Comic book creators have come up with some pretty weird weaknesses for superheroes over the years. In the DC Universe, Green Lantern has his famous issues with yellow, while at Marvel Comics, the superhuman Spider-Man has been known to be taken down by... everyday insecticides.
However, one lesser-known Marvel superhero has shown a weakness that is not only unique, but has the potential to severely limit his nightly crusades. We refer, of course, to the Sleepwalker, an otherworldly alien who emerges every night from the mind of a college student to fight crime. Born in the 1990s from writer Bob Budiansky and artist Bret Blevins, the comic landscape at the time made all kinds of odd character quirks possible. Especially crucial weakness.
Although Sleepwalker has many awesome abilities, his connection to his human host also saddles him with a special weakness that frequently limited his effectiveness as a crime fighter. Because how long can one person really stay in bed?
Who Is Sleepwalker?
“Sleepwalker” actually refers to the alien’s job title, as he was part of a race of noble warriors who guarded the Mindscape (one of Marvel’s many different dimensions that bridge all intelligent minds in the universe). The Mindscape was filled with dangerous predators that sought to feed on the mental energies of innocents, but the Sleepwalkers regularly protected these minds by tracking down and banishing anyone attempting to ravage a psyche. During one Sleepwalker patrol, however, he fell into the mind of Rick Sheridan, a young film student, and became trapped.
Thanks to an accident in Rick’s dreams, Sleepwalker gained the ability to leave his human host’s mind whenever Rick slept. The only catch was that instead of emerging into the Mindscape as expected, he would emerge on Earth. Determined to keep protecting the innocent, Sleepwalker decided to continue his mission by battling Marvel’s supervillains. Using his incredible strength, ability to fly, and “warp vision” – a weird beam from his insect-like eyes that enabled him to reshape any physical object into what he could imagine – Sleepwalker made short work of most criminals.
And it's a good thing, too. Because as powerful as Sleepwalker was, he could only stay in the “real world” for as long as Rick slept. The instant Rick woke up, Sleepwalker would vanish and reappear inside his mind, no matter what he was doing. A weakness which resulted in some truly strange outcomes in his comic book appearances.
A Hapless Alien Superhero
Budiansky and Blevins clearly saw the dramatic and comedic possibilities of Sleepwalker’s unique vulnerability, and exploited it at every turn. Early in his superhero career, Sleepwalker teamed up with Spider-Man to take down a crime boss. However, as Sleepwalker flew Spidey over a river, Rick woke up and Sleepwalker disappeared – causing a shocked Spider-Man to fall into the waters below. This continued to happen in many of Sleepwalker’s team-ups, making other superheroes feel he was a creep who kept abandoning them whenever they needed him the most.
In a more comedic story, Rick pigged out on Chinese, Mexican, and Italian food before going to bed – causing him to wake up multiple times during the night to go to the bathroom. The same night, Sleepwalker was chasing down a group of criminals in a high-speed chase, but kept vanishing every time Rick rushed to the toilet. Sleepwalker’s great speed allowed him to catch up with the criminals once Rick went back to sleep, but he kept falling short of actually capturing them – forcing him to simply scare them into giving themselves up to the police.
But perhaps the worst example of Sleepwalker’s weakness occurred in a story where Rick accidentally knocked himself out and then fell out of the plane he was flying in. Sleepwalker emerged – but had to make sure not to wake Rick up before he managed to save him. Of course, Rick woke up constantly as he was falling, forcing Sleepwalker to get creative and use his warp vision to construct a giant wind sock to catch Rick right before he vanished, saving his human host.
Surprisingly, for all the times Sleepwalker fell prey to his bizarre weakness, his writers and artists never really turned him into a laughingstock. If anything, Sleepwalker’s limited time on Earth forced the alien to be more creative and battle ready just to compensate for his unexpected disappearances. He might have the worst weakness of any Marvel Comics superhero, but like any good warrior, Sleepwalker refuses to let it get in the way of his mission.