| Polar Tower | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Information | |
| Official name: | Polar Tower |
| Alias(es): | Polar Tower |
| First appearance: | X-Men Vol 2 85 |
| Created by: | Joe Kelly Mark Farmer |
| Location Information | |
| Universe: | Earth-616 |
| Galaxy: | Milky Way |
| Star System: | Sol |
| Planet: | Earth |
| Country: | Arctic Circle |
| Locale: | Angara Basin |
History[]
Origin[]
The Polar Tower was a creation of the supervillain Mutant known as Magneto who had survived the destruction of his orbital asteroid base of Avalon and hid in the shadows in order to plan his next operation. In this time, he met with a Human called Bill Jones and pretended to be a normal citizen with anti-Mutant sentiments. This was because Magneto intended for a planetary culling of the Human population and wanted to see whether there existed the possibility of co-existence. Thus, he intended to conduct a psychological experiment to see whether an ordinary citizen such as Bill Jones was capable of overcoming such prejudice. Ultimately, Magnus revealed his true identity and got the response he expected whereupon he decided to embark on his plans to ensure the safety of Homo Superior. During this time, he had also dispatched his robotic servant Ferris along with other drones with the task of creating the Polar Tower. These machines travelled thousands of miles to the magnetic north where they engaged their substructure configuration in building a massive tower in the Arctic Circle. After seeing the reaction from Bill Jones, Magneto travelled to the structure where he regretfully told Ferris that mankind had forced his hand where he decided to assemble his army for his plan was about to begin.
This machine worked as an amplifier of Magneto's own electromagnetic talents and functioned by influencing the magnetosphere of the entire world when activated. They worked by amplifying and focusing the energy of Magnus though suffered from some elements of instability. The resultant action was the creation of a pulse wave that expanded across the electromagnetic spectrum which affected all electronic machinery. Thus, it did not simply allow Magneto to tap into the electromagnetic spectrum but become a part of it due to amplification conduit allowing him to extend his essence beyond the physical plane. Only the Acolytes were immune to the planetary effect of the Polar Tower as their ship operated on a gravimetric pulse.
Magneto War[]
Once activated, it's effects rippled from the Arctic Circle where it tugged the invisible fabric of the planet's energy sheath. The effect was registered at a National Geographic Atmospheric Monitoring Station on Ellesmere Island by the Nares Transit where a bipolar signature overlap was detected with a variance flux over the entire electromotive spectrum. The staff quickly came to realize that the last time such an effect was registered was twenty months ago when Magneto had ripped the E-M field apart. At the same time, Storm's senses were effected and felt that an unnatural occurence had befallen the world. Its effects became apparent as all forms of electronic technology was left disabled and unable to function due to Magneto's actions and made him the effective ruler of the world. This was due to a powerful magnetic storm around the Earth that affected Mutants differnetly with some such as Colossus becoming an electrostatic conductor when in their metal form. In addition, Nightcrawler's teleportation ability was affected as his sense of navigation meant he could not transport himself from site to site with accuracy.
With his plan ready, Magneto immediately dispatched Ferris to the United Nations to bring his demands. The machine explained that the destruction of Avalon had changed Magnus's objective as he now intended to create a safe haven for Mutants on the planet. Until his demands were met, the entire Human civilization had grinded to a standstill as all electronic equipment did not work due to the effects of the Polar Tower. This prevented everything from a missile strike to a toaster from functioning until a portion of the planet was ceded to create a sanctuary for Mutants. As a result of his actions, the Russian government launched two specially adapted nuclear missiles at the Tower which Magneto attempted to control but this simply triggered their detonation. Using the Polar Tower, he managed to ultimately shield the structure from the devastating strike. Despite this, a temporary effect had formed as a result of the atomic discharge though fissures were now forming in the magnetosphere which continued to grow which forced the United Nations to consider options ranging from nuclear assaults to negotiations.
At this time, Astra infiltrated the citadel of the Polar Tower where she intended to get her revenge on Magnus. Once there, she ruptured the filters of the machine which caused the collapse of the E-M generators diffusion screen that forced Magneto to become a lightning rod of the swirling energies. This act caused Magnus incredible pain and led to a catastrophic chain of events that threatened to bring about outright destruction to the Earth's atmosphere. This was because Magnus was forced to absorb more energy than his body was capable of wielding and he attempted to bear the pain to prevent it from ravaging the planet. The X-Men later commandeered the Acolytes jet in order to travel into the Polar Tower to prevent the destruction of the Earth. Once there, they discovered that Magneto was locked in combat with his clone Joseph though their arrival led to them removing Astra from the fight. Her departure freed Joseph from her control and he attempted to use his powers to repair the damage done to the world. With the help of the combined X-Men, Joseph was successful in re-stitching the torn fabric of the planet's atmosphere. This act, however, cost Joseph his life though it had a side effect of leading to the United Nations giving Genosha to Magneto to rule.
Notes[]
- Whilst first constructed as well as appearing in X-Men Vol 2 85, these structures were not given a name until Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 366 where it is referred to in one panel as a Polar Tower.
Trivia[]
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Links[]
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