Mother Box
A Mother Box is a highly advanced computer that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
During the Genesis event, the Godwave threatened to destroy all of creation and bring about the emergence of the Fifth World. As a result, numerous superpowered beings were suffering from fluctuations from their power as the Godwave was doubling back on itself. It was during this crisis that Highfather arrived to the heroes of Earth and explained to them the crisis affecting the universe. He had the artisans of New Genesis craft special Mother Boxes that would maintain a connection to the Source thus allowing their wearer to retain their powers. However, as the interference from the Godwave grew, it would eventually overpower the Mother Box's affect thus making them useless in time. (Genesis v1 #2)
After his resurrection, Superman was attacked by a doppelganger of himself and came to question his own existence. He believed one of his enemies was responsible and decided to check on Brainiac who was being held by the New Gods of New Genesis. To achieve that end, he consulted with Dr. Emil Hamilton about repairing the Mother Box that had healed him in the fight with Doomsday but the sentient computer had spent its power leaving it inert. Hamilton managed to infuse it with some power restoring it temporarily to life whereupon Superman used it to open a Boom Tube to New Genesis. When he arrived, Highfather was waiting for him as Izaya's own Mother Box had notified him of Superman's impending arrival. A Mother Box security system was used to monitor the unconscious Brainiac when the alarm in Metron's laboratory sounded due to the Atom hiding on Superman's cape in his shrunken state. Afterwards, Superman checked on Brainiac but only saw his foe detained and in a coma-like state which meant he was not responsible for the doppelganger and he returned to Earth to find the person responsible.(Superman v2 #95) Whilst in the past, the Legion of Super-Heroes came into possession of a Mother Box and sought to use it to find a means back to their time. This saw him combining the Mother Box with one of Will Magnus's Responsometers where they combined with the digital Magnus to form C.O.M.P.U.T.O. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #98)
During the Mageddon crisis, Mother Box technology was used to bolster the communication system of Earth and help the planet's heroes in defeating the weapon that threatened to destroy the world. (JLA v1 #39) Big Barda provided Superman with one such device in order for Kal-El, Linda Danvers, Superboy and Kara Zor-El to reach Apokolips so that they could John Henry Irons. With the Eradicators aid, they linked Superboy with the Mother Box to augment his telekinetic powers to create a shield around Apokolips. (Superman vs. Darkseid Apokolips Now v1 #1)
They were reported to had featured heavily in abduction stories with one of these support groups headed by an individual called Dave Lincoln who had met the New Gods of New Genesis. This information would later be available on the internet and became one of the key resource sites on Earth that had detailed knowledge on the New Gods. (Blue Beetle v8 #11)
La Dama was known to had acquired a Mother Box as part of her collection of artifacts with this relic's unknown owner having been killed at some unspecified point. Whilst there, Brenda accidently activated it and was transported to Devilance the Pursuer trap-world and later followed by Blue Beetle Jamie Reyes. Ultimately, they would travel back to Earth with the aid of Lonar and Metron of the New Gods help. During their short time, Reyes was taught the words needed to cause the Mother Box to disintegrate into dust thus leaving the relic in La Dama's collection being lost. (Blue Beetle v8 #14)
Funky Flashman somehow came into possession of a Mother Box that remained as one of the few tangible links to the Fourth World after the death of the New Gods. This led to Red Robin and Superboy apprehending him where Tim Drake intended to fix the Mother Box to open a Boom Tube to New Genesis in order to find out the fate of Batman after it was believed he was killed by Darkseid. (Adventure Comics v2 #3)
New 52
Following the Flashpoint, a new timeline was created with a different history of events.
