The Cosmic Treadmill
From Cassius Comics
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| The Cosmic Treadmill (Pencils by Howard Porter) |
First Appearance: "The Flash" #125.
Created By: John Broome (writer) and Carmine Infantino (artist).
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History
After involuntarily vibrating into the distant past, The Flash (Barry Allen) created a cosmic radiation-powered treadmill that would allow him to break through to other times by running at his fastest speeds. By maintaining a specific internal vibration Allen could remain in that era for as long as he wanted, before returning home by simply relaxing his internal muscles. Allen used the treadmill to visit a number of different time periods, including the 25th Century, where he first encountered Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne), and the 3oth Century, where he was reunited with his missing wife Iris West. On many of these journeys, Allen was accompanied by his sidekick, Iris' nephew Wally West, then known as Kid Flash.
Following Allen's death, Wally became the new Flash, and the Treadmill was inducted into the Flash Museum as a central exhibit; this was perhaps an unwise decision, as the still-functional treadmill allowed Thawne to travel back in time to the present day. When the future Flash John Fox traveled to the present day for the first time, he modified the Treadmill to act as a regular time machine; Its users no longer needed to regulate their molecular vibrations to stay in any specific time. For his part, West rarely used the treadmill following the death of his mentor, and after connecting further with The Speed Force, he gained the power to travel through time on his own.
Some time later, police profiler and Flash ally Hunter Zolomon was crippled from the waist down by Gorilla Grodd. Zolomon begged West to use the treadmill to travel back in time to prevent the attack from happening, but West refused, fearing the damage he could potentially cause to the very fabric of time itself. Undaunted, Zolomon snuck into the Flash Museum after hours and attempted to activate the treadmill himself. The treadmill exploded, destroying the Museum, while Zolomon received the brunt of the blast, and was bathed in the cosmic radiation that had fueled the device. He soon discovered that the blast had given him time displacing powers that let him simulate the effects of super-speed; he was also driven completely insane. Determined to make the Flash a stronger hero by exposing him to personal tragedy, Zolomon became Zoom, and began a campaign of terror against West and his loved ones.
Zolomon eventually rebuilt the treadmill and, drawing power from a helpless Jay Garrick, used it to bring Thawne to the present day. Together, Thawne and Zolomon beat West back and forth across time, forcing him to repeatedly relive a previous attack on his wife, Linda Park. West was saved at the last moment by Barry Allen, who traveled back from the 30th Century on a second Cosmic Treadmill (arriving from a point in his life shortly before his own death). Allen dragged Thawne back into the future on his treadmill, while West destroyed the treadmill built by Zolomon.
There is currently no working Cosmic Treadmill in the present day, though a non-functional duplicate may have been commissioned for the rebuilt Flash Museum.
Abilities
Using The Cosmic Treadmill, a person capable of moving at superhuman speeds can further amplify their powers to the point that they can travel through time, either backwards or forwards. Though in the past the treadmill's user would have to consciously vibrate their body's molecules at a specific rate to remain in the new time period, this is no longer the case following modifications to the treadmill done by John Fox.
Trivia
The Cosmic Treadmill can briefly be seen in Wally West's room in the "Justice League Unlimited" episode Flash and Substance.
Alternate Realities
Pre-Crisis
Prior to The Crisis, the Cosmic Treadmill was located on Earth-1. In addition to time travel, the Pre-Crisis treadmill could also be used to traverse dimensions. The treadmill was last seen in the final days of the Crisis, when Jay Garrick, Wally West and the Supermen of Earth-1 and Earth-2 (Kal-El and Kal-L) used it to search in vain for Earth-2, which had been merged with Earth-1 and three other worlds to create a new, unified world.
Links
Profiles
