SAM
WANTLING
SAM
WANTLING
Real Name: Sam Wantling
Identity/Class: Semi-human magic-user;
presumably a British citizen (Marvel
UK)
Occupation: Adventurer, Horror novelist
Group Membership: None
Affiliations:
Harriet Homerstone, Mona St. Croix,
Voyager;
formerly Hannah (ex-girlfriend)
Enemies: Formerly the Voyager
Known Relatives: Voyager (creator);
William, other
Children of the Voyager (brethren);
unidentified foster parents
Aliases: The Counterfeit Man
Base of Operations: London, England
First Appearance: Children of the Voyager#1 (September, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: Sam Wantling was fashioned in human
form, but is not truly human, so he may have resistance to aging, disease,
etc....or not. He has some experience with the occult, can sense the body
systems and life force (and/or aura) of others, and can share some of his own
energy to heal others, and presumably accomplish other feats. He has enhanced
senses, particularly vision and touch. He can tell when the weather is going to
change, and he can approach others -- even those sensitive to the occult --
without their detection.
He presumably gained greater control over his abilities while
studying on the witch Harriet Homerstone.
History:
(Children of the Voyager#2 (fb) / 3 (fb)) - Sam was created by the Voyager, an
ancient entity, possibly angelic (or a spawn of Eternity), who regularly spawned
fragments of itself that took human form to interact with mankind. It would
later reabsorb these fragments that it might better understand humanity in order
to escape its imprisonment on Earth.
(Children of the Voyager#1 (fb) - BTS) - Sam was raised by foster parents who later adopted him.
(Children of the Voyager#1 (fb) - BTS) - Lacking a sense of self, Sam began writing. Exploring his thoughts through writing, he developed passion and became truly alive.
(Children of the Voyager#3 (fb)) - As a young man, Sam was too hesitant in pursuing a relationship with Kate, and she ended up with another guy, Ralph.
(Children of the Voyager#3 (fb) - BTS) - Sam missed out of many opportunities in life due to similar hesitation.
(Children of the Voyager#3 (fb) - BTS) - Though generally an atheist, Sam hoped that their might be higher states of being, rather than just being snuffed out at death.
(Children of the Voyager#1) - Sam's strange dreams inspired him to write in horror and fantasy, and he was highly thought of.
(Children of the Voyager#1) - Sam began having nightmares about the Voyager, which progressed to waking nightmares, sleepwalking, and hallucinations. His girlfriend, Hannah, even heard him speaking in tongues. As a result, he suffered fatigue and severe writer's block.
(Children of the Voyager#1) - Sam's publisher?, McPherson, pressured Sam and and his editor, Mona St. Croix, to get Sam's next book out. Sam confessed his recent problems, and she instructed him to take a few days off (she'd swing it by trimming the typesetting schedule or something). On the cab ride home, he fell asleep, dreamed of being consumed by the Voyager, and woke up screaming. Upon arriving home, he caught Hannah on her way out; unable to take his recent obsession, she broke up with him and told him to get help. His next dream involved being nearly run over by a crowd of people, some of whom he recognized as siblings, despite the fact that he had grown up an only child. As the Voyager called to him in his dream, he woke up; but he correctly suspected that something really was after him.
(Children of the Voyager#2) - As Sam sank deeper into depression and fatigue, Mona gave him a card to go see her half-sister, Harriet Homerstone, who was a witch. At her mansion, Harriet suspected some form of low-caste possession; she placed a protective binding spell around him, and she used a magic version of regressive hypnosis to send him to sleep. She was startled to discover that he was created by the Voyager. As he told Harriet of his dreams, the Voyager reached out for him through a mirror, but Harriet temporarily dispelled it by shattering the mirror. Harriet then left a few false trails for the Voyager to follow while she took Sam away.
(Children of the Voyager#3 (fb) - BTS) - Harriet brought Sam to a hideaway college which would serve as a hollow, having a protective cloaking effect that would dampen the Voyager's ability to home in on him. Sam was able to relax sufficiently to sleep for a few hours.
