Cosmic treadmill
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In DC Comics publications, the cosmic treadmill is a time travel device that was invented by Barry Allen, the second Flash. It has been a key plot element in numerous stories featuring both Barry Allen and Wally West.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins
The treadmill was first seen in The Flash #125 written by John Broome. It was initially developed as a means of allowing Barry Allen to precisely travel through time.
[edit] Pre-Crisis
The treadmill appeared in a handful of stories, notably allowing Barry Allen to travel to the 25th century and meet Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne).
In its last appearance before the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry used it to relocate to the 30th Century to be reunited with his wife, Iris West.
The treadmill appeared during the Crisis as well, in issue 11. Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash), Kid Flash, Golden Age Superman and Silver Age Superman attempted to travel to Earth-Two to allow Kal-L to return home. Instead of finding Earth-Two, there was simply a void, a consequence of the multiverse collapsing into a single universe.
[edit] Post-Crisis
The treadmill has appeared several times since the Crisis, during Wally West's time as the Flash.
The first significant appearance of the treadmill was in Flash #79, when it was revealed that a man previously thought to be Barry Allen was in fact Professor Zoom, who had traveled back in time and lost his memory. This was Professor Zoom's first trip through time. The battle also released Wally's previous block on his speed.
The treadmill was a key element during the Chain Lightning storyarc featured in Flash# 145-150, which involved heavy use of time-travel in order to defeat the legacy of Cobalt Blue.
Hunter Zolomon attempted to use the treadmill in Flash #196 in order to travel back through time and prevent the events that had left him a parapalegic. The attempt proved disastrous as the treadmill exploded, destroying itself and the Flash Museum while also shifting Zolomon to a different timeline. Zolomon subsequently became Zoom, the third Reverse-Flash.
The treadmill last appeared--rebuilt by Zoom and powered by Jay Garrick--during the Rogue War storyarc featured in Flash# 220-225. Zoom (Zolomon) used it in order to bring Professor Zoom (Thawne) back from the future. Wally was assisted by Barry Allen, who took Professor Zoom back to his rightful place in the timeline. The treadmill was seemingly destroyed during the fight between Zoom and Wally.
[edit] Abilities
The cosmic treadmill allows any being with super-speed to precisely travel time, and pre-Crisis it allowed travel between the multiple Earths. The treadmill works by generating vibrations that will shift the user into a specific time. The vibrations require a high amount of speed to generate, and attempts to use the treadmill without it have proved dangerous. Initially, the vibrations had to be kept up, or one would fade back into the time from whence they came. This was fixed by John Fox in Flash #112.
Since the treadmill needs a speedster in order to function, in many stories a working one can be found inside the Flash Museum. Since few people have the speed to have it work, it is usually seen as an exhibit, though at times it has been stored in the archives.
[edit] Selected bibliography
Silver Age/Bronze Age
- The Flash #125 (December 1961): “The Conquerors of Time” written by John Broome, art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.
- The Flash #139 (September 1963): “Menace of the Reverse-Flash!” written by John Broome. art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.
- The Flash #350 (October 1985): “Flash Flees,” written by Cary Bates, art by Carmine Infantino and Frank McLaughlin.
Modern Age
- Flash #79 (August 1993): “The Once and Future Flash”, written by Mark Waid, art by Greg LaRocque and Roy Richardson.
- Flash #112 (April 1996): “Future Perfect,” written by Mark Waid, art by Anthony Castrillo and Hanibal Rodriguez.
- Flash #145–150 (February–July 1999): “Chain Lightning”, written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn, art by Paul Pelletier and Vince Russell.
- Flash #196 (May 2003): “Helpless”, written by Geoff Johns, art by Paul Winslade.
- Flash #220 (May-October 2005) "Rouge's War", written by Geoff Johns, art by Howard Porter and Livesay.
