A reliable method of time travel can prove to be particularly handy, and many superheroes had one.
The Flash had his century-shifting Cosmic Treadmill, for example, and the Atom had the Time Pool.
Ivy University Prof. Ray Palmer’s former teacher, Prof. Alpheus V. Hyatt, had developed a device that combined several rays of light to form a small circle capable of piercing time.
Hyatt used it like an ice fishing hole, probing for historical curiosities — not knowing his friend Ray could become small enough to travel through the time portal himself.
In the first of the Time Pool stories, Ray posed as a genie for Sinbad’s grandson, inadvertently inspiring an Arabian Nights tale (The Secret of ‘Al Atom’s’ Lamp! The Atom 3, Oct.-Nov. 1962).
In the second such story, writer Gardner Fox and artists Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson send the Atom to 1739, where he crosses paths with the infamous English bandit Dick Turpin (The Highwayman and the Mighty Mite! The Atom 6, April-May 1963).
Turpin, a real-life burglar, horse thief and killer, became known for a fictional 200-mile overnight ride from London to York on his horse Black Bess.
“Fox makes Turpin be a relative of Ray Palmer, claiming his name is really Tom Palmer, and Kane draws him to look an awful lot like the Atom himself,” noted comics historian Michael E. Grost.
And that, I think, was a wink from Fox. The romanticized criminal — a domino-masked adventurer with a secret identity — is in fact a distant ancestor of the superhero, at least in terms of popular culture.
Fiction turned the brutal robber into the Robin Hood of Epping Forest. He appeared as a hero in penny dreadfuls — the 19th century equivalent of comic books — and in a 1925 silent film in which he was portrayed by cowboy star Tom Mix.
In that movie, Turpin saves two women from rape at the hands of highwaymen, saying, “Dogs! You’re a disgrace to the profession!”
Mark Engblom wrote: The Time Pool is an aspect of the Silver Age Atom I wasn’t aware of… so thanks for the bringing me up to speed!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of speed, I have to say the Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill has always been my favorite mode of comic book time travel. While the Atom was hopping into the Time Pool or Superman casually flying back through numeric century dates, Flash was *working* for that time jump! Through his own sweat, muscle power and grit, he literally ran out of time. Add to that Infantino’s cool minimalistic design (with the handy year indicator), and you’ve got yourself a truly unique method of time travel.
I always imagined the Cosmic Treadmill as being quite LOUD as Barry was punching a hole through physics. I also picture blazing pyrotechnics when Barry finally breaks the barrier, much like the effect from “Back to the Future.”
Charles W. Fouquette wrote: The time pool and the cosmic treadmill were aspects of the science fictional bent that Julius Schwartz brought to the revival of super heroes in the 1950's and 60's. Obviously it was a very successful effort
ReplyDeleteRich Vincent wrote: The Time Pool was a great device for dropping some history into super-hero stories. Loved them.
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