A Mother Box was present on Earth which was being studied at S.T.A.R. Labs. In this time, it was being studied by Silas Stone, Anthony Ivo, Sarah Charles, T. O. Morrow, and Will Magnus at a time when Darkseid along with his forces began invading the planet. During the experiment, Victor Stone was caught in the lab explosion of the Mother Box which infused his body and left him badly burnt. Thus, Stone was forced to use cybernetics to keep him alive and he developed a connection to the Mother Boxes. Ultimately, the newly assembled Justice League of America were only able to defeat Darkseid with the aid of Cyborg who tapped into his connection with the Mother Boxes and activated them to force all the evil New Gods into Boom Tubes back to Apokolips. (Justice League) From one of the Parademons, Batman would acquire a Mother Box which he would keep it within the Batcave. (Batman and Robin v2 #33)
After the defeat of Darkseid, a Mother Box was acquired by Batman who extracted the a piece of the sentient alien circuitry and implanted it into his satellite Brother Eye. (DC Universe Presents v1 #0) One of the Female Furies named Leilani Lugo was sent to track down Kevin Kho as she sensed a Mother Box in his possession. However, Brother Eye refused to do so and had O.M.A.C. attack her. (O.M.A.C. v3) One such Box was kept within a stored chamber within the Batcave alongside other tools to use against the Justice League if they ever went evil. These tools became useful when the Crime Syndicate of Amerika came to Earth and took control over the world. With Catwoman by his side, Batman looked for weapons to use against these supervillains and took the Mother Box as a possible tool against Grid. However, he was unable to get it to work and reasoned that he could at least use it's transportation capabilities. (Forever Evil v1 #4)
When forces of Darkseid took Damian Wayne's body, Batman decided to travel to Apokolips through the Mother Box in his possession after equipping himself with the Hell-Bat armor. (Batman and Robin v2 #33) The Oan Quaros managed to discover a Mother Box but he was captured by the Psions where the High integrated it into his own body. Ultimately, Quaros killed himself and destroyed the Psion vessel to stop their experiments from hurting others though the Mother Box managed to survive where it drifted in space. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34) Doctor Fate would seek out the Mother Box that was in the hands of Earth-2's version of Jimmy Olsen and sought out its mate. It was speculated by Dr. Charles Grayson that the Helm of Nabu was a type of Mother Box that combined with the other in an act of procreation which would elevate Olsen into a god. (Earth 2: World's End v1 #7)
After Darkseid's death, the horde of Parademons that served him went wild and departed Apokolips as they sought a new master with them taking the Mother Box that guided them. They sought the greatest source of energy in the universe with this being the Central Power Battery on Oa. After defeating the Green Lantern Corps, they learnt that the energy of willpower from it was directionless and required a will to guide it. Thus, they attached the Mother Box to the Central Power Battery and began forcing the Green Lanterns into it to get one to accept the burdens of godhood in order to guide them. Each Corpsmen refused and were instead converted into a Parademon leaving Hal Jordan the only Green Lantern left. He accepted the role becoming the new god of light and used mother ring to reverse time to stop the destruction caused by the Parademons as well as take away his new divinity making him normal again. (Justice League - Darkseid War: Green Lantern v1 #1)
A damaged Mother Box was recovered by the C.I.A. that was missing some vital code with it being kept in a stasis field to keep it stable. It was later taken to S.T.A.R. Labs to be used to repair the body of the dying agent Scarlett Taylor with Cyborg aiding in the task. This led to her transformation into a female cyborg that also repaired her injuries. (Cyborg v2 #5)
Overview
Mother Boxes were creations of the New Gods that were similar to a computer but were in fact alive and communed with their user as well as sought to protect them. (Forever People v1 #1) This form of electronic life was used for a variety of goals ranging from communicator to healer. (Justice League of America v1 #183) A Mother Box computer sought to do actions that were beneficial to their user. (New Gods v1 #2) They were the only objects in the world that could access the energy of the Source. (Justice League - Darkseid War: Green Lantern v1 #1) It was claimed that they were ten thousand generations more advanced than the most sophisticated computers on modern age Earth. They were self-aware living machines crafted by New Genesis and considered toys by the New Gods. (JLA v1 #11) A Mother Box was described as being the ultimate living computer who were able to communicate important news to their users. (Superman vs. Doomsday: Hunter Prey v1 #2) A critical component of these machines was a sentient alien circuitry that was capable of being extracted. (DC Universe Presents v1 #0)
