Superhuman strength, durability and visual acuity Enhanced speed, agility, stamina and reflexes Flotation-like flight Substance altering eyebeams Immunity to sleep Resistance to mental attacks Use of Imaginator device Infinity circuit enhancement
Sleepwalker is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins, he first appeared in Sleepwalker #1 (June 1991). The character is named after his race and is the star of a self-titled comic book which ran for 33 issues, from June 1991 to February 1994, with one Holiday Special. All but two of the issues were written by Budiansky, with Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich writing the Holiday Special and one fill-in issue. Dan Slott also contributed a humorous side story in issue #25.
Bob Budiansky spoke on the creation of the character saying,
"The idea what would become Sleepwalker first sparked within me during one of the weekly editorial meetings I attended when I was a Marvel editor and which were chaired by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter... Among the things talked about was how, in the real world, Superman would be treated by the nations of earth if he actually existed. He said that rather than being welcomed by most nations of the earth as a hero because of his good deeds and good looks, nations would instead unite to figure out how to defend themselves against and, if necessary, defeat this near-omnipotent alien being... And so the thought occurred to me that simply because Superman happens to look like the stereotypical all-American male of that era, people have no hesitation to accept him as the hero he is despite the fact that it's common knowledge he's an alien. But what if he is still heroic and looks like a true alien - a creature that doesn't look like us, and, in fact, appears repellant to us? How would humans react to him if that's how Superman looks? So Sleepwalker began as the anti-Superman, instead of an alien who just happens to look like the perfect human. I made him an alien who is a green-skinned bug-eyed monster, at least to our eyes. And he's heroic. At first, I wanted to name my character Alien. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Alien was a poor choice because it had already been used for the 1979 movie of the same name, which is probably the reason others mistakenly think I came up with the [Sleepwalker] idea in the 1970s".[1]
In regard to his idea of the concept of Sleepwalker, Budiansky stated "I came up with the name Sleepwalker and tied his origin and abilities to dreams, which was an interest of mine. Instead of coming from an alien planet, like Superman, Sleepwalker would come from an alien dimension. I began writing the backstory for Sleepwalker and sketching out his look probably around 1989".[2]
Publication history
A second Sleepwalker character was planned to receive a self-titled series by Robert Kirkman in 2004, but instead debuted in the 2004 Epic Anthology, which was cancelled after one issue. The original Sleepwalker's next appearance was in Marvel Team-Up vol. 3 #15, nearly a decade after his original cancellation.
At the end of 2018, as a tie-in to the Marvel Infinity Wars event, a four-issue Sleepwalker miniseries was released. The series is written by Chad Bowers and Chris Sims, with artwork by Todd Nauck.[3]
In 2017, Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool addressed persistent rumors that Tom DeFalco (at the time, Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief) had described Sleepwalker as "Sandman done right". After researching the phrase, the most Johnston was able to find was "mention of a press release that described [Sleepwalker] as 'Sandman done the Marvel way;'" however, this was "only a reference, never an actual quoted piece". Johnston posited that the rumor's source may have been a parody of earlier Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.[4]
The Sleepwalkers are entities from the Mindscape, a dimension that borders on the minds of all living things, and work to protect the world from the dangerous creatures that inhabit it. One Sleepwalker was trapped in the mind of college student Rick Sheridan by his archenemy Cobweb.[5] He is able to communicate with Rick via dreams and can manifest in the real world while he sleeps.[6][5]
Rick and Sleepwalker eventually worked out an understanding, allowing the latter to fight crime and various injustices.[5] This was not easy, as Sleepwalker's appearance caused fear among regular people.[7][8]
With Spider-Man, Sleepwalker battled Kingpin and Crimewave.[9] With Darkhawk, Deathlok, Moon Knight, and the Squadron Supreme, he attempted to stop Eon's body from invading Earth's Universe; he also battled the Chain Gang.[10][11] With Deathlok's help, he also rescued Alyssa Conover and a number of other innocent people from being experimented on by the mysterious Mr. FX.[8] He fought Nightmare,[12] and then battled Spectra. Alongside Mister Fantastic and the Thing, he battled the Thought Police.[13] Alongside Darkhawk and Spider-Man, Sleepwalker saved Portal from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.[14] He also battled various supernatural menaces, including a demonic genie known as Mr. Jyn and the spirit of a traumatized young man that had gained superhuman powers and became obsessed with recreating the scene of his mother's murder[15][16]
Sleepwalker is one of the few entities who remember the events of The Infinity Gauntlet storyline. Sleepwalker spent most of it fighting the villains called the Chain Gang and rescuing people from natural disasters. However, Nebula turned back time, neutralizing what he had gone through.[10] He considers his vague memories to be just a dream.[volume&issueneeded]
