{"id":26484,"date":"2022-09-13T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T08:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26484"},"modified":"2022-09-12T11:53:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T11:53:30","slug":"mighty-samson-archives-volume-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/09\/13\/mighty-samson-archives-volume-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Mighty Samson Archives volume one"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy <\/span>Otto Binder<\/span><\/b> & <\/span>Frank Thorne<\/span><\/b> & various (Dark Horse Comics)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nISBN: 978-1-59582-579-7 (HB)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These days all the attention in comics circles goes to big-hitters and headline-grabbing ground-breakers, but once upon a time, when funnybooks were cheap as well as plentiful, a kid (whatever their age) could afford to follow the pack and still find time and room to enjoy quirky outliers: B through Z listers, oddly off-kilter concepts and champions far falling outside the accepted parameters of standard super-types\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A classic example of that exuberant freedom of expression was the relatively angst-free dystopian tomorrow of <\/span>Mighty Samson<\/span><\/b>, who had a sporadic yet extended comics career of 32 issues spanning 1964 to 1982.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although set in the aftermath of an atomic Armageddon, the story of the survivors was a blend of updated myth, pioneer adventure and superhero shtick, liberally leavened with variations of the incredible creatures and sci fi monsters the industry thrived on back then.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Comics colossus Dell\/Gold Key\/Whitman had one of the most complicated publishing set-ups in history, but that didn\u2019t matter one iota to kids of all ages who consumed their vastly varied product. Based in Racine, Wisconsin, Whitman had been a crucial component of monolithic Western Publishing and Lithography Company since 1915: drawing upon huge commercial resources and industry connections that came with editorial offices on both coasts. They even boasted a subsidiary printing plant in Poughkeepsie, New York.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another connection was with fellow Western subsidiary K.K. Publications (named for licensing legend Kay Kamen who facilitated extremely lucrative \u201clicense to print money\u201d merchandising deals for Walt Disney Studios between 1933 and 1949). From 1938, the affiliated companies\u2019 comic book output was released under a partnership deal with a \u201cpulps\u201d periodical publisher under the umbrella imprint Dell Comics – and again those creative staff and commercial contacts fed into the line-up of the <\/span>Big Little<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Little Golden<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Golden Press<\/span><\/b> books for younger children. This partnership ended in 1962 and Western had to swiftly reinvent its comics division as Gold Key.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Western Publishing had been a major player since comics\u2019 earliest days, blending a huge tranche of licensed titles including newspaper strips, TV tie-in and Disney titles (like <\/span>Nancy and Sluggo<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Tarzan<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>The Lone Ranger<\/span><\/b>) with in-house originations such as <\/span>Turok, Son of Stone<\/span><\/b>,<\/span> Brain Boy<\/span><\/b> and<\/span> Kona: Monarch of Monster Isle<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dell and Western split just as a comic book resurgence triggered a host of new titles and companies, and a superhero boom. Independent of Dell, new outfit Gold Key launched original adventure titles including <\/span>Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>Magnus – Robot Fighter<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>M.A.R.S. Patrol <\/span><\/b>– <\/span>Total War<\/span><\/b>;<\/span> Space Family Robinson <\/span><\/b>a<\/span>nd many more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a publisher, Gold Key never really \u201cgot\u201d the melodramatic, frequently mock-heroic Sturm und Drang of the 1960s superhero boom – although for many of us, the understated functionality of classics like <\/span>Magnus<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Doctor Solar <\/span><\/b>or the crime-fighting iterations of classic movie monsters <\/span>Dracula<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Frankenstein<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Werewolf<\/span><\/b> were utterly irresistible. The sheer off-the-wall lunacy of features like <\/span>Neutro<\/span><\/b> or <\/span>Dr. Spektor<\/span><\/b> I will reserve for a future occasion\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This superb first full-colour hardback compilation – printed on a reassuringly sturdy and comforting grainy old-school pulp stock rather than glossy paper – gathers the first half dozen issues of <\/span>Mighty Samson<\/span><\/b>, as anonymously created by industry giants Otto Binder & Frank Thorne. It even includes some monochrome single-page fact-features and the mesmerising painted covers by unsung master illustrators Morris Gollub and George Wilson.