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WALKABOUT

Real Name: Walkabout

Identity/Class: Robot (pre-modern era)

Occupation: Adventurer

Group Membership: First Line (Black Fox/Robert William Paine, Doctor Mime, Effigy, Eternal Brain/William Carmody, Firefall, Flatiron/Russell, Katyusha/Anya, Major Mercury/Makkari, Mister Justice/Tim Carney, Morph, Nightingale, Oxbow, Pixie, Positron/Veronica, Rapunzel, Reflex, Squire, Templar, Vulcan, Yeti);
    partner of Eternal Brain

Affiliations: Mary Carmody, Jim Fitzpatrick, Gadfly (T. Ruth MacRae), Cassandra Locke, Mako, Riot-Act

Enemies: Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards), Warlord Kro's Deviant forces, Nocturne, Skrull invasion forces, Zankor

Known Relatives: Jim Fitzpatrick and William Carmody (creators; see comments)

Aliases: "Walkman" (nickname used by Rapunzel)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Carmody Institute, New England;

First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000)

Powers/Abilities: Walkabout was a sentient robot with superhuman strength (Class 10, possibly higher) and durability thanks to his armored outer shielding and internal energy force fields. Walkabout relied on his strength in battle, though under extreme circumstances he could also detach his appendages, firing both hands and feet as makeshift missiles. Walkabout was equipped with propulsion units that allowed him to fly, complete with emergency backups.

He can apparently discharge some form of energy from his hands (as seen in the image to the left), and he has some sort of "gunport" on the palms of his gauntlets (as seen in the main image).

 It should have been obvious to me he was a blaster of some sort from his main image, which clearly shows a "gunport" in the palm of his gauntlets.

    His internal scanners were advanced and sensitive enough to scan and analyze people and situations in moments. He could detect life signs, confirm identities via retinal scans, and spot abnormalities such as Nick Fury's bionic eye implant. His memory banks contained classified defense department intelligence.

    Walkabout's thoracic cavity was designed to house William Carmody in both his brain and homunculus form. The two could merge their minds through a cyber-link that took three seconds to initiate and establish. While merged, Carmody and Walkbout moved and acted as one, though they could still communicate individually.

Height: 7'0"
Weight: 361 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None

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History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 (fb) - BTS) - At some point during the 1980s, Professor William Carmody and his associate Jim Fitzpatrick started work on a mechanical form that the bodiless Carmody (a sentient brain) could inhabit. They eventually developed a sentient robot who called itself Walkabout. While he was undergoing constant upgrades, Walkabout met the superheroes known as the First Line.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - CIA operative Nicholas Fury was ordered to infiltrate the Carmody Institute in an attempt to get a handle on Effigy, who had been taking steps to reform the First Line, using the institute as a new base of operations. At the same time, Deviant Warlord Kro decided it was high time to act on rumors he'd received about an Eternal (most likely Pixie, possibly Makkari) trying to encourage humanity's interest in "super-heroics." Kro took a small army through the subterranean tunnels in order to deal with the problem, even as 22nd century historian Cassandra Locke from Earth-700 time-warped into the First Line's base.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10) - Walkabout detected Nick Fury and proceeded to apprehend him. Scanning the World War II vet, he quickly confirmed his identity and brought him to meet Effigy, Carmody and the others. At roughly the same time, Kro ordered his Deviant forces to attack the Eternal (Pixie) he had detected on his gouger. As Pixie dodged the blasts, the Carmody Institute's klaxons went off, alerting new recruits Morph, Yeti and Rapunzel to the crisis. Walkabout brought them up to speed on whom they were facing, and then retreated to go and merge with Professor Carmody's homunculus form--Walkabout was apprehensive about this move, worried about Carmody's safety since his outer shielding had yet to be installed. The professor convinced him it was necessary, claiming he needed to take a more active role to stop the intruders. Their cybernetic merger was observed by Cassandra Locke, who was fascinated to learn of Carmody's survival. Walkabout helped turn the tide of battle, forcing the Deviants to retreat. Not wanting them to get away so easily, Walkabout ordered them stopped for interrogation. Complying, Oxbow shot a net-arrow that covered the hole the Deviants were trying to retreat back into.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - Unwilling to have his troops captured or questioned, Kro decided they should not further contaminate the gene pool. He purified them, incinerating the Deviants on the spot.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10) - After the battle, the First Line and Nick Fury had a talk with Cassandra Locke, who had decided to share the purpose of her trip to the past. The team was distrustful at first, apprehensive about time travelers following their fight against Kang the Conqueror. Walkabout called Locke's claims intriguing, while Carmody commented on the fact he might have been able to confirm Cassandra's claims if his telepathy was still at its peak. Locke finally managed to convince them of her sincerity when she mentioned the Skrull invasion force she had just (from her temporal point of view) watched destroy the team in the near future. Shocked to hear his people's plans, team leader Effigy (secretly the Skrull Velmax) grabbed Locke and tried to shake more details out of her. Even as the First Line discussed what they had learned amongst themselves, Locke decided to continue her journey into the past. Moments after her departure, Walkabout and everyone else who met Cassandra instantly forgot about her due to a counter-effect set in motion in the 22nd century (designed to limit the risk of temporal divergences caused by visiting the past).

