Source Wall
The Source Wall is a location in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Source Wall was a titanic space-based structure that encompassed the Source. According to the Monitors, the Source Wall was a stationary cosmic structure that kept the 52 universes of the multiverse separate from one another. (Countdown v1 #39) At an unknown point, a female being named Ligea became trapped in the Wall as a giant. (Showcase '94 v1 #1)
Modern
Following a meeting with Metron at the Source Wall, Orion heard the cries from a woman trapped on it and he freed her. This was Ligea who was apparently one of the gigantic figures trapped on its surface who had tricked Orion and took his Astro-Harness and threw him into the Wall as her replacement. However, he managed to free himself and returned Ligea back to her imprisonment within the gigantic structure. (Showcase '94 v1 #1)
As the Godwave doubled back into the Source, it had reached ultimate contraction where it began to cause the Wall to shatter apart which would have destroyed all of creation. (Genesis v1 #3) In the aftermath, several of the Promethean Giants used this as an opportunit to escape their imprisonment. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #13) Metron and DeSaad sought to enlist the aid of the Promethean Giants to free Darkseid who was imprisoned within the Source Wall. Thus, the Giant Prodigian was convinced to take Darkseid's place though this opportunity was used by Mars to free his Greek counterpart Ares from the Wall thus merging them into a united merged being. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #14)
In the battle against the shadow element S'ivaa, Superman and Orion managed to push the creature through a tear where they sent it crashing into the Wall leading to it being imprisoned alongside the other titans on its surface. (New Gods v4 #11)
After the apparent death of Kara Zor-El, Superman attacked her murderer who was Darkseid and flew him to the Source Wall where he entombed New God in the barrier at the edge of outer space. (Superman/Batman v1 #13) Superman was later forced to free Darkseid in order to avert a crisis in the timeline. However, the New God had been drained of the Omega Effect whilst imprisoned in the Wall leaving him powerless. Upon learning of this, Desaad offered to find a means of returning his lost power in exchange for ruling a galaxy with the master of Apokolips agreeing to the term. It was then that Desaad discovered that Highfathers powerful staff was embedded in the Source Wall but was unable to retrieve it. Thus, Desaad hatched upon a plan to use a mind controlled Superman to dive into the Source Wall and recover the staff. (Superman/Batman v1 #40) After the completion of his task, Superman was sent by Desaad into the Wall for him to be imprisoned in the Source for all eternity. However, the use of Highfather's staff allowed Batman to serve as an anchor for Superman to escape the Source Wall. With a tear in the Wall, it drew in the Apokolipitian mobile planetoid warship Tartaros into it thus closing the gap and being encased in its structure. (Superman/Batman v1 #42)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The creation of the Source Wall was said to had been done billions of years ago when the three brothers known as the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor and the World Forger sent out a signal to the race of super celestial beings that were kin to their mother Perpetua. She had been corrupting the purpose of the Multiverse and thus they sought to stop her or face the destruction of their cosmos by the Judges of the Source. Perpetua attempted to stop her children with the power she had hoarded when the guardians judges arrived and imprisoned her within the newly created Source Wall alongside the Totality of her power. Thus, the Source Wall was created that served as a barrier between the various realms of the Multiverse and the Overvoid beyond. (Justice League v4 #22) It was revealed that Relic was scientist that came from the universe that existed before the current universe. Relic warned the ‘Lightsmiths’ of his universe that the emotional spectrum was a limited resource and could be exhausted. To prove his theory, he searched the universe looking for the ‘reservoir’ of the emotional energy of the universe. His explorations brought him to the Source Wall of his universe. When the various emotional energy collectors went dark and the emotional spectrum was exhausted, his universe began to collapse. Relic entered the Source Wall as a last act of discovery as his universe died. As he entered the wall through a rift, he was broken apart at a molecular level, and passes through to be born in the current universe. (Green Lantern v5 #21) It was the destruction of the original Source Wall that contributed to the destruction of the Old Gods. Only a fragment survived known as the Source Shard that appeared as an obelisk and was where the veil between two realities was weakest. (Infinity Man and the Forever People v1 #9)
During the war between Apokolips and New Genesis, Darkseid offered a peace through the Pact whereby both he along with Izaya exchange sons. However, Izaya despaired at the thought of parting with his son and only memory of his wife Avia leading to him to the Source Shard to ask for an answer. Through the Source Shard, he was told that this was the only course for peace and end to the devastating warfare. (Infinity Man and the Forever People v1 #9)
