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Quote1 I've got reason to believe, monster -- that anything you can do -- I can do better -- Quote2
Samson[src]

History

Early Life[]

Leonard Skivorski, Jr. was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was of Jewish descent and regularly attended yeshiva.[21] He was the son of Dr. Leonard Skivorski, Sr. a successful psychiatrist in his own right. His father specialized in treating young women and had affairs with them. He was nicknamed "Samson" by his wife because of his long hair.[1] Leonard at first wanted nothing to do with psychology, but in college he gained a PhD in psychology.[22]

Gamma Exposure[]

He came to General "Thunderbolt" Ross with a plan to cure Ross's daughter Betty, who had been transformed into a crystalline form[3] through a blood transfusion with Sandman.[23] Samson had technicians devise a Cathexis Ray projector that would drain off gamma particle energy and psionic energy from Bruce Banner as he transformed into the monstrous Hulk whom General Ross had long hunted. Samson theorized that as a result of this process, Banner would be cured of the physiological instability that continually transformed him into the Hulk. Hoping to save Betty and to be cured himself, Banner willingly participated in the experiment. The cathexis ray succeeded in turning Betty Ross back to normal, employing Banner's psionic energy.[3]

Doc Samson Vol 2 1 Textless

Doc Samson's Gamma Form

However, most of the psionic energy drained from Banner (as well as a considerable amount of his excess gamma radiation) remained within the cathexis ray projector. Motivated by scientific curiosity, and probably by a subconscious desire to gain superhuman powers for himself, Samson irradiated himself with the energies remaining within the projector. The result was that the slim, brown-haired psychiatrist was transformed into a massively-muscled, green-haired superhuman with Gamma-boosted strength. Banner himself seemed permanently cured, but he broke emotionally under the strain of seeing Betty, the woman he loved, being romanced by Samson. Banner then exposed himself to Gamma radiation, thereby undoing the cure. Samson then fought the Hulk, being defeated in his first real superhero combat, but Betty sympathized with the weaker Samson much to the Hulk's chagrin.[3]

Samson later lost his superhuman physique and power when he took a blast of concentrated gamma radiation intended for the Hulk.[24] However, months later Samson regained his gamma-mutated form and superhuman strength when he was bombarded by intensive radiation from an exploding gammatron, an experimental gamma-ray generator.[25] He has remained in this form ever since. "Doc" Samson, as he has been nicknamed, has long sought to capture and permanently cure the Hulk. Samson worked as a teacher at the Evanston campus of the Northwestern University during the recent time that the Hulk was traveling through different dimensions, unable to return to Earth. However, Samson often neglected his academic duties and returned to his pursuit of the Hulk once the monster reappeared on Earth.[26]

Doc Samson was also briefly the Director of Ravencroft Institute, a facility for the criminally insane, following the removal of Doctor Ashley Kafka as head of the facility.[27]

Civil War & World War Hulk[]

During the Superhuman Civil War Samson joined the Registered heroes and fought against the Secret Avengers.[28] Shortly afterwards, the Hulk returned to seek revenge on the Illuminati, who exiled him to space. Doc Samson helped evacuate the people of New York. Then he battled the Hulk and the Warbound. He was defeated by the Warbound and imprisoned.[29]

Thunderbolts[]

Hulk Vol 2 18 Textless

Not Doctor, just Samson

Following the Skrull invasion, Doc Samson led a support group meeting with those that had been replaced by Skrulls.[30] Later, on Air Force One, he attempted to disclose the full activities of Norman Osborn within Thunderbolts Mountain to the new United States President. Before Samson was able to play the evidence, Osborn's new Thunderbolts hijacked the plane: the Ghost took the evidence, Eric O'Grady implanted a gamma-emitter on the back of Samson's neck, causing him to grow angry and more powerful in a Hulk-like manner, and someone wearing the Green Goblin's costume attacked the airplane.[31] Samson's increased anger caused him to attack the President, but he was phased out of the plane by the Ghost. Osborn reasoned that, in his enhanced state, Doc Samson probably survived the fall, and released a global warrant for his arrest, suggesting that Samson attempted to kill the President.[32]

Red Hulk[]

A new Red Hulk appeared, and revealed that Bruce was no longer comatose, and was being imprisoned by the US military.[19] However, the Helicarrier crashed near New Jersey.[33] Tony Stark ordered Maria Hill to investigate and search for survivors. Clay Quartermain's corpse was found mangled and ravaged, and the area bathed with gamma radiation. General Ross and Samson's bodies were missing. Leonard's coat was found ripped and shredded in a Hulk-like fashion, exhibiting higher Gamma Radiation values than every other item in the wreckage.[34]

M.O.D.O.K. placed Samson under mind control producing a split personality. This led to a powerless Leonard who was defined as the good one and an evil Samson whose abilities are greater than She-Hulk's. Samson shot Rick Jones and dragged him away after he attempted to reveal who the Red Hulk really was.[8] He then engaged She-Hulk in combat but it was cut short by M.O.D.O.K. who fired a laser, knocking both unconscious and reverting Samson to Leonard. A battle between Red Hulk and Hulk caused an explosion.[35] After the Red Hulk depowered the true Hulk, Samson double crossed Red Hulk to punish him for his disobedience.[36] Afterward, Samson's darker persona took control once again, under M.O.D.O.K.'s surveillance.[1] Reverted, Doc Samson was killed attempting to help a returned Hulk contain all of the Gamma radiation from the Hulked-Out Heroes.[9]

Chaos War[]

Doc Samson was among the many deceased resurrected during the Chaos War, along with Glenn Talbot, Hiroim, Jarella, Rebecca Banner, the Abomination, and Brian Banner, who had the ability to transform into a replica of the Devil Hulk at will. They returned to the realm of the dead afterwards, with the exception of the Hulk's mother.[37]

