10 Comics Secrets We Still Can't Explain
3. What Exactly Is A Motherbox?
Jack Kirby's Fourth World gave the DC Universe one of its greatest antagonists in Darkseid, but that was hardly the only aspect that's managed to stick around in the DC Universe. In addition to great characters, locations, and more, Kirby gave the world a device called a Mother Box in 1971's The Forever People #1.
Mother Boxes were originally created by a scientist named HImon on Apokolips. He fashioned them out of the mysterious Element X, and that's about all that's truly known about them. They have immense power and appear to be capable of teleportation and healing to energy manipulation, and more.
They are ubiquitous in and around the New Gods, but they have been given to other characters in and out of the DC Universe. Superman was the lucky recipient of a Mother Box when he was going after Doomsday, and when DC and Marvel put out JLA/Avengers, Iron Man got his hands on one.
It's clear Mother Boxes are sentient and are capable of incredible feats, but their true nature has yet to be fully explored in the comics. In many ways, they exist solely as a plot device used to push the narrative via a portable deus ex machina, capable of doing whatever the story calls for.