DAVID WALKER
Real Name: David Walker
Identity/Class: Human (World
War II Era to present)
Occupation: Retired firefighter
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Jane, Jessica Jones
Enemies: Human Torch (Jim Hammond)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, USA
First Appearance: (unidentified) Marvel Comics I#1
(October, 1939);
(identified) Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1
(December, 2014)
Powers/Abilities: David has no unusual abilities
but he was a skilled firefighter.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6'1")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 165 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Grey (originally brown)
History:
(Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1 (fb)) - When the Human Torch
first escaped the laboratory of his creator Phineas T. Horton in 1939,
he traveled recklessly through New York, setting fires due to his
inability to control his abilities. David looked after some of the
damage the Human Torch caused, during which he briefly encountered
Jane, a young woman who was afraid of the Human Torch. Although they
didn't learn each other's names, they made a lasting impression on each
other.
(Marvel Comics I#1) - David and other firefighters caught up to the Human Torch as he was wandering by and turned their fire hose on him to snuff out his flames. The Torch merely found the water "tickled" him as the water failed to put out his flame. The fire hose burst and the Human Torch fled away.
(Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1 (fb) - BTS) - David went back to look for Jane but didn't find her. Following the altercation, authorities attempted to quiet up evidence of the Human Torch's existence. Records identifying David as having encountered the Human Torch were destroyed at most levels (with the exception of high-level intelligence agencies). David was forced to sign papers agreeing to never discuss the Human Torch.
(Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1) - Decades later, Jane hired private detective Jessica Jones to find David. With the aid of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Maria Hill, Jones obtained access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s copies of the 1939 records on the Human Torch's first appearance, which included David's name. Jessica brought Jane to meet David. Although David was now confined to a wheelchair and required oxygen, he still vividly remembered his encounter with the Human Torch and seeing Jane. As he and Jane reunited, she asked if she could do anything for him. He jokingly asked if she had a time machine; when she replied that she didn't, he asked her to buy him a drink.
Comments: Created by Carl Burgos; properly fleshed out by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos.
There were three unidentified firefighters in Marvel Comics I#1 - I'm just guessing which of them David is supposed to be.
This profile was completed on 09/05/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
David Walker should not be confused with:
When Jane was a young woman, she was out one evening in Manhattan in 1939 when the Human Torch came blazing down the street, having little control over his flame powers. Jane jumped to the ground in fear, never having seen a superhuman before. Firefighter David Walker came to check on her to see that she was all right. She was taken by David's appearance but didn't learn his name.
Unable to find any record of David's identity, Jane moved on in her life and married a wealthy man. She boasted that when he died, he left her "most of Connecticut." However, she never forgot David. Believing that she needed a private detective with experience in the world of superhumans, she finally turned to Jessica Jones of Alias Investigations and asked her to find the identity of the firefighter who aided her. With the assistance of S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica identified him as David Walker and brought Jane to meet him in a reunion. Jane asked David if there was anything she could do for him. He suggested she buy him a drink.
While she was not actually seen or mentioned in Marvel Comics I#1, she would have been behind-the-scenes. --Proto-Man
--Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1/3 (Marvel 75th Anniversary celebration#1/3 (fb), 1/3,
images: (without ads)
Marvel Comics I#1, page 5, panel 5 (David, main)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1/3, page 8, panel 6 (David, old)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1/3, page 3, panel 7 (young Jane)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1/3, page 9, panel 1 (old Jane)
Appearances:
Marvel Comics I#1 (October, 1939) - Carl Burgos (writer, artist), Martin
Goodman (editor)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration#1/3 (December, 2014) - Brian
Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Gaydos (artist), Tom Brevoort
(editor), Wil Moss (editor), Mike Marts (editor)
First posted: 09/05/2026
Last updated:
02/02/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel
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should check out the real thing!
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