Sleepwalker played an important role in the Infinity War, helping to defeat the forces of the Magus, by channeling mental powers from Professor X, Jean Grey, Psylocke, and Moondragon through Rick Sheridan's mind. He also contributed to the battle against the evil clones of the superheroes, fighting the clones of Beast, Firestar, and Daredevil, saving the lives of a number of innocent New York civilians. Part of the fight against the evil doubles involved Sleepwalker impersonating his own evil clone.[17]
In the "Infinity Crusade" storyline, Sleepwalker is brainwashed by the Goddess and taken to a planet on the other side of the sun.[volume&issueneeded] He keeps Rick asleep by drugging the orange juice in his refrigerator. During the battle between the Goddess's forces and the rest of Earth's heroes, Sleepwalker subdues Darkhawk and the Human Torch by dragging them into the water with his shape-changing powers.[volume&issueneeded]
Sleepwalker exchanged bodies with Rick Sheridan, and battled Cobweb, the Chain Gang, 8-Ball, and the Hobgoblin.[18] Later in the series, Sleepwalker is revealed to supposedly be the lead scout for the dimension conquering Mindspawn race, an invasion force from the Mindscape intent on conquering Earth.[19] However, in actuality, Cobweb had put in motion a complicated plot to invade the Earth and disrupt Rick's relationship with Sleepwalker. This involves disguising his minions as members of Sleepwalker's race and framing his archenemy as their leader. The plot is only partially successful; Sleepwalker and the Avengers thwart the initial attack, although Sleepwalker's reputation was ruined in the process.[20] Many people still mistakenly believe that Sleepwalker's race planned to invade and conquer the Earth and that Sleepwalker was an advanced scout for them.[volume&issueneeded]
During the confrontation, Sleepwalker pretended to destroy Rick's mind as a means of protecting him from Cobweb's minions. Unfortunately, the authorities retrieved the "mindrake" weapon Sleepwalker had used to store Rick's mind, preventing the alien from recovering it, also gathering up one of Cobweb's demons that was left behind after the Avengers drove them away. The demon and the mindrake were both taken to a federal prison and research facility where serial killer Jeremy Roscoe was also being held as part of a psychiatric experiment. Roscoe staged an escape from the prison hospital and became fused with the demon in the process, transforming into a nightmarish creature calling himself Psyko. The monster began spreading mass insanity across New York, until Sleepwalker managed to defeat him and retrieve the mindrake Psyko had taken with him.[volume&issueneeded]
Later, Sleepwalker thwarts Cobweb's second attack and banishes his archenemy once and for all, before seemingly dying to save Rick Sheridan's life.[21] However, Sleepwalker would later turn up alive and still trapped in Rick's mind.[volume&issueneeded]
Sleepwalker eventually gains the ability to interact with the real world again. He is seen investigating the after-effects of an explosion caused by the villainous Ringmaster.[volume&issueneeded] He had attempted to become more involved in the situation but was foiled by Rick's sleeping schedule.[22]
Sleepwalker is seen as having become a registered superhuman under the Initiative after Alyssa Conover's death in an auto accident.[23] He then appears alongside Machine Man and Agent Sum as a member of Ms. Marvel's Operation: Lightning Storm (by default, his human host Rick Sheridan becomes an unofficial member as well).[24][25]
During the Fantastic Four's confrontation with the Quiet Man, they recruited Sleepwalker's assistance to neutralize the threat posed by the heroes from Counter-Earth, reasoning that Sleepwalker was particularly suited to advise them on it, since Counter-Earth was basically Franklin Richards' dream. During his time on Counter-Earth, Sleepwalker noted that none of the human inhabitants there were real, as they did not have actual souls, allowing the FF to freely take them out, as they were not actually killing anyone.[volume&issueneeded]
Powers and abilities
Sleepwalker possesses superhuman physical abilities and flight, as well as a "warp gaze" that enables him to modify the shape and physical characteristics of other objects. However, he avoids using it on living beings, which would cause immense pain.[volume&issueneeded]
As an alien resident of the Mindscape, Sleepwalker has exceptional visual abilities, being able to see over a much farther distance than an average human and sense energy trails. Due to his bond with Rick Sheridan, Sleepwalker shares a mental link with him and must periodically return to his mind to survive. He can also enhance psychic abilities and possesses a limited resistance to them.[26]
Sleepwalker also used the Imaginator, an amulet-like device that can teleport himself and others and imprison the creatures of the Mindscape.[volume&issueneeded]
In Infinity Wars, Sleepwalker discovers that he can harness the power of the Infinity Gems without having to use them directly.[27]
Enemies
Sleepwalker possessed a colorful gallery of mostly original villains, with a new one introduced each issue during the title's beginnings. They include:
Nelson Gruber / Bookworm: An angry, bitter social misfit who gained the ability to channel energy from the Mindscape into creations of whatever he read after an encounter with Sleepwalker, and used his abilities to get revenge on his tormentors.[28]