From their link to the Source, they were able to obtain Omni-knowledge allowing them to understand everything and anything. A wide range of powers were demonstrated that included telepathy, teleportation, energy manipulation and energy transference. (Justice League - Darkseid War: Green Lantern v1 #1) These miniature quasi-sentient computers were able to create teleportational vortices namely Boom Tubes that allowed access to the outer universe making them the only means to access Apokolips and New Genesis. (Cosmic Odyssey v1) Analysis indicated that these artifacts developed a slow charge and were unable to make multiple Boom Tubes with the process only capable of being achieved once every few hours. (Blue Beetle v8 #12) A Mother Box was able to enhance primitive teleport technology and upgrade them to achieve transtemporal travel. (JLA v1 #11)
A Mother Box was linked to the universe's positive energy namely the Source. (Mister Miracle v3 #7) They were known to hold thought patterns which was an indication of it being a living entity. It was capable of communicating through information but a voice when interfaced with other technological devices such as a Reach Scarab. (Blue Beetle v8 #11)
These devices had a number of abilities that included:
- Through its atom-weaving skill, it could change the facial features of a person or undo the process by re-shifting the atoms. (New Gods v1 #3)
- Sharing the visual senses of one person with another. (New Gods v1 #2)
- It was able to jam the mechanisms of weapons causing them blow up. (New Gods v1 #3)
Specially crafted Mother Boxes were able to allow their user to retain their superpowers when affected by the universe affecting Godwave but would eventually themselves become powerless as their signal to the Source was drowned by great levels of interference. (Genesis v1 #2) It was equably capable of amplifying and augmenting the powers of a superpowered being. (Superman vs. Darkseid Apokolips Now v1 #1) Apokolips were able to construct a Jammer device that was able to shield individuals from the scans of Mother Box and making them invisible to her. (New Gods v1 #4)
They were in fact classed as being sentient and said to be bonded to one owner who was a member of the New Gods. Their sentience meant that they were capable of feeling grief and mourned trauma or death of their owners. These devices were capable of self-destructing when given the order to do so. If given, they emitted a loud "Ping!" before erupting in a large scale of light whereupon they disintegrated into dust. (Blue Beetle v8 #12) They were equably capable of feeling uncomfortable when facing certain forms of danger. (Superman vs. Doomsday: Hunter Prey v1 #1) A last service they performed for their user if they were killed was returning them to the Source. (New Gods v1 #4) A damaged Mother Box required pure love given to it in order to bring it back to life with their user pouring their feelings and emotions into the artifact to accomplish this act. (Mister Miracle v3 #2)
Other versions that have appeared in various timelines include:
- Ancestor Box : a version created by Darkseid during the Final Crisis and contained the "hyper-adapter". It said that Omega is the death that gives and gives forever with it being tailor-made to create an unbeatable life trap for its intended target. This sent an enemy of Darkseid to fall through time and reshape their history to destroy them by turning real events or individuals into myths or distorted versions of their real selves. Darkseid unleashed this weapon on Batman during the Final Crisis which send him into the past and led the world to think that the Dark Knight was killed by the dark god. (Batman v1 #702)
- Anti-Mother Box : this variant was created by Darkseid that resembled a hexagonal Mother Box darker in color with four spikes in the surface corners. This version was filled with blue destructive energy as it had the power to destroy other Mother Boxes with wearers linked to such artifacts dying as their souls died with the machine itself. Darkseid used this Anti-Mother Box against Kal-El and Orion; killing the latter as he was linked to his Mother Box but the former managed to survive the energy blast. (Elseworlds Superman: The Dark Side)
- Baby Box : a modular Mother Box that served as a link to their parent and allowed the users to home in on the primary ones signal. (JLA v1 #12)
- Genesis Box : a version created by Orion after he was depowered in a dark alternate future where Darkseid conquered the Earth and became the master of the universe. In this reality, the last remnants of the Justice League battled Darkseid with most being killed but not before they paralysed Darkseid when Atom entered into his brain. This distraction allowed Orion to activate the Genesis Box that created an energy wave that swept across all of space, reducing creation to energy so it could be reborn again but tihs time without the taint of Darkseid. (JLA v1 #14)
- Grandmother Box : in actuality Granny Goodness in an alternate timeline where she invaded the core softdrive of New Genesis where her body was destroyed and became a large humanoid mobile Mother Box that was pitiless instead of life-giving. (JLA v1 #13)
Users
- Barbara Gordon : during the Mageddon crisis, Barbara's computers were destroyed by Prometheus but she was provided a Mother Box by Metron who in turn received it from Orion whereby the living machine bonded with Oracle's computer and upgraded it with digital telepathy so she could direct the worlds heroes. (JLA v1 #38-39)
