to Eobard Thawne becoming the new head of the Flash Museum. (Flash v3 #8)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
After the mysterious death of Eobard Thawne, the Flash sought to travel through time to find who was responsible for his foes demise. Despite promising never to use it, he went to the Watchtower to make use of the Cosmic Treadmill. Batman accompanied him and during travel they hit a turbulence that caused them to fall back in time onto the Flashpoint Earth in the Batcave but the travel caused the Treadmill to be damaged. (The Flash v5 #21) Upon encountering Mr. Oz, Superman determined that the time-stream had been affected by an unknown force and sought to find answers to explain Jor-El's survival. His attempts to witness the records of Tomar-Re showed that time was altered and Superman decided to journey into the past through the Cosmic Treadmill located on the Watchtower. (Action Comics v1 #992) Booster Gold arrived to stop him but was too late and attempted to discern where in time Superman had departed towards in the timestream. The Flash arrived at that point thinking Booster Gold was an intruder but Skeets managed to use the Watchtowers defences to knock him out. Booster Gold then took the Treadmill with him on his Time Sphere to use the coordinates set inside of it to find Superman. (Action Comics v1 #993)
Overview
As travelling through the timestream was volatile, detaching from the Cosmic Treadmill during any attempted time travel was dangerous as one could be lost forever.(The Flash v5 #21)
Notes
- The Cosmic Treadmill was created by John Broome where it made its first appearance in The Flash v1 #125 (December, 1961).
Alternate Versions
- In Dark Nights: Metal v1 (2017), an alternate version of the world designated as Earth-52 was shown in the Dark Multiverse. On this world, Batman lost many more of his loved ones and as he grew older he believed he would only fail unless he acquired the power of the Speed Force. This saw him attack the Flash where he defeated the speedster and strapped him on his Batmobile that used designs from the Cosmic Treadmill in an effort to give him the Speed Force. The act merged their bodies transforming Batman into the Red Death where he used his new super-speed to brutally kill villains on his world.
In other media
Television
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the Cosmic Treadmill appeared in the episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!". It was present within the Flash Museum and remained there after the seeming death of the second Flash Barry Allen. Batman witnessed the perceived ghost of Flash and he took Jay Garrick along with Kid Flash to use the Treadmill to track down Barry Allen lost in time.
- In 2014's The Flash, the Cosmic Treadmill did not feature though an ordinary treadmill was used at S.T.A.R. Labs to test Barry Allen's newly acquired super-speed.
Videogames
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Cosmic Treadmill featured in the video game where it was used as part of the storyline. It was brought to the Watchtower where Flash, Superman and Cyborg attempted to use it to retrieve their comrades Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Joker and Batman who had been sent to a parallel universe where Superman ruled the world. To recover them, the Flash made use of the treadmill in order to match their vibrational signature to pull them back to their Earth. However, this attempt leads to Cyborg being sent into the parallel Earth.
Appearances
- The Flash v1: (1961)
- The Flash v2:
- The Flash v3:
External Links
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