Saint Walker

Saint Walker
Saint Walker as depicted on the cover of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14 (February 2017); art by Rafael Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25 (January 2008)
Created by	Geoff Johns Ethan Van Sciver
In-story information
Alter ego	Bro'Dee Walker
Species	Astonian
Place of origin	Astonia
Team affiliations	Blue Lantern Corps Green Lantern Corps New Guardians Justice League
Notable aliases	Blue Lantern
Abilities	Use of power ring grants: Regenerate and heal lost body parts Generation of hard light constructs Flight Force field generation Rage immunity Energy blasts Hope inducement Energy aura Energy manipulation Energy absorption Universal translator Interstellar travel (survival at space) Dimensional travel Holographic playback/protection Electromagnetic scanning Nullification of Red Lanterns Energy draining of Yellow Lanters

Saint Walker (Bro'Dee Walker) is a fictional comic book character appearing in American comic books and other associated media published by DC Comics. He is an alien member of the galactic Blue Lantern Corps, an organization dedicated to spreading peace and harmony through the power of hope.

Publication history

Saint Walker first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25 and was created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver. ^[1] His name is derived from that of Green Lantern fan Brady Walker. ^[2]

Character history

Walker is a priest living on the planet of Astonia with a wife and two children. Astonia is doomed, as its ancient sun is dying. Saint Walker manages to calm his despairing people and give them hope in the face of extinction, which causes a power ring to choose him as a member of the Blue Lantern Corps, stating that he "has the ability to instill great hope". With his ring, he sets his sun's age back 8.9 billion years, thereby saving his home planet. ^[3]

Saint Walker and his fellow Blue Lanterns are first introduced in the midst of the Final Crisis event as part of the build-up to the Blackest Night storyline. During the Final Crisis, Hal Jordan and John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps are ambushed by the Red Lantern Corps, who take the rogue former Green Lantern Sinestro from their custody. Jordan is injured during the conflict, and his wounds are healed when he first comes into contact with Saint Walker. ^[4]

In the Blackest Night storyline, having joined Hal Jordan's and Indigo-1's efforts to rally one member of each Corps to attempt to destroy the Black Lantern power battery, Saint Walker agrees to use his power ring to ease Larfleeze's hunger while they work together. When deputizing an Earth hero to assist in the current crisis until the rest of the Blue Lantern Corps can arrive, Walker's ring selects Barry Allen as a temporary Blue Lantern. After Nekron is defeated, Walker works with Carol Ferris to heal Mera of the influence of her red power ring.

In Justice League of America (vol. 2) #55 (2011), Saint Walker joins the titular team in battling Eclipso, and attempts to assist the resurrected Hank Henshaw against Doomsday on Batman's orders. ^[5]

In the War of the Green Lanterns storyline, Saint Walker and the rest of the New Guardians make their way to the planet Ryut. Krona and the Emotional Entities are nowhere to be found but the group does come upon the Book of the Black. ^[6] When former Sinestro Corps member Lyssa Drak appears, she quickly subdues the New Guardians, trapping all but Hal in the Book of the Black. ^[7] Hal escapes with the rings of the New Guardians, later passing Walker's ring on to Kyle Rayner when Krona infects the Central Power Battery with Parallax to bring the Green Lantern Corps under his influence. ^[8] In the final battle Saint Walker is freed from the book by Kyle, his blue ring returns to him and the Guardians of the Universe then teleport him back to Odym. ^[9] Afterwards, Saint Walker returns to Oa to restore Ganthet's missing hand. ^[10]

The New 52

In the new series Green Lantern: New Guardians , Saint Walker assisted Kyle Rayner when he became a "magnet" for other power rings, helping Kyle escape the attacks of the other four Corps members who had tracked the rings. They travel to Oa to try to seek the aid of the Guardians. ^[11] This plan backfires when it is revealed that Ganthet has been stripped of his emotions by the other Guardians, to the extent that he attacks Walker when Walker tries to help Kyle directly after he is briefly overwhelmed by the rings. Ganthet proclaims that the Blue Lantern Corps was a mistake that he will now rectify. ^[12] After being forced to escape the Guardians, Walker heals Arkillo's severed tongue using an illusion of Sinestro. ^[13] However, in the subsequent confrontation with Archangel Invictus, Walker is unable to heal Invictus' anger at the Lanterns, although his actions do help Invictus see that the Lanterns are not completely tainted. ^[14] Returning to Odym to regroup after Invictus releases the New Guardians only if they agree to kill Larfleeze, Walker learns that Odym is being attacked by the Reach, enemies of all ring-wielders, forcing him to call the other New Guardians for help when he attempts to teach the other Blue Lanterns how to channel their auras to increase their offensive capabilities so that they can fight on their own. ^[15] Although he and the other New Guardians aid Kyle against Invictus, the team splits up after learning that Sayd was responsible for drawing the rings to Kyle as part of a plan to assemble a team to save Ganthet, feeling that her actions have tainted the team before it began, regardless of her motives in bringing them together. ^[16]

