Mighty Samson
Mighty Samson | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Western Publishing |
Format | Ongoing series |
Publication date | July 1964 - 1982 |
Number of issues | 32 |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Otto Binder |
Artist(s) | Frank Thorne, Jack Sparling |
Collected editions | |
Mighty Samson Archives, Vol. 1 | ISBN 1595825797 |
Mighty Samson Archives. Vol. 2 | ISBN 1595826599 |
Mighty Samson Archives, Vol. 3 | ISBN 1595827056 |
Mighty Samson Archives, Vol. 4 | ISBN 1595827935 |
Mighty Samson was an comic book series published Gold Key Comics. A post-apocalyptic adventure, it was set in the area around New York City, now known as "N'Yark", in an Earth devastated by a nuclear war. The series was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Frank Thorne.
Publication history
Mighty Samson ran 32 issues between 1964 and 1982. Its initial run lasted 20 issue (cover-dated July 1964 - 1969). Issues #7–20 each had a back-up story with the large-headed character Tom Morrow. Mighty Samson returned in 1972 with issue #21 and ran through #31 in 1976. The first two issues of the revival reprinted #7 and #2, respectively.
A final new story was published in Gold Key Champion #2 in 1978. Then in 1982, six years after its immediate predecessor, Whitman Comics published issue #32, which reprinted #3 but with a line-art version of #4's painted cover. It was sold bagged with Turok #130 and Dagar the Invincible #18.
Artist Jack Sparling took over the artwork with #8, and Binder and Sparling did the title through #20. In the new issues beginning with #23, art was by José Delbo, and later by Jack Abel. Most covers were fully painted by Morris Gollub. Other were generally by George Wilson. The final issue
Western Printing and Lithographing, which owns Gold Key, left 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, though Samson was not.[1]
Project Superpowers, a comic book from Alex Ross and Dynamite Entertainment announced in 2007,[2] 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.
In 2010, Dark Horse Comics began publishing the first of four hardcover archives, each reprinting several issues of the original series in one place for the first time.[3]
In December 2010, Dark Horse Comics also began a new re-imagining the Mighty Samson series.[4] Among the new creative team members are former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter serving as head writer, and artist include Patrick Olliffe. The first issue included a bonus reprint of the 1964 issue, number 1.
In 2016, Dynamite Entertainment launched Gold Key Alliance, a story with Gold Key properties, including Samson.
Fictional character biography
Samson was a heroic barbarian adventurer. In the first issue, he loses an eye to a creature called a liobear, which he kills and skins, and whose hide he would wear. He is nursed back to health by Sharmaine, whose father Mindor had extrapolate some 20th-century knowledge from artifacts.
References
- ↑ Mighty Samson at Don Markstein's Toonopedia Archived from the original on February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Newsarama (July 24, 2007): "SUPERPOWERS PREVIEW BOOK ", by Matt Brady
- ↑ Newsarama.com (September 10, 2010): DHC Revives a 60's Romp - Gold Key's MIGHTY SAMSON
- ↑ This new version,features a dark haired,hero with both eyes. This civilization is a bit more advanced than the original one.500 years after the end of the world, barbaric hordes vie for power and plunder, and monstrous, gene-twisted Teratisms stalk the ruined landscape. Queen Terra of the marauding Jerz acquires a new and deadly weapon powerful enough to shatter massive walls. From the north, Warlord Sunder marches with a fearsome host behind Dreadnought, a gargantuan, invincible Teratism over which he has gained control. Caught in the middle is Samson, the strongest man on Earth, sole protector of the struggling N'yark Tribe. At stake is the future of the world! page=user_review&id=2984 Comic Book Resources (December 16, 2010): Mighty Samson #1
External links
- Mighty Samson at the Grand Comics Database
- International Superheroes entry
- Mighty Samson at Dark Horse Comics