Relic travelled to the Source Wall in order to breach it and access the reservoir of energy from the Emotional Spectrum. However, his experiments failed despite numerous attempts until the arrival of Kyle Rayner who was empowered by the Emotional Entities and the Templar Guardians where they agreed to help Relic. (Red Lanterns v1 #24)
At the Source Wall, Hal Jordan and Black Hand were confronted by Orion and the Divine Guard of the New Gods. During the battle, Black Hand would touch the Wall and awaken the creatures imprisoned within it to serve his will where he took them to New Genesis through a Boom Tube opened by Sinestro. Whilst battling the New Gods, Hand began to revert slowly into stone whilst the Source Titans changed from undead into living beings that went on a rampage on New Genesis until Kyle Rayner reclaimed the power of the White Lantern to send them away. (Green Lantern Annual v5 #3) Though the crisis was averted, Black Hand had been infected from the material from the Wall leading to anything that he touched turning into Source Wall stone with him turning numerous worlds accidently in the process. (Green Lantern v5 #43)
In the battle against Barbatos, the Source Wall was ruptured thus exposing the universe to new threats that lay behind it. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6) Among these dangers were the four Omega Titans that were four cosmic beings that predated the universe and had seeded it eons ago with universal energies that they sought to reclaim. Each of the four giant beings embodied certain cosmic concepts and sought to feed on them in the universe. In response, Brainiac assembled the Justice League into various teams to combat each of the Titans. (Justice League: No Justice v1 #1) The damage to the Wall led to the release of cosmic energies that led to the sudden rise of Metahumans on Earth as their powers were activated. (Titans Special v1 #1) The Justice League later sought to repair the Source Wall through the aid of Starman Will Payton who contained the various energies of creation. He called upon various cosmic powers to help bring the Omega Titans to the Wall with Kendra Saunders volunteering to take the place of the slain Entropy Titan. Once there, Payton channelled the energies in repairing the wall when they came under attack from the restored Brainiac who was now a member of the Legion of Doom. Brainiac hijacked the power of Starman thus turning the energy from repairing the Wall to instead freeing the cosmic being Perpetua who ruled the universe prior to the existing one and had been imprisoned by cosmic forces long ago. With her release, the Source Wall was completely shattered thus exposing the Multiverse to the void causing it to begin to slowly fall towards its destruction. (Justice League Annual v4 #1)
Overview
The Wall was said to be beyond any known measure of time and space. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #14) It was said that no mortal imagination could ever fully encompass the Source Wall. (Genesis v1 #3) It spanned all dimensions where it was spread across an infinite barrier. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #14) The Wall actually surrounded each of the 52 universes with the space in-between it being filled with anti-life. The anti-life acted as a cushioning and as a repelling force that kept the universes separate from one another. (Countdown v1 #39) It was considered the final barrier at the end of outer space. (Superman/Batman v1 #13)
It was composed of many layers that were built upon the unaccounted number of beings that had sought to penetrate it to access the Source. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #14) The Wall was considered a fossil record of creation and as among the greatest font of knowledge. (New Gods: Godhead v1 #1) Through the Source Shard, it was said that it was possible to communicate directly with the Source itself. (Infinity Man and the Forever People v1 #9) Within the Wall was pure Source energy the likes of which had not been seen since the beginning of the universe. (Genesis v1 #3)
It was the Limit even to Thought and beyond which lied only the Monitor-mind, the Source and the Unknowable. (The Multiversity v1 #1) Beyond the Wall was said to be raw primordial power that was infinite in scope that was needed to be kept at bay to preserve the universe. (Titans v3 #31)
As the universe was always shifting, it meant that the coordinates for a single spot on the Source Wall was not possible as it was always in a state of constant flux. (Superman/Batman v1 #41)
During their long captivity, the Prometheans had learnt to harness the Source allowing them to be where, when and whatever they wished. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #12)
Inhabitants
- Prodigian :
- Ligea :
- Eve : a mysterious female being trapped within the Source Wall till she was freed by Manchester Black who used her powers to alter reality. (Justice League Elite v1 #9)
- Yuga Khan :
- Darkseid :
Notes
- The Source was created by Jack Kirby where it made its first appearance in New Gods v1 #1 (March, 1971).