(Children of the Voyager#3) - Sam briefly considered committing suicide to deprive the Voyager of his soul, but Harriet bade him sleep again. They shared his dreams and observed the life-cycles of the Voyagers' spawn throughout the ages, after which Harriet realized that Sam had grown into something far more than what the Voyager had made him. She encouraged him to believe that he could break free from the Voyager, as it was its psychic power over him, and his fear of it that rendered him vulnerable to it. While Harriet formed a protective circle for Sam, she shared her own relationship to the Voyager, as one of her ancestors had married a similarly inspired Child of the Voyager, and she was the descendent of their daughter. Encouraged by their connection and feeling a real bond with Harriet, Sam fell asleep under her guidance, at which point the Voyager arrived to claim Sam.
(Children of the Voyager#4) - Harriet tried to contain the
Voyager with a "genie in the bottle" spell, but it turned the spell back on
them, trapping Sam and Harriet within a magical sphere. Nonetheless, the sphere
was sufficiently strong to keep the Voyager out, and the Voyager demanded Sam's
soul, as its own voyage was coming to an end. It cast illusions, making the
magic sphere seem afloat in the cosmos. Sam argued with the Voyager -- who
insisted he only existed because the Voyager had created him and that he was
therefore its to retake -- telling it that he had grown far beyond what it had
given, and asking it what one little spirit meant to its mighty form. The
Voyager angrily told them how the secret of humanity had continued to evade it
despite its lengthy efforts. It stated that Wantling was its accidental
masterpiece, so fully alive and so human, far beyond any of its other creations.
It felt that consuming Wantling would fuel its ascent into the cascade of
dimensions above.
Sam continued to fight with all his might, as did Harriet,
though she was becoming physically ill from the effort, and the Voyager suddenly
collapsed. It's life force faded, and so did Harriet's. Taking a leap of faith,
Sam reached out of the circle to grasp Harriet's arm in his one hand, and the
Voyager's arm in his other hand. He offered to give back what the Voyager had
given him, believing that everything else would remain with him. The splinter of
the Voyager within Sam then flared, and Sam gained the memories of the Voyager.
The Voyager, in turn, turned into an angelic beam of light, rising like a
shooting star (in reverse) as it passed the celestial pagodas, past increasing
spheres and sedimentary layers of Heavens that encrust the tiny shell of the
physical universe. It passed oceans of higher dimensions until it pulsed and
burst, scattering a chorus of voices, the freed spirits of his sisters and
brothers. The spirits formed a constellation of souls across the heavens, and
then the link to Wantling was severed, leaving him alone on Earth...forever
changed.
Harriet lay dying from her struggle against the Voyager, and
she told Sam that she would die happy knowing she had saved the virtual
reincarnation of her ancestor's lover. Sam looked at Harriet and sensed her body
functions and her life force, and he gave some of his own energy to her,
restoring her injured form. Harriet looked upon Sam, and recognized him as a
changed man.
In the following days, Sam began to appreciate
his newly enhanced awareness and senses. He used his experiences to write a
book, a re-telling of his life's story, and he gave it to Mona to publish. He
convinced Harriet to become his teacher, to help him explore and learn to use
his new powers.
(Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/3 - BTS) - After Harriet called Sam to announce their first lesson, he wrote and faxed Mona an epilogue to his book, Children of the Voyager.
Comments: Created by Nick Abadzis and Paul Johnson.
As Sam Wantling has no connection to any other Marvel characters, I would prefer to put his adventures at the time of their publication, circa 1993, making him a pre-modern era character.
The images were all highly shadowed, so good pictures are hard to come by. Sam had a pony tail.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Children of the Voyager#1, last page, last panel (full body)
#3 cover (face)
Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/3, p6 (Alicia & William)
Appearances:
Children of the Voyager#1-4 (September-December, 1993) - by Nick Abadzis
(writer), Paul Johnson (artist), Michael W. Bennet (editor)
Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/3 (January 1994) - by Nick Abadzis
(writer), Paul Johnson (artist), Michael W. Bennet (editor)
Last updated: 08/13/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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