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These covers were reproduced text-free on the back of each issue and probably graced many a kid\u2019s bedroom wall way back when. You get those too, but I\u2019d suggest scanners rather than scissors this time around\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Otto Binder was a quintessential jobbing writer. He and his brother Earl were early fans of science fiction, making their first professional sale to <\/span>Amazing Stories<\/span><\/b> in 1930. As \u201cEando Binder\u201d their pulp-fiction and novels output continued well into the 1970s, with Otto rightly famed for his creation of primal robotic hero <\/span>Adam Link<\/span><\/i><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From 1939 onwards, Otto was also a prolific comic book scripter, most beloved and revered for the invention and perfection of a humorous blend of spectacular action, self-deprecating humour and gentle whimsy as characterised by the Fawcett <\/span>Captain Marvel<\/span><\/b> line of titles (and later in DC\u2019s <\/span>Superman\u2019s Pal Jimmy Olsen<\/span><\/b>). Binder was also constantly employed by many other publishers and amongst his most memorable inventions and innovations are Timely\u2019s <\/span>Young Allies<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Mr. Mind<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Brainiac<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Krypto the Super Dog<\/span><\/b> and the <\/span>Legion of Super-Heroes<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his later life, he moved into editing, producing factual science books and writing for NASA.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank Thorne was one of the most individualistic talents in American comics. Born in 1930, he began his comics career drawing romance stories for Standard Comics beside the legendary Alex Toth before graduating to better-paid newspaper strips, such as <\/span>Perry Mason<\/span><\/b> for King Features Syndicate. For Dell\/Gold Key he drew comic book classics <\/span>Flash Gordon<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Jungle Jim <\/span><\/b>and <\/span>The Green Hornet<\/span><\/b>, as well as the first few years of this seminal sci-fi classic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For DC he did compelling work on <\/span>Tomahawk<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Son of Tomahawk<\/span><\/b> before being hired by Roy Thomas at Marvel to illustrate his belated breakthrough strip <\/span>Red Sonja<\/span><\/b>. Forever-after connected with feisty, earthy, highly sexualised women, in 1978 Thorne created outrageously bawdy (some say vulgar) swordswoman <\/span>Ghita of Alizarr<\/span><\/b> for Warren\u2019s adult science fantasy anthology <\/span>1984<\/span><\/b>\/<\/span>1994<\/span><\/b> as well as such adult satirical strips as <\/span>Moonshine McJugs<\/span><\/i> for <\/span>Playboy<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Danger Rangerette<\/span><\/i> for <\/span>National Lampoon<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thorne eventually won the National Cartoonists Award for comic books, an Inkpot Award and a Playboy Editorial Award, but was still a fairly by-the-book illustrator at the time of this collection\u2019s content. In fact, it was on <\/span>Mighty Samson<\/span><\/b> that he opened up and found his own unique artistic vision: one which would carry him to the forefront of stylists with the satirical and erotic works of his later years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s meat for other reviews, but here the creators combine to craft a beguiling otherworld of action, adventure and drama suitable for most kids of all ages and a milieu which would be perfectly at home today on any Kids channel\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The strip, its merits and the incredible careers of its originators are fully and lovingly discussed by Dylan Williams in his Foreword <\/span>\u2018The Mighty Samson Comics of Frank Thorne and Otto Binder\u2019<\/span><\/i>, and there are full <\/span>\u2018Creator Biographies\u2019 <\/span><\/i>at the end of the book, but what really matters is the sublime yarns reprinted between those points: no-nonsense, high-fantasy yarns at once self-contained, episodic, exciting, enticing and deceptively witty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the first magnetic painted cover from Gollub, the eponymous <\/span>\u2018Mighty Samson\u2019 <\/span><\/i>(#1, July 