main image (Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (fb) - BTS) - Walkabout's outer shielding was installed at some unrevealed point, allowing him to more effectively protect Carmody's homunculus form. Together, they joined the First Line in its new capacity as a loose knit band of semi-underground heroes.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 - BTS) - The First Line's nemesis Nocturne hatched a new scheme to destroy his enemies via his newly-developed Alchem-Tech. He covertly took over the top floors of the Baxter Building in New York, planning to unleash the fast spreading, continuously mutating virus-like technology from there. Nocturne took the building's occupants prisoner, locking them into containment capsules. He then managed to lure the First Line to the Baxter Building, though only Firefall, Pixie and Walkabout (without Carmody inside him) were available. Ordered by Effigy to maintain a low profile, they quietly entered the building, but soon found themselves besieged by the virus. Pixie and Firefall were overtaken, while Walkabout was hit in mid-air by a blast that short-circuited his systems.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11) - With his systems down, Walkabout's propulsion units cut out as well, which caused the robot to fall to the ground even as he attempted to get his back-up systems online. Telepathically contacted by Carmody, the robot followed his creator's instructions and rebooted units 12 through 18. This move corrected the malfunction in time to prevent a crash, however he was spotted by bystanders, who recognized him as "some kind of robot." As he flew back up to the top floors of the Baxter Building, Walkabout commented to Carmody that he regretted exposing himself to public view, since Effigy expressly stated the team should maintain a low profile. He was then faced with the realization that he was facing a rapidly replicating multitech amalgam that was acting like a virus when it began to spread to other buildings. Walkabout managed to gain access to the Baxter Building, where he located the prisoners. Even as he was about to free Firefall, who was in a capsule a few yards away, he was surprised by black amalgam tendrils that quickly started draining his energy reserves. Carmody advised his creation it was time for drastic measures and ordered him to jettison segment R-1 to free Firefall. Launching his right arm at the capsule, Walkabout's appendage shattered the glass container keeping the fiery First Liner in check. Firefall then freed Pixie, but they weren't able to free Walkabout. At that point, Nocturne showed up to gloat. Walkabout, however, kept scanning the mutating Alchem-Tech and learned it had become almost lifelike. This prompted Pixie to use her petrifaction powers on it, immediately turning the entire entity to stone, which caused it to harmlessly collapse to dust under its own weight. Nocturne, who had been tied into his creation all along, was affected as well--the First Line discovered the villain had been turned into a statue. Impressed, the newly arrived Mr. Justice wanted to see if he could remove Nocturne's mask, only to have the vampire crumble to pieces upon being touched. The First Line decided to sweep up Nocturne's remains, which Walkabout carried outside in a locked container, while commenting to Firefall that the Baxter Building's top floors could be easily repaired since its structure remained sound and further attacks seemed most unlikely.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 - BTS) - Returning to the Carmody Institute, Walkabout and the others learned the CIA had uncovered and captured (courtesy of Reed Richards) an alien called Zankor. The otherworldly shapeshifter was brought to the First Line's gathering place for questioning.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11) - Walkabout kept a respectful distance while Effigy questioned Zankor, learning that he was an advance scout for an impending, full-scale invasion.

