Within the DC universe, there are few landmarks that are as significant and well known as the Source Wall. The Source Wall acts as the endpoint of the DC universe, and has the ability to embed and fuse with any poor soul that dares to touch it. However, it may be surprising to discover that the adaptation that most modern readers are familiar with was actually created by Chris Claremont and Walt Simonson in their crossover story, The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans.
The Source Wall was originally created by Teen Titans, would meet for the first time. In this story, writer Chris Claremont and artist Walt Simon would end up reinterpreting the Source Wall in a way that would have a lasting impact on DC comics continuity for years.
The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover opens with the New Gods Darkseid and Metron, standing before the Source Wall. Though it still retains its force field like nature, which can be seen in the way it freezes Metron, it has a more physical appearance than its previous incarnation. Rather than simply freezing in place those who touch it, it also turns them into stone. Because of this, the Source Wall becomes more visible the more people touch it due to them being permanently embedded in stone. This is interesting, considering the stone remains of Colossal beings known as Promethean giants, which make up the majority of the wall's physical manifestation.
In The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, Darkseid attempted to court the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix with the goal of having her destroy the earth. However, this was thwarted when the Raven channeled the emotional grief and love the X-men felt for their fallen comrade Jean Grey into a psychic blast. Having now felt her former friend’s emotions, the Phoenix betrayed Darkseid and embedded him into the Source Wall. The story ends with an epic full-page of Darkseid’s face entombed in stone with beams of light shooting out of his eyes.
What is most notable about this adaption of the Source Wall is that it would go on to influence all of its future appearances stories. This is funny because it comes from an out-of-continuity crossover story written and drawn by creators that were technically employed by Marvel at the time. Regardless, this version of the Source Wall would remain a huge landmark within the DC universe for years until it was destroyed in Scott Snyders and Greg Capullo’s Dark Nights: Metal event.