1964) introduces the bombed out former metropolis of <\/span>N\u2019Yark<\/span><\/i>: a dismal dangerous region where human primitives cling to the ruins, striving daily against mutated plants and monsters and less easily identified blends somewhere in between\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A remarkable occurrence begins one day when a toddler is grabbed by a predatory plant and casually tears the terror apart with his podgy little hands. Years pass and the child grows tall and clean-limbed, and it\u2019s clear that he too is a mutant: immensely strong, fast and durable\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Impassioned by his mother\u2019s dying words – \u201cprotect the weak from the powerful, the good from the evil\u201d – Samson becomes the champion of his people, battling the beasts and monsters imperilling the city. Sadly, these struggles are not without cost, such as when he kills the immense Liobear, but loses his right eye in the struggle\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The clash proves a turning point in his life as his terrible wounds are dressed by a stranger named <\/span>Sharmaine<\/span><\/i>. She and her father <\/span>Mindor<\/span><\/i> are voluntary outcasts in the city: shunning contact with superstitious tribes whilst gathering lost secrets of science.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are striving to bring humanity out of its second stone age and, fired with inspiration, Samson agrees to join in their self-appointed mission: defending them from all threats as they carry out their work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There were generally two complete adventures per issue, and the quest continues in <\/span>\u2018Ancient Weapon\u2019 <\/span><\/i>as the trio\u2019s scavenging leads them through a gauntlet of horrendous mutant monsters to an ancient armoury where sagacious Mindor deciphers the secrets of sticks which kill from a distance. Unfortunately, the discovery is observed by brutal warlord <\/span>Kull the Killer<\/span><\/i> who takes Sharmaine hostage to seize control of the rediscovered death-technology. Thankfully, the tyrant and his warriors never suspect Samson is as clever as he is strong\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was nearly a year until a second issue was released (#2, June 1965), but when it finally arrived it was at full throttle. <\/span>\u2018The Riddle of the Raids\u2019<\/span><\/i> sees the wandering science nomads buzzed by a flying saucer which proves to be the vehicle of choice of a new arch foe.<\/span> Terra<\/span><\/i> is an exotic mystery woman possessing many lost technological secrets who has emerged after years underground in a bunker from the old world. Her store of atomic batteries finally exhausted, she begins raiding across the toxic, monster-infested <\/span>Huzon River<\/span> from the wastelands of <\/span>Jerz<\/span>, and quickly recruits Kull to her cause. However, even working in unison they are no match for Mighty Samson and once he drives them off, aged Mindor is able to add greatly to mankind\u2019s store of recovered knowledge\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Intent on uncovering the truth about <\/span>\u2018The Maid of Mystery\u2019<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> Samson makes the perilous excursion across the devastated George Washington Bridge to invade Terra\u2019s subterranean fortress in Jerz. Although faced with Kull\u2019s monstrous minions and captured, the one-eyed hero soon escapes, but not before making a lasting impression on the evil empress of forgotten lore\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More lost secrets emerge in #3 (September 1965) after the atomic archaeologists unearth <\/span>\u2018Peril from the Past\u2019<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Dr. John Pitt<\/span><\/i> was working in an atomic bunker when the civilisation ended, somehow falling into suspended animation before being revived by jubilant Mindor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Determined to glean everything possible from the shaken survivor, his hopes are continually dashed as a geological accident in an old chemical factory threatens N\u2019Yark with toxic clouds of radioactive poison. However, as the reawakened chemist works with his rescuers to end the threat, Sharmaine suspects the old-worlder is hiding something\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tragic truth about Pitt comes out as he and Samson begin <\/span>\u2018The Desperate Mission\u2019 <\/span><\/i>to snuff out the source of the death cloud, but it is only a prelude to a greater, final loss\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With <\/span>Mighty Samson<\/span><\/b> #4 (December 1965), the turbulent world of tomorrow expanded exponentially as N\u2019Yark endured raids by post-apocalyptic Vikings from pastoral paradise Greelynd. Barbaric despot <\/span>Thorr<\/span><\/i> leads <\/span>\u2018The Metal Stealers\u2019 <\/span><\/i>in stripping the ruins of all its scrap alloys; sailing them to a distant Nordic castle where he has rediscovered the processes of smelting and forging.