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(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 - BTS) - Walkabout and Professor Carmody joined the First Line and their allies in opposing a Skrull invasion army headed for Earth. The heroes went out into space to confront the aliens aboard the armada's flag ship. They encountered heavy resistance from the Skrull troops, and the Earthers soon found themselves outnumbered and outmatched.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12) - Walkabout surprised a group of Skrull soldiers by tearing through a wall as he attacked them. However, a blast from one of their plasma rifles tore off the robot's right arm, exposing Carmody inside. Using his remaining arm, Walkabout crushed the skull of the Skrull who shot him, and then took a moment to analyze the damage.  With life-support at 87 percent, damage to his right thoracic cavity and interior shielding down, both heroes were vulnerable. As if on cue, Nocturne (who had stowed away to help fight the Skrulls) appeared out of the shadows and shot Carmody, claiming he never passed up a chance to settle old scores. In his dying moments, Carmody told Nocturne he'd doomed them all. Too late, Nocturne spotted an overloading Skrull blaster that Carmody had been trying to disable. Both the vampire and the heroes apparently perished in the explosion (see comments).

(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (fb))  -Several years after his apparent death, Walkabout was remembered by Pixie when she revealed the fate of the First Line to the X-Men, who had encountered wayward former First Liner Yeti on one of their adventures.

 

 

 

 

 


Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks).

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    A man's brain preserved inside a copper colored contraption? I'm not saying Walkabout sounds an awful lot like long time Doom Patrol member Robotman... But, well... You be the judge.

    Walkabout's exact origins remain unrevealed, so listing Jim Fitzpatrick as one of his creators is mostly speculation on my part. However, since it was Fitzpatrick who created the Eternal Brain's first mechanical form to allow the the bodiless Carmody to... well, walk about. It stands to reason the exoskeleton served as the basis for what eventually would become Walkabout. Fitzpatrick even called it "just a protoype" in M:TLG I#9, indicating he was planning to improve on the design.

    Walkabout was shown to have a somewhat sarcastic side to himself, greeting the arriving Mr. Justice with "Nice of you to finally join us" after the battle against Nocturne's Alchem-Tech virus had been won. It's not clear if his personality was artificial or based on someone's mind (Say, has anyone seen Jim Fitzpatrick lately?).

    Would an overloaded Skrull blaster really be enough to completely destroy Walkabout? Even if the blast exposed the section of the Skrull ship to space, Walkabout could still have survived in the vacuum. In fact, being in space gave him a far better shot at survival than remaining on board the armada when Pixie caused its destruction. So, Walkabout might still be out there, floating between the stars. And even if the original isn't located, of all the First Line members, Walkabout seems the easiest to "revive" in the modern era given his robotic nature.
    --and maybe there could have been some failsafe mechanism for Carmody to upload his mind into Walkabout?--Snood

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Walkabout should not be confused with

images: (without ads)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#11, p11, pan1 (main image)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#10, p14, pan5 (cyberlinks with Carmody)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#11, p11, pan3 (jettisoning segment R-1)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#12, p14, pan1 (critically damaged)

Appearances:
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (April 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 (May 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9 (June 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (March 2001) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig (editor)

First Posted: 03/26/2014
Last updated: 10/23/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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