Mother box

Mother boxes are fictional devices in Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting in the DC Universe.

History

Created by Apokoliptian scientist Himon using the mysterious "Element X", they are generally thought to be sentient, miniaturized, portable supercomputers, although their true nature and origins are unknown. They possess wondrous powers and abilities not understood even by their users, the Gods of New Genesis. These range from teleportation (they can summon Boom Tubes) to energy manipulation. Mother boxes have been seen healing the injured, including Darkseid himself, after he was beaten by Doomsday. Metron stated that each mother box shares "a mystical rapport with nature." They provide their owner with unconditional love and self-destruct when their owner dies.

Mother boxes have sacrificed themselves for causes they have believed in and are greatly respected by the people of New Genesis. In physical appearance they are most often in the shape of a small box, but they can also be much larger (as is the one carried by the Forever People), and do not always need to be in the shape of a box at all (Mr. Miracle had mother box circuitry woven into the hood of his costume). They usually communicate with a repetitive "ping!" which can be understood by their users.

Powers and abilities

*Mother boxes can access the energy of the Source for various effects; they can change the gravitational constant of an area, transfer energy from one place to another, control the mental state of a host, communicate telepathically with a host or other life form, manipulate the life-force of a host to sustain it past fatal injuries, openCite comic | Writer = Jurgens, Dan | Penciller = Jurgens, Dan | Inker = Breeding, Brett | Title = Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey | Issue = 1 | Date = 1994 | Publisher = DC Comics | Page = 44] and close boom tubes, take over and control non-sentient machines, evolve non-sentient machines, merge sentient beings into a single more powerful being, sustain a life form in a hostile environment such as space, and do many other things. Mother boxes have an affinity for the Source and are believed to draw their power from it. In that sense, they can be seen as a computer that links man to God.
*To the New Gods, they are common appliances (used much like a PDA on Earth), in as much as a sentient device can be called an "appliance". Other DC characters are given access to them at specific times, when they are in need of aid. Notably, Superman was given one when he went in pursuit of Doomsday, which managed to open boom tubes to take Superman to Apokalips, heal Darkseid (when Superman needed his foe's aid against the Cyborg Superman after he'd taken a serious beating from Doomsday), [Cite comic | Writer = Jurgens, Dan | Penciller = Jurgens, Dan | Inker = Breeding, Brett | Title = Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey | Issue = 2 | Date = 1994 | Publisher = DC Comics | Page = 11 ] give Superman a power boost to battle Doomsday in the form of various high-tech weapons such as an ultrasonics gun and a laser sword, [Cite comic | Writer = Jurgens, Dan | Penciller = Jurgens, Dan | Inker = Breeding, Brett | Title = Superman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey | Issue = 3 | Date = 1994 | Publisher = DC Comics | Page = 4 ] used Waverider's gauntlet to send Doomsday to the end of the universe, and healed Superman's injuries (Simultaneously restoring his original clothes) at the end of the battle, although this last act drained it of power.
*It should be noted that mother boxes can only be manufactured by a being born either on New Genesis or Apokolips, and not all of them can do it (at least one on Apokolips failed). This is accomplished through much training. It is implied in the books that the maker's character influenced the successful construction of a mother box. This applied to all the "Fourth World" books created, written, and drawn by comic legend Jack Kirby. Later writers contradictely altered the fabrication and capabilities of the mother box to include its making, and usage to humans and beings from other worlds.

Notable users and usage

* Noted mother boxes include those of Mister Miracle and Shilo Norman; the mother box of the Forever People, which can summon the Infinity-Man; and the mother box used by Captain Marvel to access the magic lightning when the wizard Shazam was on New Genesis.
* Orion has a mother box which controls his rage and bestial appearance, but it has been removed several times: once when it was used by Steel as a means of blocking a telepathic probe on the planet Rann- Orion was so enraged by his current capture that it was unable to block his thoughts due to it expending so much energy simply trying to calm him down- and also when Metron gave it to Oracle during the Mageddon crisis, where it bonded with her computers to allow her to telepathically connect with the minds of every person on the planet. During Walt Simonson's "Orion" series it seemingly died, and he used a unique Apokaliptian father box instead. This box communicated by going "ting!" rather than "ping!", and was designed to turn him towards Darkseid.
* Iron Man was given a mother box by Metron in the "JLA/Avengers" mini-series. He used it to predict the JLA's moves and had it interface with his own armor.
* In Grant Morrison's "Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle" storyline, only one mother box has survived the destruction of New Genesis. It is owned by Shilo Norman, the third Mister Miracle, who sometimes calls it "motherboxxx".
* In the current "Blue Beetle" title, a story arc centered around a mother box and the New Gods Lonar and Metron. The mother box is allegedly mourning its master and teleports the user to the homeworld/trap planet of Devilance the Pursuer.
* In the video game "Justice League Heroes", Brainiac steals a mother box from the Watchtower for Darkseid, but the game presents the device visually as larger and cube-shaped with a single red eye. It is far more powerful as well, transforming Earth into a New Apokolips and back at a whim.
* In the "Starman" series, Ted Knight was lent a Mother Box by Orion to be incorporated, along with Kitty Faulkner's energy-detecting technology, into the spaceship his son Jack used to track down a former Starman, Will Payton. This mother box was destroyed along with the spaceship by missiles fired from Throneworld. A notable feature of this Mother Box was the fact Ted Knight's consciousness was apparently copied and served as the Box's consciousness, as well as creating a holographic image of Knight to aid Jack.

Grandmother box

In the possible future seen in the "JLA: Rock of Ages" storyline (also by Grant Morrison), Darkseid relates how Granny Goodness and her forces attacked the central computer intelligence on New Genesis and how her mind became a part of the mother boxes, which were then transformed into an insane sentient computer called the "grandmother box" or more commonly "granny box".

Father box

* The father box, an Apokoliptian version of a mother box, first appeared in the "Orion" series by Simonson in 2000. Darkseid’s former aide Mortalla presents Orion with an Apokoliptian father box.
* In Grant Morrison's "Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle" storyline, a father box is mentioned as one of the "Seven Treasures" the New Gods left to the Earth's first superhero. It came in the form of two dice. It was called "the Foundation Stone of Manhattan" in "Manhattan Guardian" and "Croatoan" in "Klarion". Eventually, it was stolen by Klarion the Witch Boy, who took it to the future.
* In "Justice League of America" (vol. 2) #1 by Brad Meltzer, a villain named Dr. Impossible uses a father box to summon "hush tubes".
* In "Supergirl" #15 Power Boy refers to and accesses his father box.

Orphan box

An orphan box is created by Father Time from the remains of Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard in "Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters".

References