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Samson doggedly tracks him across unknown oceans, not just because he has stolen the city\u2019s heritage and vital resources, but also because the reaver kidnapped Sharmaine and seemingly turned Mindor\u2019s head with promises of technological resources and total freedom to experiment\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, all is not as it seems and when Samson invades Thorr\u2019s <\/span>\u2018Sinister Stronghold\u2019<\/span><\/i> to battle the tyrant\u2019s legion of monsters, idealistic Mindor\u2019s seeming compliance is revealed as a clever scheme to defeat the resource raider\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Returned to their shattered home, the allies are helpless against the mounting radioactive peril of <\/span>\u2018The Death Geysers\u2019<\/span><\/i> (#5, March 1966) erupting from beneath the city. With large portions of N\u2019Yark now no-go areas, hope apparently materialises in the form of <\/span>Vaxar<\/span><\/i>: a newcomer versed in science, whom Samson rescues from a voracious \u201c<\/span>Gulping Blob<\/span>\u201d. The stranger eagerly joins their efforts to neutralise the geyser menace, but the researcher\u2019s every invention is countered by monstrous, bestial mutant <\/span>Oggar<\/span><\/i> who is every inch Samson\u2019s physical equal\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, clear-headed Sharmaine is the one who deduces the truth about <\/span>\u2018The Double Enemy\u2019 <\/span><\/i>in their midst and, as Vaxar\u2019s terrible secret is exposed, awesome natural forces combine with a most terrifying artefact of recovered weaponry to end the threat of both Oggar and the geysers\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These utterly accessible, exultant and exuberant romps conclude in this volume with a sop to the then-escalating \u201cspace race\u201d between Russia and the USA. Issue #6 (June 1966) opens with N\u2019Yark bombarded by <\/span>\u2018The Sinister Satellites\u2019<\/span><\/i> of a forgotten era, haphazardly crashing to earth around the city. Consulting his preciously-hoarded records, Mindor ascertains they are lost technology he simply must possess, but finds himself in deadly contention with Terra of Jerz for the fallen stars.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

None too soon, suspicious Samson and Sharmaine discover the evil queen of science is actually pulling the satellites out of the skies with a magnetic cannon, but as they move to stop her, an unintended consequence of her meddling unleashes <\/span>\u2018The Monster from Space\u2019 <\/span><\/i>growing uncontrollably and soon set to devour the entire continent should Mighty Samson not find some way to kill it\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This excellent tome has one last treat in store, as a brace of monochrome pictorial fact features – also illustrated by Thorne – reveal a few salient facts about the iconic Empire State Building in<\/span> \u2018The Mighty Tower\u2019 <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> \u2018The World\u2019s Tallest\u2019<\/span><\/i>, both originally produced as frontispieces for the advert-free original comic books.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bizarre, action-packed and fabulously bombastic, Binder\u2019s modern myth of a rationalist Hercules battling atom-spawned Titans and devils is a stunning spectacle of thrill-a-minute wonderment from start to finish, with artist Thorne visibly shaking off his artistic chains on every succeeding page. These tales are lost gems from an era when fun was paramount and entertainment a mandatory requirement. This is comics the way they were and really should be again\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nMighty Samson <\/span>\u00ae Volume One <\/span>\u2122 & \u00a9 <\/span>2010 Random House, Inc. Under license to Classic Media LCC. All rights reserved. All other material, unless otherwise specified, \u00a9 2010 Dark Horse Comics, Inc. All rights reserved<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Otto Binder & Frank Thorne & various (Dark Horse Comics)\u00a0 ISBN: 978-1-59582-579-7 (HB)\u00a0 These days all the attention in comics circles goes to big-hitters and headline-grabbing ground-breakers, but once upon a time, when funnybooks were cheap as well as plentiful, a kid (whatever their age) could afford to follow the pack and still find … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Mighty Samson Archives volume one”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,127,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6Ta","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26487,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484\/revisions\/26487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}