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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Hear Ye My Words -A Samson Mega Post!! TV, Comics and Movies


Get ready, here comes another big post that includes a lot of film, TV and comics stuff because I cater to everyone!


Above: captive Philistine warriors from a wall relief at Medinet Habu, Egypt, 1185-1152 BC.Below: an artist’s conception of a Philistine warrior. Image credit: John Shumate. Sci- News http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/science-philistines-cumin-opium-poppy-levant-03185.html
                                  
            _____________________

Now do not get me wrong: I was a big Hercules (Herakles) fan –at least of the classic version we were told and could read about –it was only after I left school that I discovered the very –very – dark side of the ‘great’ Greek heroes.  Samson (in Hebrew)  Shimshon, however, was another matter all together as he was a legendary Israelite warrior and a judge (or divinely inspired leader) renowned for his prodigious strength – derived from his uncut hair. He is portrayed in the biblical Book of Judges (chapters 13–16).

Hercules was a demi-god, half mortal and half god as Zeus like to ‘honour’ a lot of women (some times it is hard trying to keep blog posts “safe” for most ages but if you do basic research you’ll get what I mean).  Samson was, unlike Hercules, not into womanising and as a youngster I did wonder how having long hair gave you super strength and stamina –but you think “What the heck!” and go with the flow. Even at that age –I had seen Samson and Hercules in movies at an early age but started to read more about then at around 11 years of age. To me they were super heroes by another name.

Samson’s incredible exploits hint at the weight of Philistine pressure on Israel during much of Israel’s early, tribal period in Canaan (1200–1000 BCE).   Now to most people the Philistine people are a mystery though their history may be very similar to that of the “Sea People”. The Philistines were first attested to in reliefs at the Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, where they are called “Peleset”

There are several theories regarding the origins of the Philistines and some biblical passages connect them to other biblical groups such as Caphtorim and the Cherethites and Pelethites, which have both been identified with Crete and this led to the tradition of an Aegean origin –like the Sea Peoples- although, not surprisingly, this theory has been disputed. In 2016, no genetic testing results are known (to me), but a large Philistine cemetery was discovered which contained more than 150 dead buried in oval-shaped graves which indicates an Aegean origin.

But we’re all about Samson here, right?
 


The biblical narrative only alludes to Samson’s “twenty years” of activity as a judge, presents a few episodes, which are principally concerned with the beginning and the end of his activity. Before his conception, his mother, a peasant of the tribe of Dan at Zorah, near Jerusalem, was visited by an angel who told her that her son was to be a life-long Nazirite— one dedicated to the special service of God, usually through a vow of abstinence from strong drink, shaving or cutting the hair and from contact with a dead body.  So, like Hercules, I found that Samson got his “gift” from a god. Cool.

Never got a fancy costume, though.



Samson possessed extraordinary physical strength and, as always, there was a catch and in this case also a moral tale as it relates the loss of his power due to his violation of the Nazirite vow that he was bound by his virtue of his mother’s promise to the angel.  Samson first broke his “religious obligation” by feasting with a woman from the neighbouring town of Timnah. No big deal?  Well she was also a Philistine - one of Israel’s mortal enemies.
 
Above: Lamarr  and Mature
                                           -----------------------------------

Samson was one of the original resistance fighters and he decimated the Philistines in what was a private war. On one occasion he successfully repulsed their assault on him at Gaza, where he had gone to visit a “harlot” –seriously, these people really had a problem with most women it seems. “It takes two to tango” as my old Gran used to say.
 

Above: from Free Bible Images -0there are a number of these (no artist credited) that tell the full story on the page http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/samson-hair/
                                              _________________________

But, as we all know, Samson finally fell victim to Philistines through love his of Delilah, who “beguiled” him into revealing that the secret of his strength was his long Nazirite hair. As we all know, women keep all sorts of things by the bedside and Delilah was no exception: she had…hair shears (there’s evil).  So, as Samson slept, Delilah had his hair cut and betrayed him. Samson, as we know, was captured by the Philistines: blinded, and enslaved.
 

Below: The Philistines capture Samson!  Victor Mature playing Samson in the movie -this is not a photo from the period.  They had no cameras back then. 

_________________________________


For a youngster of my generation we saw all of this in glorious colour in Samson and Delila, a 1949 American romantic biblical drama film produced and directed by none other than Cecil B. DeMille. 



The movie depicts the story of Samson – “a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair” –played by the late great Victor Mature, and his love for Delilah –“the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the Philistines” boo! Hisss!. It starred the gorgeous Hedy Lamarr (no, not from the movie Blazing Saddles!).  George Sanders as the Saran, Angela Lansbury as Semadar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Ahtur.