- On Comic Book Legends, its stated that whilst the Source Wall was seen in Jack Kirby's New Gods it was actually created by Walt Simonson and Chris Claremont in the DC/Marvel cross-over event Uncanny X-Men/New Teen Titans.
- Simonson provided an account on the CBR forums:
- "The Source Wall as it is currently understood visually in the DCU first appeared in the X/Titans crossover. ...the Wall as such did not appear in Kirby's New Gods.
- What did appear was a four page introductory sequence in New Gods #5 in which Metron, using his Mobius Chair, explores the 'Final Barrier'. 'And somewhere beyond--lies the Source: the greatest of mysteries.' An additional description suggests that this is the Promethian Galaxy—a place of giants—where 'all roads to the Source come to an end'. Visually, there's a double page shot of a giant strapped to an enormous piece of Kirby debris. There's another panel with a large head of a female who tried to achieve 'the maximum state'. And failed. And, in the text, Metron notes that 'beyond all the knowledge and sweeping concept at our command, the mystery of the Source lies--serene--omnipotent--all-wise.
- There is, however, no shot of a 'Source Wall' as such. No final visual barrier beyond which an entity may not venture. No wall full of entities who tried to breach the final barrier and failed and became subsumed within the Wall.
- Chris and I invented that notion--and its visualization--for the X/Titans book, clearly extrapolating from what Jack had done.
- The neatest part of the invention is that apparently, the notion of the Wall and its execution were such a perfect fit for the existing New Gods mythology that folks don't really remember exactly where it came from."
Alternate Versions
- In Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman v1 #1 (2019), an alternate reality was shown to exist within the Dark Multiverse showed a universe where the Black Lantern Corps dominated the cosmos. To end the undead scourge, Mister Miracle decided to use the power of the Source hidden behind the Source Wall as its random chaotic energy was the force of creation that was the antithesis of Nekron. He created the Resurrection Harness and intended to use Dove as a vessel for this power where they were accompanied by Sinestro and Lobo. However, at the last moment, Scott Free fell to the temptation of having his wife Barda back to life and ended up killing Dove. He was then killed by Lobo with Sinestro deciding to use the energy to create a new race from Lobo's body that would hunt down the Black Lanterns which were created from the resultant creation wave released from the Source Wall.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, the Source Wall appears in the final episode of the series named "Destroyer". At the time, a resurrected Darkseid had attacked Earth with the forces of Apokolips in order to get revenge against Superman. During the battle, Lex Luthor could see he could not defeat the villainous New God but encounters Metron who he forces to reveal a means in defeating Darkseid. Metron comments that this would be the Anti-Life Equation that resided at the Source Wall and takes Luthor to it on his Mobius Chair. They arrive at the Wall where Metron says that it would take only a twelfth-level intellect being the only one to survive the experience. Luthor simply threw himself into the Wall whereby he enters into the Source and gains the Anti-Life Equation which he offers to Darkseid leading to both of them disappearing thus ending the invasion.
- In Young Justice, the Source Wall appeared in the animated television series third season "Outsiders". It was shown that Metron observed the attacks by Apokolips whilst at the Source Wall. Afterwards, the Team looked to find a means of curing Cyborg of his Father Box that was attempting to take over his body with the Forever People suggesting using Metron's Mobius Chair. Thus, volunteers used a Mother Box that transported them to the Source Wall where they sought out Metron and followed him across the universe via Boom Tubes.
Appearances
- New Gods:
- Genesis v1:
- Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1:
- Justice League Elite v1:
- Superman/Batman v1:
- Countdown v1: #39
- Green Lantern:
- Green Lantern: New Guardians:
- Red Lanterns v1: #24 (2013)
- Justice League: No Justice v1:
- Justice League v4:
- Justice League Annual v4:
External Link
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