Air-Walker

Air-Walker (Gabriel Lan) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared (in android form) in ''Fantastic Four'' #120 (March 1972). Lan is a former member of the Nova Corps who became Galactus' herald. Following Lan's death, a robotic duplicate was created to house his consciousness.

Publication history

Gabriel Lan debuted in ''Fantastic Four'' #120 (March 1972), created by Stan Lee and John Buscema. He later appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #211 (October 1979), ''Captain America'' #249 (September 1980), ''Thor'' #306 (January 1981), '' Dazzler'' #10 (December 1981), and ''Silver Surfer'' vol. 3 #41 (September 1990).

Fictional character biography

Gabriel Lan is a member of the Xandarian Nova Corps and the captain of the diplomatic and exploratory spaceship ''Way-Opener''. Returning from a mission in space, the ''Way-Opener'' was confronted by Galactus, who abducts Lan and offers to transform him into a herald, in a similar fashion to the Silver Surfer.

A willing Lan accepts and becomes the Air-Walker. Pyreus Kril, the ''Way-Opener's'' officer and Lan's friend, becomes obsessed with finding Galactus after the abduction. Lan becomes devoted to Galactus, and the closest thing he has to a friend. On one journey to seek a planet for sustenance for Galactus, he battles the alien Ovoids, who kill Lan, but Galactus transfers a portion of his soul into an android body.

Dissatisfied with the android, which lacks Lan's personality, Galactus sends it to Earth to re-enlist the Silver Surfer as his Herald. The Air-Walker encounters the Fantastic Four, and is then defeated by the Surfer, who guesses at the android's true nature. Mister Fantastic reprograms Galactus' ship to take him to the Negative Zone, where he will have an abundance of worlds to consume. The remnants of the Air-Walker are found by the villain Machinesmith.

The android eventually repairs itself and reactivates. Believing itself to be the original Gabriel Lan, the Air-Walker attempts to find the Surfer, but encounters Thor. The Air-Walker's ability to wield Thor's hammer Mjolnir reveals its non-human nature, and Thor destroys the android. Another of Galactus' former Heralds, Firelord, learns of the battle and confronts Thor. Firelord reveals that he was once Pyreus Kril, and eventually located Galactus' vessel and confronted the entity. Galactus agreed to reveal Lan's fate on the condition that Pyreus serve him as his latest Herald. Firelord then returns to space with the remains of the android.

Firelord and the Surfer eventually revive the android to aid in a battle against Morg, who completely destroys the Air-Walker. A version of the Air-Walker and Firelord aid the New Warriors against a threat from the planet Xandar.

Lan's consciousness is then absorbed into the computer of Galactus' ship, where he directs Galactus to uninhabited worlds. He is later restored to physical form and battles the Annihilation Wave alongside his fellow Heralds, but is destroyed once again.

Powers and abilities

Air-Walker wields the Power Cosmic, which gives him superhuman physical abilities, mastery of the electromagnetic spectrum, immunity to the conditions of space, and the ability to travel faster than the speed of light. He graduated from the Xandarian Nova Corps Academy, and in addition to a thorough knowledge of combat, has knowledge of advanced alien technology and space navigation.

Air-Walker also wields the Bow of Gabriel, a powerful weapon which can terraform whole worlds.

The android version of Air-Walker appears to possess all the same abilities, in addition to a unique self-repair system and a homing beacon.

In other media

* Air-Walker appears in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes''. This version is an air elemental.
* Air-Walker appears as a playable character in '' Marvel Contest of Champions''.
* In 2024, HeroClix released an Air-Walker figurine as part of the ''Marvel HeroClix Iconix: Heralds of Galactus'' collection.

References

External links

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{{Stan Lee

Characters created by John Buscema
Characters created by Stan Lee
Comics characters introduced in 1972
Marvel Comics aliens
Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
Marvel Comics extraterrestrial supervillains
Marvel Comics robots
Marvel Comics superheroes
Marvel Comics supervillains