Sanders, of course, played Mr. Freeze in a two-parter episode of the 1966 Batman TV series, was the voice of the uber malevolent man-hating tiger Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967), and as Simon Templar, "The Saint", in five films made in the 1930s and 1940s and that led to The Falcon.  The main reason was that RKO had been fighting with Leslie Charteris, creator of The Saint, so they stopped the series and then put Sanders in a new B picture series about another suave crime fighter –starting with The Gay Falcon.

Now, this is a comics blog so ‘Sanders’ characters’ comic connections should be noted.  Mr Freeze originated in DC Comics and later appearede in the Batman TV show (three different actors playing him –Sanders, Eli Wallach and even Otto Preminger!).  

The falcon appeared in Amalgamated Press’s Radio Fun weekly comic as the suave, sophisticated hero but in 1954 he gained a neat costume that had wings and helped him fly –well before Marvel Comics Falcon. Worth noting here is that, as with British movie and radio stars, those of Hollywood and their characters were used unofficially –Danny Kaye, Laurel & Hardy, Mickey Rooney and many, many others were liberally used in British weeklies.

 Above: George Sanders as the Saran
 Above: Sanders as Mr Freeze

 Above: as The Gay Falcon (come on -we're better than that!)
Below: The Radio Fun strip The Falcon which used to carry a photo of Sanders at the top left before that was dropped.
 Below: from a May, 1955 edition of Radio Fun. The Falcon...with costume and wings!  Artist: George Heath

                                                               ___________________________
Now, below we have Jessica Fletcher Angela Lansbury as Semadar  and Henry Wilcoxon as Ahtur.
 Extra Semadar...Why  not?

Anyway, Samson was blinded and enslaved because, basically, he fancied women and as the Bible told us, all women are strange and evil.  However, in the end God granted Samson ‘his’ revenge –typical of a god- through the return of his old strength.  Whereas Big John held that beam up in the collapsing mine shaft was clear and then faced his fate, Samson demolished the great Philistine temple of the god Dagon, at Gaza, destroying his captors and himself (Judges 16:4–30). This was a great scene in the movie and Samson pushing over the support columns has been depicted time and again .


Want a movie trailer?  You got it!

I am sure that Same in movies has a long list of obscure films but if only Hercules and Samson could have teamed up. Wait...what? Oh, I almost 'forgot' the 1963 movie Hercules Samson & Ulysses.

There is, of course, a trailer!



The next time the Samson story was told was 1996 and it featured Dennis Hopper (not as Samson), Eric Thal (as Samson) and Elizabeth Hurley as Delilah. It was directed by Nicolas Roeg and a German-Italian-American co-production for Turner Network TV (TNT) and filmed in Morocco.  Hopper actually plays a character named General Tariq.
 

The plot summary:

Samson is chosen by God to destroy the Philistines, who have occupied the land of Canaan. He is given the greatest strength ever known to man as long as he remains true to his vow and its conditions, yet he still is not convinced of his purpose, preferring instead to spend his time with Philistine company. He eventually falls in love with a Philistine girl, decides to marry her, but is betrayed by her on his wedding day. He soon learns she was blackmailed by the Philistine lords who are plotting his demise, and goes to reclaim her, but she has been murdered along with her entire family.
 
Above: Hopper ain't impressed!
                                                         _________________

Meanwhile, a treacherous courtesan of the king, Delilah, is convinced of her ability to bring even the mighty Samson to his knees. She appeals to Samson as a beautiful woman, and Samson is immediately taken with her. They begin the relationship of two passionate lovers, and Delilah convinces Samson of her love, ultimately seducing him into telling her the secret of his strength. Samson is thus at last captured by the Philistines, who blind him and make him into a slave, forcing him to grind grain at a millstone.



At the celebration of his and his kingdom's defeat, he is brought in chains to be both an example and entertainment to his captors. Unbeknownst to them, his strength has returned, and as he stands between the two pillars that support the building, he asks God for forgiveness. He then pushes against the pillars, collapsing the building and killing those inside, including himself.

Delilah, who was present in the temple, also dies and is –as is the case in most of these movies- as week, unwise and not really evil but genuinely in love with the hero.
 
Well, I can remember watching this and really wanting to pull my eyes out.  It seemed very clichéd and was typical of “How to re-write a Bible story movie the wrong way”.  At the time I did think that Liz Hurley could cut as much of my hair as she wanted…I had hair back then.  Now she would need to undertake a quest to find it. 


Trailer:


I know what you are thinking: “No comics?”  Ahh, you know me –there are comics! And guess what?  None other than the great Will Eisner and Alex Blum introduced us to the first comic book Samson in Fantastic Comics #1 from Fox Features Syndicate in 1939.
 