The Chain Gang: Four convicted felons linked together in a chain gang who escaped during the upheavals caused by the Infinity Gauntlet, gaining superhuman powers that lasted only as long as they stayed chained together. It consists of Master Link (Willis Hayworth), Missing Link (Ray Morgan), Uplink (Hector Fuentes), and Weak Link (Ernest Mills).[10]
Mr. FX: A mysterious special effects designer who was known for his stunningly lifelike displays, which he achieved by kidnapping people and imprisoning them within specially designed costumes.[8]
Nightmare: Usually a Doctor Strange villain, Sleepwalker faced off against the living embodiment of bad dreams. He promised the reward of sending Sleepwalker back to his home realm, but he fought back when he threatened Rick Sheridan.[12]
Selena Slate / Spectra: The assistant of a scientist who was studying the properties of a strange diamond, and planned to steal it and split the proceeds with her junkie boyfriend. After being imbued with the diamond's powers, she gained the ability to manipulate multicolored lights with various effects.[29]
Mr. Jyn: A demonic genie who tricked humans into letting him manifest on Earth by pretending to serve them, even as he manipulated them into letting him cause mayhem until he would be released.[15]
Edward "Eddie" Cicala: A young boy traumatized by his father murdering his mother, who became catatonic before his mind made contact with a malign energy force from the Mindscape, which allowed him to possess others.[16]
Cobweb: Sleepwalker's nemesis, a demon of the Mindscape who can cause madness in others and trapped him in Rick Sheridan's mind as part of a plot to invade Earth without being thwarted by his enemy.[5]
Felicity Hopkins / Lullaby: A teenage mutant who can place others in zombie-like trances through song.[30]
Carl Wilkinson / Crimewave: A crime boss who plotted to embarrass the Kingpin and replace him as the top crime lord on the East Coast by capturing Spider-Man.[31]
The Thought Police: A special team of government agents assembled to capture Sleepwalker, led by the obsessed Agent Tolliver Smith.[32]
Jeremy Roscoe / Psyko: A human serial killer who became fused with a monster from the Mindscape and transformed into a hideous creature with warping powers similar to Sleepwalker's and the additional power to cause insanity.[33]
Sleepwalker's original villains largely stopped appearing since the end of his series, save for 8-Ball who appeared briefly in the 2005 She-Hulk series and the Daughters of the Dragon miniseries.
Sleepwalker features in an arc of Robert Kirkman's Marvel Team-Up vol. 3, featuring a group of C-list heroes dubbed "The League of Losers". A group of heroes including Sleepwalker, Darkhawk, Dagger, Araña, X-23, Gravity, and Terror go to the future to prevent the villain Chronok from stealing Reed Richards' time machine, (Chronok comes to the present after killing all of Marvel's major heroes). Although Araña dies along the way, the rest of the team succeeds.
It is revealed Chronok is from the same time period as Kirkman's Mutant 2099; the group stays with him and his mentor Reed Richards to wait for Chronok. During this time, Sleepwalker experiences difficulties with being away from his host Rick Sheridan, but ultimately comes to terms with it. The team defeats Chronok, but at the end of the story, Richards reveals they can't go back to their present, due to time travel and alternate timelines. The group decides to stay in the future, satisfied with the impact they made, however unnoticed. Mutant 2099 suggests reforming the Avengers or the "Fantastic Nine".
Sleepwalker is shown among the surviving heroes in the Dead Days prequel to Marvel Zombies, during the meeting on the Helicarrier. This is the last time he is seen however, and Rick's sleeping body is killed.[36]
Ultimate Sleepwalker
Ultimate Sleepwalker was seen in Ultimate X-Men #89 (February 2008); there, he is shown to be not one man, but a group of creatures that police the "mindscape" on which Amahl Farouk grew to become the Shadow King.[37]
The Wozuans
"The Anatomy of a Nightmare" in Tales of Suspense #22 (Oct. 1961) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko features an alien race bearing a strong resemblance to the Sleepwalkers. The story was reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl #18 (Aug. 1972). The main character was hidden in shadows and takes pills to give him nightmares; his appearance is revealed to be the same as the aliens he visits, the Wozuans.[38] He is finally revealed to be a green-skinned alien complaining that the pills failed to show him anything other than his own world.
Other appearances
He was seen briefly in a six issue Spider-Man miniseries, Revenge of the Sinister Six.
Sleepwalker appeared in Secret Defenders #4, #5, fighting Roadkill
As part of the Infinity Wars, Sleepwalker had a cameo in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #46
As well as appearing in the main Infinity Crusade series, Sleepwalker had a cameo in The Mighty Thor #464
Two creatures slightly resembling Sleepwalker appear in Ultimate X-Men #89. It is revealed they are "policing" the mindscape reality Amahl Farouk (the Shadow King) finds himself trapped in with an iron hand, causing more trouble than actually protecting it.
Sleepwalker can also be seen on the cover of the Irredeemable Ant-Man #12. This final issue of the canceled series, shows other characters doomed to obscurity.
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References
↑ Eury, Michael (June 2024). "Back Issue!". Twomorrows (151): 49.
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