Mighty Samson

Mighty Samson Gold Key Comics ''
Mighty Samson was an original comic book series from Gold Key Comics. Similar to other 'earth after disaster' titles like Kamandi,published years later by DC Comics and their own Atomic Knights or the like, it was set the area around "N'Yark", in an Earth devastated by a nuclear war.This is also similar to material Andre Norton's Daybreak 2250,also known as Starmate's Son,movies Roger Corman's Teenage Caveman,.The good is Gold Key stayed away from your standard superhero format,with the exception of Doctor Solar and Magnus Robot Fighter,which also more science fiction,than current day crimefighter,that all rest were and still are.Too bad Gold Key isn't a trend others follow today,than the big two dinosaurs.Myghty Samson is somewhat like the later made tv movie pilot for a possable series Genesis II,about Dilan Hunt being frozen and waking up in year 2395.And strangely enough there a big,blond giant Isia,in the story,working for PAX-the organization that found Dilan Hunt.We can only guess Gold Key comics desided create this book because of the success of other similar heroes like Tarzan,Karak,Turok-Son of Stone,The Jungle Twines,



Real Name:Samson

Identity/Class:Mutant human

Occupation:Barbaric hero

Sharmaine and her father Mindor

Enemies: 

Known Relatives:

Aliases:Thundarr the Barbarian

Base of Operations: N'Yark

First Appearance: (Gold Key)

Powers/Abilities:Strenth,

History:

Comments:

CLARIFICATIONS:

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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Samson grabs a typical foe in an atypical way. Artist: Morris Gollub.

MIGHTY SAMSON Medium: Comic books Published by: Gold Key Comics First Appeared: 1964 Creators: Otto Binder (writer) and Frank Thorne (artist) If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, reading comic books in the 1960s had known since birth that it was possible for an all-out war to destroy civilization — but the comics they were reading were slow to respond to … continued below … the fact. DC Comics' Atomic Knights series, set in a post-Catastrophe future, began a full 15 years after Hiroshima and lasted only 15 quarterly episodes.Gold Key's Mighty Samson started when the Knights had been gone a year (July, 1964, to be exact), but lasted much longer. The 1970s brought DC's Kamandi, Marvel's War of the Worlds and others set after the Collapse, but for the rest of the '60s, Mighty Samson was the only one.

Samson (no relation) was first seen as a solitary barbarian-style adventurer in a region known as N'Yark-somehow after the nuclear war people forgot how pronounce and spell New York City, where jungle was reclaiming a landscape that consisted mostly of ruined skyscrapers. Radiation-spawned mutants, beast and man, littered the landscape, and these mutants were more like the grotesqueries of Judge Dredd's world than the "nice" mutants found in Marvel Comics' X-Men.

Samson himself was a mutant, one of the few whose mutation was relatively benign — he was amazingly large and strong, hence the name. But he used his strength only for good, having promised his mother, on her deathbed, to help others rather than dominate them. In the first issue, Samson lost an eye to a liobear, one of the large carnivores inhabiting N'Yark. A young woman named Sharmaine nursed him back to health, aided by the 20th century knowledge her father, Mindor, had managed to reconstruct from surviving artifacts. Samson repaid their kindness by protecting them from raiding savages, and from then on, Samson and Sharmaine were an "item". He cut quite a dashing figure, with a fur patch over one eye and wearing a liobear skin. Samson and his entourage were created by writer Otto Binder (best remembered for Captain Marvel, but also known for such oddities as Space Cabby and Fatman the Human Flying Saucer) and artist Frank Thorne (Red Sonja, Ghita of Alizarr). Most covers were fully painted by Morris Gollub, who haddone dozens of covers for Dell and Gold Key. Those not painted by Gollub were generally by George Wilson, another Dell/Gold Key regular.

Mighty Samson was published on a regular basis until 1969, then again in the mid-1970s. The final issue, and the only one with a line-drawn cover, staggered to the stands in 1982, six years after its immediate predecessor. 32 issues were published altogether. Samson also starred in one issue of Gold Key Champion, which came out in 1978. There doesn't seem to have been any attempt to license him to other media, so he's never appeared on TV, in theatres, or even on a pair of Underoos. Western Printing and Lithographing, which owns Gold Key, got out of the comic book business in 1984.

A few years later some of its properties, such as Doctor Solar and Turok, Son of Stone, were picked up by Valiant Comics, but Samson wasn't one of them. — DDM BACK to Don Markstein's Toonopedia™ Home Page Today in Toons: Every day's an anniversary! Google Web www.toonopedia.com Purchase Toon-related Merchandise Online Text ©2002-08 Donald D. Markstein. Art © Western Printing.

Mighty Samson lasted 32 issues between 1964-82. The first issue was published in July 1964. The title was cancelled with #20 (1969). Issues 7-20 each had a back-up story with the large-headed character Tom Morrow. Mighty Samson was brought back in 1972 (probably due to the popularity of Star Trek), and lasted until #31 in 1976. The first two new issues were reprints; issue #21 (reprinting #7), and issue #22 (reprinting #2). A final new story was published in Gold Key Champion #2 in 1978. #32 (a reprint of #3, but with a line-art version of #4's cover) was published under the "Whitman Comics" line in 1982, and sold in a bag with Turok #130 and Dagar the Invincible #18.