Following the defeat of the Third Army and the fall of the Guardians, the Blue Lantern Corps relocated to the planet Elpis, ^[17] but were soon attacked by the cosmic entity known as Relic, who sought to rid the universe of its ostensible "lightsmiths", considering it the only way to keep the universe safe. The rest of the Blue Lantern Corps were destroyed, leaving only Walker as he was taken to safety by Kyle Rayner, Carol Ferris and the Templar Guardians while Elpis was devastated by Relic's assault. ^[18] Although Walker eventually recovered on Mogo, his ring abandoned him after he learned that the emotional spectrum was being depleted. He accepted this as being for the best as the power of the blue rings could drain the reservoir further. ^[19] He later regained his hope, and his ring, after witnessing Kyle Rayner's White Lantern abilities on New Genesis, confident that the emotional reservoir could be refilled in the future. ^[20]

DC Rebirth

In the DC Rebirth title Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Saint Walker appears on an unknown planet, and is engaged in battle with hostile aliens when Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner arrive. ^[21] After they destroy the hostile aliens, Hal and Kyle ask Saint Walker to join them in meeting with Ganthet and Sayd. ^[22] Saint Walker arrives at the new base of the Green Lantern Corps on Mogo, and is reunited with the sentient planet. ^[23] Later, Ganthet and Sayd test Saint Walker, attempting to form a psionic link with Kyle's White Lantern power, as they believe that this could bring about the resurrection of the Blue Lantern Corps, but they are prevented from doing so, though Saint Walker experiences visions of an unknown presence. ^[24]

Powers and abilities

Saint Walker possesses a blue power ring which is fueled by the emotion hope. While hope is the most powerful of the seven emotions, he must be near an active Green Lantern's power ring to tap into his own ring's full power. Otherwise, the rings are only capable of the default abilities of flight and a protective aura. This is due to the fact that the power of hope is nothing without the willpower to act on it. Blue rings must be fueled by true hope to operate at their users' command.

While under the influence of a nearby green power ring, Saint Walker can heal wounds. The ring's power can be supplemented with the hope of other living beings; for instance, Saint Walker and Warth were able to reduce a dying sun's age by 8.6 billion years because of the hope emanating from the inhabitants of a nearby planet. A blue ring can negatively impact the performance of rings on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. During his initial meeting with the JLA, Saint Walker discovered that his abilities can also be augmented by proximity to Starman (Mikaal Tomas).

As the first and most experienced Blue Lantern, Walker has shown the ability to channel his aura to increase his strength and hold his own in a fight against many adversaries.

In other media

Television

Saint Walker as he appears in Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

• Saint Walker appears in Green Lantern: The Animated Series , ^[25] voiced by Phil Morris. ^[26] This version is initially a hermit living on Mogo, before becoming a Blue Lantern during the episode "Invasion".

Video games

• Saint Walker appears in DC Universe Online .
• Saint Walker appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham , voiced by Sam Riegel.

Miscellaneous

• Saint Walker appears in Smallville Season 11 .

References

1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 257. ISBN   978-1-4654-5357-0.
2. Geoff Johns Interview 2 | The Comics Pals Episode 338 , retrieved December 18, 2023
3. Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 (July 2009)
4. Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 (October 2008)
5. Renaud, Jeffrey. "REIGN OF THE DOOMSAYERS: James Robinson", Comic Book Resources, March 23, 2011
6. Green Lantern (vol. 4) #63 (March 2011)
7. Green Lantern (vol. 4) #64 (March 2011)
8. Green Lantern (vol. 4) #65 (April 2011)
9. Green Lantern (vol. 4) #67 (July 2011)
10. War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #1 (July 2011)
11. Green Lantern: New Guardians #2 (October 2011)
12. Green Lantern: New Guardians #3 (November 2011)
13. Green Lantern: New Guardians #4 (December 2011)
14. Green Lantern: New Guardians #6 (February 2012)
15. Green Lantern: New Guardians #9 (May 2012)
16. Green Lantern: New Guardians #12 (August 2012)
17. Green Lantern Corps (vol. 3) #20 (June 2013)
18. Green Lantern: New Guardians #23
19. Green Lantern (vol. 5) #27
20. Green Lantern: New Guardians #40
21. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14 (February 2017)
22. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #15 (February 2017)
23. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #16 (March 2017)
24. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #17 (March 2017)
25. "Manhunters and Saint Walker to Appear in GL Animated Series | the Blog of OA". Archived from the original on 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
26. Pantozzi, Jill (February 28, 2012). "Interview With Justice League: Doom Actor Phil Morris". The Mary Sue. Retrieved August 22, 2023.