Saint Walker made his first appearance in 2007 in the pages of Green Lantern (V4) #25, created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Saint Walker was the first member of the Blue Lantern Corps, an organization dedicated to spreading peace and harmony through the power of HOPE throughout the universe. Walker was a priest on his home planet of Astonia (with a wife and two children), which was doomed, as its ancient sun was dying. Saint Walker manages to calm his despairing people and give them hope in the face of extinction, which causes a Blue Lantern 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 million years, thereby saving his home planet.
“In fearful day, in raging night,
With strong hearts full, our souls ignite,
When all seems lost in the War of Light,
Look to the stars– For hope burns bright!”
One of my favorite characters to come out of John’s epic run on Green Lantern, and one of my favorite DC Comics characters overall, so you can imagine my joy when I found out that Saint Walker had been added to MattyCollector.com‘s Club Infinite Earths line-up for 2013. When DC Universe Classics were still on the pegs, Mattel released wave 17 in the form of “The Deputy Lanterns”. This was an interesting choice since in the form of the Lanterns we had only received Hal Jordan and Sinestro and we were out in the stores buying characters who had only become Lanterns for a short period of time! But where were Saint Walker, Atrocitus, Larfleeze, even Indigo-1 (someone we still haven’t seen!)?!? Oh, and Carol Ferris as Star Sapphire would eventually be released under the Green Lantern Classics umbrella. 2012 we saw the release of Atrocitus in the first year of Club Infinite Earths and we had a tease of Larfleeze, who was slated originally to be in Wave 1 of DCUC All-Stars, later to be canceled and sit in action figure limbo, finally getting the release he deserves in this year’s CIE. Whether you agree with the way DC and Mattel have been releasing figures or not, it looks like they are sticking to the original plan to help collectors complete “teams”. Which brings us to this review:
Not much has changed on the packaging side of things this year, I really enjoy the collector-friendly box. Getting Saint Walker out of the packaging was simple and I did minor damage to the plastic “holder”, the lack of twist-ties is something that I truly appreciate. One of the biggest differences is that the NEW DC logo has finally been incorporated and some font changes. I warmly welcome the return of Mike Thompson on box artwork, his stylings of the characters are dynamic and they really make for collector-worthy packaging! Not Watchmen Club Black Freighter levels but close enough!
Let me tell you, I had to be very patient and have a lot of HOPE that Mattel would get around to releasing this figure before I broke down and bought the DC Direct version. I own both versions of the Blue Lantern Flash, mostly because I find the idea awesome and couldn’t help myself, but the difference in the lines is pretty clear-cut with the paint jobs. DC Direct has the shiny armor paint jobs while Mattel sticks to the matte look. It’s kinda of difficult for me to decide which scheme I like best but I think that in regards to comic accuracy I think the matte look fits in better because the suit-construct is not truly “armor”. Nonetheless, this figure’s paint job is nothing to complain about. Saint Walker gets a 3 outta 3 stars for very clean lines, and a beautiful overall job.
Saint Walker’s articulation is top-notch and probably one of the most articulated figures to date! Double knee and elbow joints are more than necessary and make posing him a lot of fun. His swivel neck joint is great for poses and Twi’lek esque “head-tail” even has rotation of its own! His only accessory is the standard lantern, what would a corp member be without it! The lantern is a re-paint of all the lanterns that have come before, so nothing special here. The one detail I do really appreciate is the attention to the detail of Saint Walker’s ring, the Blue Lantern logo is visible and really makes the difference in such a basic figure! Another plus for this figure is the original head-sculpt, with the “stitching” , great job on the “tail”, and basic facial expression, Saint Walker is ready to take a neutral stand in the universe. I give Saint Walker a 3 outta 3 stars for sculpt and articulation, I would love to give him another star for that much articulation.
So overall I am more than happy to have one of my favorite characters on my DC action figure shelf. It has been far too long of an absence and Mattel’s version of Saint Walker is a worthy addition. 2013’s lineup is promising, and I can’t wait to see what Mattel and DC have to reveal at the upcoming NYC Toyfair! Some fans may not be happy with the over-saturation of Lanterns in the DCUC line but with the success of DC in the past few years and the strong presence of the New 52, Geoff Johns deserves a lot of credit for putting, especially Green Lantern, the brand back on top. So getting these characters in plastic form is all right by me and I hope Mattel and DC decide to give us a few more of the fan favorites. Though I would rather see a regular Mera figure before getting a Red Lantern one, and also a bigger release for the Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner. Well that wraps up January! Saint Walker is already sold out on MattyCollector.com, so remember Towelites if you are looking for any of the future releases to add to your shelf, and you didn’t purchase a subscription, you have to be there day 1 of the sale! February’s line-up includes The Phantom Stranger, another figure I have been looking forward to, Matty’s next sale is on Friday February 15th starting at 12 EST! See you next month!!
Stay tooned 😛
~CynicNerd
Photos courtesy of: Figures in Action Photography