Mighty Samson was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Frank Thorne. Artist Jack Sparling tookover the artwork with #6, and Otto and Jack did the title through #20. In the new issues beginning with #23, art was by Jose Delbo, and later by Jack Abel.

Samson was a wandering barbarian adventurer. An apparent mutant, due to his size and strength, but one who did only good. In the first issue, he loses an eye to a liobear, who he kills and skins (and whose hide he would wear). He is nursed back to health by Sharmaine, whose father Mindor had figured out some 20th Century knowledge from artifacts from the past.

Project Superpowers, a comic book from Alex Ross and Dynamite Entertainment announced in 2007,&lt;ref&gt;Newsarama (July 24, 2007): "SUPERPOWERS PREVIEW BOOK ", by Matt Brady&lt;/ref&gt; reviving many golden-age comic book characters will feature a Samson that is ostensibly the golden age Fox Features Samson, though the visual design seems to have been inspired by the Gold Key character.

==

First Story      "Mighty Samson" ==== ==

Cover: ??? Writer: Otto Binder       Artist: Frank Thorne       32 pages       12¢

Characters: Mighty Samson, Samson's      mother, tribespeople, Sharmaine, Mindor

Synopsis: "Samson uses his      stupendous strength to battle fantastic creatures in a primitive       world of the future!"

"A once-great city lies in      ruins..." This is New York, a jungle-choked ruin, long after      the great atomic wars of the 20th Century.

One day a piece of the jungle,      "the Plant-That-Eats", reaches for a child. The boy's      mother is snared too. "We can't escape now!" But "the      boy's tiny hands, tugging curiously at the noose, snap the tough       fiber like string.

Mighty Samson



NB: There are a few minor errors in Don's summary of the comic (e.g., it was never published by Dell, only Gold Key from issue #1; the final issue was a reprint issued under the Whitman logo ONLY, and featured a re-drawn line version of the painted cover of #4) but your question about Samson's fate after his brief heyday is addressed here:

Mighty Samson was published on a regular basis until 1969, then again in the mid-1970s. The final issue, and the only one with a line-drawn cover, staggered to the stands in 1982, six years after its immediate predecessor. 32 issues were published altogether. Samson also starred in one issue of Gold Key Champion, which came out in 1978. There doesn't seem to have been any attempt to license him to other media, so he's never appeared on TV, in theatres, or even on a pair of Underoos.

Western Printing and Lithographing, which owns Gold Key, got out of the comic book business in 1984. A few years later some of its properties, such as Doctor Solar and Turok, Son of Stone, were picked up by Valiant Comics, but Samson wasn't one of them

The writer, Otto Binder, obviously had a lot of fun populating "N'Yark" with all kinds of mutated monstrosities, and even though the characters are just plain dumb and the stories hopelessly juvenile, the comic undeniably held a certain charm that still attracts. Frank Thorne's art is uniformly excellent, and I recall poring over the painted covers for hours!

"The young mother... recalls      a legendary hero still known among the N'Yarks... 'My baby! You       have the strength of a Samson!'"

Radiation is the reason. A belt      of glowing mist still circles the Earth. Mutant animals and plants      spring up everywhere - and a few mutant humans such as Samson.

Teen Samson can outpull all the      other boys at tug-of-war. He can rip up a tree for firewood. Heave a car aside. And can kill a buffalo-rhino single-handed. He helps the tribe survive - and thrive.

One day, "after Samson reached      manhood", a warlike tribe attacks. Samson's mother yells      for him to help, so he snaps off an iron lamppost. With one swipe      he bowls over the enemy tribesmen, and spanks them into the jungle

"But triumph turns to tragedy..." Samson's mother was struck down in battle. Her dying words are,      "Samson... use your strength... to help those in peril...       and to fight evil... Goodbye, my son...." Samson promises.

Weeks later, "the most fearsome      of the mutant monsters" shambles up. The liobear! (Half      lion, half bear, as seen on the cover.)

Another nifty Dell and Gold Key      feature were the pinups on the back. It was the original gorgeous      PAINTED cover without any words except a small title. Lovely.

Mighty Samson - "The Renegade Robot"
Comic sample on the right-my right

Samson was a giant, blond mutant roaming the post-apocalyptic landscape of North America. He served as protector/guide to Sharmaine (who nursed him after a battle with an irradiated monster) and her father, Mindor, archivist of the new world. The title follows the three as they struggle to survive in a shattered world of ruins and mutated monsters.

In this tale Samson struggles with an ex Secret Service robot gone blinky and Queen Terra – who certainly has a royal temper. The cover was painted by Morris Gollub, and the writer and artist team for the story was Otto Binder and Jack Sparling, respectively. Sparling was very good at action panels and a gifted caricaturist - as our trio’s visit to the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials will attest. This is from Mighty Samson No. 9, March, 1967. All scans are of my own comic. Just click the image for the big picture.

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