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
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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
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
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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/
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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.
Above: from Bible Studies Tools: https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/samson-and-delilah.html
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.
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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.
Below: The Radio Fun strip The Falcon which used to carry a photo of Sanders at the top left before that was dropped.
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Now, below we have Jessica Fletcher Angela Lansbury as Semadar and Henry Wilcoxon as Ahtur.
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
Above: Hopper ain't impressed!
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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)
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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
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/
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 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.
I hope you enjoyed this post whatever!
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