samson050623

Oh Splash! It’s Samson the Strong Man! Samson is a forebear of the modern superhero, cut from the same cloth as one of our old favorites, Hugo Hercules (their very names call forth strong men of legend, for crying out loud). Samson made his debut in 1905–an awfully long time ago for sure–but that only earns him the distinction of being one of the earliest supermen of the comics page, beaten to the punch at least by the aforementioned Hugo and the high flying Billy Bounce.  My enthusiasm is squelched a bit by the racial stereotyping, but for the sake of superhero history, Samson is an interesting find.