Above: Will Eisner and Alex Anthony Blum (aka: Alex Boon)

                                               _________________________________

Now, back in them days you had to take religious characters and the Bible seriously and no publisher was going to risk losing money in some backlash and Eisner and Blum knew this so their Samson was a direct descendant of the biblical Samson. Fair enough. Like his ancestor, this Samson had immense strength and stamina but loses his powers if his hair is cut which seems a bit limiting for a comic character but the fact is that his hair grew back much faster than normal. Problem solved.  His abilities did not manifest themselves until Samson reached college age and his mother revealed his ancestry.
 



Not much really went on until shortly after graduating from college when Samson’s college friend, Professor Dunn, revealed a new invention to him -the “iconoscope”.  This device allowed the viewer to observe remote scenes without a transmitter. The iconoscope picks up the image of an eastern holy man who is praying for a higher power to send someone to battle evil; Samson uses his powers to visit the holy man and agrees to be that champion.
 


In issue #10 of Fantastic Comics, as seemed to be getting more common at the time, Samson gained a young sidekick, the sole survivor of a plane crash whom Samson named David.  David had no apparent super powers but, orphaned after the crash, Samson took him into his care.
 


In 1955 Ajax / Farrell Productions revived several of the now defunct Fox Features characters, including Samson who first appeared in Samson Comics #12 and was created by Ken Battefield.  This second Samson was almost identical to Fox’s but had a modified costume and did not possess the same weaknesses as the first Samson though he did possess his strength



 Fox Features (again) 1950
Below: A Spectacular Feature: Samson and Delilah #11, April, 1950 (former title My Confession)

 


 "The story of Samson and Delilah has been told and retold for thousands of years. This great love story reveals the truths of a man's heart, and the cunning of a woman's love. When Samson and Delilah found their impassioned love, they also found a deep distrust for one another--and final destruction!"



I always thought that was a Frank Frazetta cover, however, no one, including the Grand Comics Database seems to be able to identify a writer let alone and artist for cover and interiors so if you know –let me know!

Then there was the Gold Key series Mighty Samson which began in 1964 and ran to 32 issues.  This character and his background was created by two more comic book greats –Otto Binder (writer) and possibly one of the most under rated American comic artists Frank Thorne (drawing #1 -6).  The series, as most other Gold Key series, is famous for its painted covers –in this case the artist was Morris Gollub though George Wilson painted others in the series.

 

The story is this:

In the future, New York City was destroyed after a nuclear war vs. aliens. Centuries after that, it's a jungle-choked ruin. People live like cave men, in constant danger from mutated monsters. One day a carnivorous plant grabs a mother and child. But the child tears the vines easily. "My baby has the strength of a Samson!" The child is also a mutant, with super-strength. As a teen, Samson protects the tribe, punching out buffalo-rhino hybrids and "spanking" raiders with broken lamp posts. Yet Samson's mother was struck down. Her dying words are to "use your strength... to help those in peril... and to fight evil."

 

Weeks later, foraging for food, Samson is attacked by a lio-bear. In a ruined gym, he swings on rings and kills it, but is grievously wounded and clawed. Samson is rescued by Sharmaine, a mysterious girl with "ancient medicines". As he heals, she slices up the lio-bear skin for Samson to wear as a symbol he is "the mightiest of men!"

Sharmaine leads Samson to a bank vault and her father Mindor, a home-grown scientist trying to fathom ancient secrets. He uses a "can-finder" to search for food. Samson tears off doors and opens cans with his thumb. They're attacked by scouts of Kull the Killer. Yet Samson is also inhumanly fast, and catches their spears. He stands like a rock as they hit him with a battering ram. The bad guys run. The three form a team. "Who knows? Perhaps we can even start humanity back on the road to civilization!"
 



You can read more and see a lot of cover art at Comics Vine: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/mighty-samson/4050-2206/

 And, yes, I know he wasn't the Biblical Samson but go with the flow will you -it's comics!

Metron Press 2002

Samson: Judge of Israel is the story Adapted by Mario Ruiz and Jerry Novick with art by Mario Ruiz. Metron described the book thus:

Samson: Judge of Israel is a stunning graphic novel based on one of the most famous stories of the Bible. Samson is a simple man with the strength of a titan. He was chosen before birth to be one of Israel's great leaders with the cleverness and power to liberate his people from the oppression of the Philistines.

“However, Samson's own arrogance and his betrayal by a woman of great beauty casts him into slavery. But the hero's epic strength and renewed faith ultimately vanquish his Philistine foes, making him one of the Bible's most heroic figures…You'll be swept away by his might; torn by his pain; and awe-struck by his last courageous act!”