- Kindred Marx : was given a Mother Box during the Genesis event and attempted to use it as a navigation tool for his teleportation powers but the Godwave had removed the handstamps needed for his ability thus preventing him from using it to send wounded heroes back to Earth for medical treatment. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #14) He retained the Mother Box which he used to restart the rave at the Event Horizon club which allowed him to locate anyone in the universe. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #15)
- Aura : Marx's Mother Box later left his care after he discovered Kindred Sol and passed to Aura where it was believed that the living computer thought she had greater need of it. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #19)
- La Dama : the El Paso crime lord managed to acquire a Mother Box from an unknown source but did not know its origins, secrets or the power to access it until her niece Brenda accidently activated it causing her to be deposited on a distant world. (Blue Beetle v8 #9-#10) Lonar later instructed Jamie Reyes on causing the Mother Box to disintegrate as it was in pain after being separated from its original owner. (Blue Beetle v8 #11-#12)
- Captain Marvel : a group in Washington managed to retrieve a Mother Box from Intergang but failed to get it operational whereupon it was given temporarily to Captain Marvel who managed to activate the device which opened a Boom Tube to Venus. This allowed Captain Marvel to conduct a rescue mission to retrieve the astronauts on the Freya III and also advised him of danger when he arrived on the planet. (The Power of Shazam! v1 #15)
- Iron Man : when Krona caused two universes to collide, Metron met with the Avengers of the alternate dimension where he provided Tony Stark a Mother Box to aid them on their quest. According to Stark, the device was alive and spoke to both his armor as well as his heart where it provided them Boom Tube capabilities to travel between the universes. (JLA/Avengers)
- Superman : after learning of Doomsday on Apokolips, Superman asked Oberon for a star map to the dark planet with Kal-El being provided a Mother Box from Scott Free and Big Barda in order to aid in his journey to Darkseid's home world. (Superman vs. Doomsday: Hunter Prey v1 #1)
- Scarecrow : Jonathan Crane was provided a Mother Box by DeSaad who used it to deliver test subjects that included Superman to the Apokoliptian. During a confrontation with Batman, the Dark Knight managed to snatch it from Scarecrow and used it to reach Tartaros to find the captive Superman. (Superman/Batman v1 #39)
- Lex Luthor : gained a Mother Box after briefly becoming the God of Apokolips with the device stating 'Lex' instead of its traditional 'Ping' sound with it operating in his new War Suit as he became Superman. (Justice League v2 #50)
Notes
- Mother Box was created by Jack Kirby and made its first appearance in Forever People v1 #1 (March 1971).
- In Ame-Comi v1 #14, Alana Strange and the scientists of Rann use a device callled a Mother Box to engineer a New God by the name of Metra who was created with the purpose of battling Sinestra and her undead army. In Ame-Comi v1 issue #16, its described as being an incubational Mother Box by Alana Strange.
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, Mother Box made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, Mother Boxes make a number of appearances in the series starting with the episode "Tools of the Trade" though it was unnamed when Kanto uses it to escape Earth via a Boom Tube with Bruno Mannheim following him to Apokolips. It was named in the episode "Apokolips... Now!" when Orion comes to Earth looking for Superman and had his Mother Box recount the origins of the New Gods to him.
- In Batman Beyond, it would make an appearance in the episode "The Call" where Barda uses it to open a Boom Tube to transport the star-fish shaped aliens to their homeworld.
- In Justice League Unlimited, it would make an appearance in the episode "Twilight" where Darkseid betrays Brainiac after helping the mechanical supervillain defeat the Justice League. He would use a Mother Box to take control of Brainiac's systems at his asteroid base in order to reshape the universe according to his will. Orion would use a Mother Box to open a Boom Tube to follow Darkseid to battle him on the asteroid but would be defeated as the asteroid base was going to be destroyed. Superman would battle Darkseid intending to kill the villainous New God and destroyed his Mother Box to prevent his escape. However, Batman used a Mother Box to forcibly open a Boom Tube sending the unconscious Orion through it and forcing Superman through it leaving Darkseid to die as the asteroid was destroyed. In "Question Authority", Superman and Captain Atom would both battle Mantis who had arrived on Earth to conquer it. Superman would take Mantis's Mother Box to force him through a Boom Tube back to Apokolips after which he destroyed the New God device.
- In Young Justice, a Mother Box makes an appearance in the episode "Disordered" where its in possession of the Forever People. They use it to summon Boom Tubes, track New Genesis technology and summon Infinity Man. By the end of the episode, they use it to heal the New Geneisphere after she had suffered serious damage in the battle against Intergang and Desaad.
- In Justice League: Gods and Monster Chronicles, Mother Box was mentioned in the episode "Big". It was used by Bekka of the New Gods who was this worlds version of Wonder Woman. She used it to track down Steve Trevor to rescue him after he was captured by Kobra forces.