This was 72 pages in full colour and I can tell you now that I doubt this appeared in any UK comic shop.  Anything smacking of religion is treated as being as obnoxious as a small press comic. I have certainly never seen it.   After one hour of scouring the internet I have found no interior art pages to show just cover art.

If you read it and it was any good let me know (I know you won't but I do have to ask!).


Dynamite Entertainment  2008

In Dynamite Entertainment's Project Powers  was a limited series that began in January, 2008.  the series was co-plotted by Jim Krueger, who scripted, and Alex Ross, who provided the covers.  The interior art was by Doug Klauba and Stephen Sadowski for issue #0, and then Carlos Paul for the remainder of the series.

 

 In this series Samson and David are, like a lot of other Golden Age heroes the series utilised, captured in the Urn of Pandora by the misguided Fighting Yank. For 60 years the heroes and super villains are trapped in limbo.  Not until the Fighting Yank realizes his mistake and smashes the Urn are they released.
 
Samson emerges but looks very different from the man who went into limbo and wears a blind fold over his eyes much like his ancestor wore after his eyes were cut out. Samson seems to have a new power however. It is some sort of sense that allows him to move as if he had sight instead of being totally blinded.

 

The series actually suffered from piling in too many characters and cramming in dialogue and was not well organised –I had to read it twice to try to understand what was going on in places.  Samson reminded me a lot more of the blind-folded Libra from Marvel Comics and could have done with a title of his own to develop the character.  Still, an interesting read and I can be a bit of an acidic sod at times.

Kingstone Comics 2010

This is a 32 pages telling of the Samson story or as this religious publisher puts it: “Christian comic book that tells the story of Samson. He was Israel’s strongest hero, but also the weakest morally”.  The only credit is Art Ayris whose name sounded familiar and I found his web site that tells me:

"Art Ayris is the founder of Kingstone and the catalyst behind the Kingstone Bible, the most complete graphic adaptation of the Bible ever done. In his role as both a writer and a publisher, Ayris assembled a team of name comic artists with runs at top houses such as Marvel and DC and paired them with evangelical writers to compile the Kingstone Bible, a 2000-plus page fully illustrated Bible trilogy which is being translated into multiple languages worldwide”.

Danny Bulanadi, Zach Matheny and Edward Bola are listed on the cover as can be seen. The web page is basically to promote Ayris and sell the books. Good luck finding actual artist credits unless they are on the cover.


Dark Horse 2011

Mighty Samson

With veteran writer Jim Shooter and artist Pat Olliffe, Dark Horse decided to give the character a go and Raymond Swanland provided the epic covers.

The story takes place 500 years after the end of the world where, among the over-grown ruins and “in tangled jungles where misbegotten horrors lurk, barbarian armies battle for supremacy”.  Samson allies himself with Queen Terra of the Jerz and her barbarian horde in order to save the world from Warlord Sunder’s dreaded behemoths.




However, and this should not really come as a surprise, the irresistible Terra has wicked ways of turning allies into lovers. “Inflamed and enraptured” by Terra, poor old Samson becomes more and more ruthless to please her. If he loses himself to the dark passions she arouses then just who will save the world from him?

Excuse me: "Jerz She-Devil"...did Shooter make a Jersey Devil joke there?





And I will confess that I have not seen nor read this particular series which may be a lot better than the "blurb" write-up.  After All, Jim Shooter is no slouch at writing. Even if that was a Jersey Devil joke!

Dynamite Entertainment (again) 2016

This five issue mini-series was written by Phil Hester and drawn by Brent Peeples and cover by Felipe Massafera and was Dynamite's re-boot of their own re-booted series in an attempt to create a combined and unified universe from their Gold Key properties including Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Solar, Man of the Atom (also Doctor Solar, Solar Woman of the Atom), The Mighty Samson and Doctor Spektor.


By this time I had given up on the three comics shops in the city who could not be relied on to stock anything smacking of Independence from the mainstream so I missed this.

The plot is simple enough: with their universe being torn apart, Turok, Magnus, Samson, and Solar are lured by Dr. Spektor into a strange dimension where only the ultimate sacrifice will be enough to preserve reality. Which is not enough to entice you in even if they did add “Do not miss the soul-searing climax to this critically acclaimed series!”


No mention of who critically acclaimed it and reviews online seem pretty so-so.

I am aware there there are a few Samson comics from Independent publishers but I have not seen them, not sure whether they have appeared and even if they have -I am not rich!  


I do not think that we have seen the end of Samson in TV shows, comics or movies. And, yes, I know there is a new Samson movie out and here is hoping it is a good one.  The trailer certainly looks interesting.


Now, if you have enjoyed this post then please check out the Black Tower online store.  Why? Because I need to sell books and if I sell books I can keep concentrating on more and more interesting posts.

I hope you enjoyed this post whatever!







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