Film
- The Superman/Batman: Apocalypse animated film showcased a Mother Box in the possession of Big Barda which was why Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman seek her out in order to rescue the kidnapped Kara Zor-El from Darkseid. Once they meet her, Superman requests the usage of the device to travel to Apokolips through a Boom Tube and later arrive in their coordinates. Following her rescue, Darkseid arrives on Earth to get revenge on Superman for his defeat and seemingly badly wounded Supergirl. However, during the fighting, the Mother Box had fallen and the distraction of the fight with Superman allowed Kara to reprogram the device to create a Boom Tube to send Darkseid not back to Apokolips but somewhere in deep space where he was meant to had been stranded.
- In Justice League: War, Mother Box technology was being deployed by infiltrating Parademons who were preparing the invasion of the planet. A number of the boxes were placed at select sites such as in Metropolis, Central City, Coast City and Gotham with Green Lantern's Power Ring unable to determine their functioning though Batman concluded that they operated more like computers than bombs. One was recovered by Batman whilst Flash took another to S.T.A.R. Labs for study by Silas Stone. The others were activated leading to Boom Tubes being created bringing in Apokolip's invasion forces of Parademons. During its activation, one Box was in the hands of Victor Stone leading to him being badly wounded and forcing his father Silas Stone to use cybernetics to transform him into a Cyborg. His newfound cybernetics gave him a intimate link to machinery that allowed him to communicate with a Mother Box to learn of Darkseid and even create Boom Tubes to send the Apokoliptian invasion forces back to their world. Whilst the Parademons were returned, Darkseid himself managed to resist the Boom Tube with the Mother Box lacking the power to force him back. This was until Shazam sent his magical lightning to empower the device thus defeating Darkseid with Cyborg stating that the Mother Box technology had been fried which would prevent a further invasion from Apokolips.
- In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Mother Boxes made an appearance in part of the setting. During her wedding to Orion, Bekka was gifted by him with the Wonder Sword that had a Mother Box in its hilt to spirit her to safety in case he could not protect her. Will Magnus secretly had managed to create three Mother Boxes that he implanted in three of his Metal Men that afforded them Boom Tube capabilities that they used to murder the scientists of Project: Fair Play. The three Metal Men with a Mother Box later merged into a single unit who used their Mother Box to tactically fight Superman until he used his heat vision to remove the devices whereupon the Kryptonian defeated the machine.
Video games
- A Mother Box features heavily in the plotline for Justice League: Heroes video game. Within the game, the Mother Box was described by John Stewart as a mini-computer that was so intelligent that it was alive. The use of a Mother Box with that of a Sensory Matrix Field Generator allowed a user to reshape an entire planet to their will. The Green Lantern expressed some doubt though on whether Brainiac was smart enough to completely reprogram the machine. While it was bound to serve its controller, the Box did have its own agendas and was capable of leaving subtle clues to aid others. This made it capable of tricking its master though in actual affect, the Mother Box possessed its own agenda. The Justice League held a Mother Box in their Watchtower base where it was heavily protected. Brainiac used a number of disasters around the Earth as a distraction in order to enter the Watchtower and steal the Mother Box. Once stolen, it left a trail for the Justice League to follow in order to retrieve the Box once more. This was because it was afraid of what Brainiac wanted to use it for. Brainiac had been guided to steal the Mother Box by a mysterious voice he heared from a meteor fragment. After being defeated by the League, Brainiac seemed to come back to life; reborn. However, a moment later, he disappeared and was replaced by a reconstituted Darkseid who had been manipulating him all along in order to free himself from his extradimensional prison. Using the Mother Box with a Sensory Matrix Field Generator, Darkseid reformed the planet Earth into a New Apokolips. The Justice League were seemingly killed by Darkseids Omega Beams but the Mother Box saved them by transporting them to another dimension with subtle clues on how to get back. Furthermore, the Mother Box had sent them to another dimension in order for the Green Lantern John Stewart to gather ambient energy waves which he distributed to his comrades to protect them from further Omega Beam attacks.
Appearances
- Forever People v1:
- Genesis v1 #2:
- Superman vs. Doomsday: Hunter Prey v1 #1:
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #14:
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #15:
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #19:
- JLA v1 #11:
- JLA v1 #13:
- JLA v1 #14: "Rock of Ages, Part 5 Twilight of the Gods"
- Superman vs. Darkseid Apokolips Now v1 #1:
- Blue Beetle v8 #9:
- Blue Beetle v8 #10:
- Blue Beetle v8 #11:
- Blue Beetle v8 #12:
- Superman/Batman v1 #39: "Torment, Part 3: Helpless" (2007)
- Adventure Comics v2 #3: (2010)
- DC Universe Presents v1 #0: "Origins Matter After Cancellation" (2012)
- Infinity Man and the Forever People v1:
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