Immortal Doc Samson[]

Samson eventually returned to life due to his nature as a gamma mutate and their connection to the mysterious Green Door. Tormented by the meaning behind his return and feeling purposeless, Samson kept a low profile and refrained from contacting his closest friends. During this time, the second superhuman civil war took place and Bruce Banner died at the hands of the archer Hawkeye as part of a form of assisted suicide. Following the death of Rick Jones, Samson contacted Betty Ross. Banner returned to life again not long afterward, and Samson set out to find him in search for answers regarding his own immortality.[12] Moments after Betty had been shot by an operative of the covert Shadow Base, Samson confronted the Hulk at the scene,[38] meeting his latest alter in control, the meticulous and vicious Devil Hulk, who shared with Samson his vision to tear down the human world for their abuse of the environment.

Leonard Samson (Earth-616) from Immortal Hulk Vol 1 33 001

Together with the Hulk, Samson investigated Shadow Base and the disappearance of Rick Jones' body from its grave.[12] When they reached the abandoned Shadow Base Site A, Samson was shot down by Bushwacker, the operative who had shot Betty.[13] He returned to life after the Hulk had collapsed the facility and left, and was picked up by the task force Gamma Flight on their way to investigate the Hulk.[14] Samson joined Gamma Flight in tracking down the Hulk, and they retrieved the mutagenic Gamma-Activated Tissue in the aftermath of a battle between the Hulk and mutated Rick Jones.[39] Shadow Base's commander, Reginald Fortean, assaulted Gamma Flight to retrieve the tissue, and killed Samson in the process.[15] After Samson returned, Gamma Flight retaliated against Shadow Base,[16] involuntarily joining forces with the Hulk and his allies when his own raid on Shadow Base coincided with Gamma Flight's incursion.[40]

In the aftermath of the confrontation, Banner seized command of Shadow Base and repurposed it for his and Devil Hulk's vision. Doc Samson defected from Gamma Flight in order to keep an eye on the Hulk.[41] As part of his efforts, the Hulk waged war against Roxxon.[42] Samson aided him in fighting giant monsters unleashed by Roxxon in Phoenix, Arizona,[43] and also in stopping Xemnu's mind control over the United States.[44] Although the Hulk's popularity skyrocketed after Xemnu's defeat, the machinations of the Leader saw the Hulk become a fugitive after the villain caused him to detonate and destroy a town.[45] The Leader also took control of Del Frye, a gamma mutate in custody of Shadow Base,[46] and killed Samson with him. Leonard was plunged into the Below-Place, the afterlife for gamma mutates where they travel to between death and resurrection, which had been taken over by the Leader. When Samson's Green Door manifested for his resurrection, the Leader blocked it.[17]

Doc Sasquatch[]

Unable to return to his own body, Samson managed to resurrect into the corpse of fellow gamma mutate Walter Langkowski aboard the Alpha Flight Low-Orbit Space Station, becoming a green-haired version of Walter's alter-ego, Sasquatch, prompting Leonard to adopt the alias of Doc Sasquatch.[2] In turn, Langkowski resurrected in Leonard's body.[47] The Hulk had been captured by Gamma Flight, and shortly after Samson's return, Banner escaped.[2] Samson and Gamma Flight walked on Alpha Flight's acting commander Henry Gyrich after he threatened to turn against them for their failure to restrain the Hulk.[48] Afterward, Samson returned to Shadow Base with Puck and Shaman to retrieve his body so that he could return to it,[49] but Langkowski had already left the scene.[47] In the process, they crossed paths with Rick Jones and Del Frye, whose bodies had been forcibly merged,[50] and the Hulk's allies, Dr. McGowan and Jackie McGee.[50]

Leonard Samson (Earth-616) from Immortal Hulk Vol 1 40 001

As Doc Sasquatch

Due to Leonard's knowledge that the Leader was pulling the strings, Gamma Flight and their new allies intercepted a confrontation between the Hulk and the Avengers, and helped Banner and Harpy, Betty Ross' new gamma alter-ego, escape.[51] After parting ways with the Hulk and his allies, Gamma Flight went on the run and settled in a safe house in New Mexico. During this time, Leonard and McGowan grew closer together.[52] The team was spurred into action when the rampage of a gamma mutate codenamed Stockpile resulted in Gamma Flight learning the existence of a rogue government program led by the Abomination called Project Green Spring. With Stockpile's help, Gamma Flight managed to shut down the organization's experiments on the town of Thomasville, and drove Abomination away.[53]

After Banner suffered new kinds of mental trauma after compartmentalizing his mind to take control of the Hulk, Samson counseled Banner to help him stay sane and was one of the few people that knew Banner was alive after he faked his death. However, Banner felt he could handle things on his own and dismissed Samson's help when the Titan persona got loose. When Banner lost control of the Hulk to the Titan, he sent an SOS to Samson with coordinates on where to find him. Samson asked Doctor Strange's help in getting to Banner. They then traveled to an abandoned Stark lab in Wundagore Mountain.[54]

Strange traveled to the portal Banner previously used to find a place to live in peace using astral projection while Samson remained with Strange's physical body. Strange located Banner, but the evil Titan persona had taken control of the Hulk and was devastating a planet full of gamma mutates. Banner discovered that the demon D'Spayre was responsible for creating the conditions that allowed Titan to take control of Hulk and made the demon undo his work. However, Titan grabbed Strange's astral form first and forced his physical form and Samson through the portal.[55]

Samson and Strange arrived on the unnamed planet and found the Hulk transformed into the Titan Hulk. Samson was knocked away by D'Spayre when the demon attacked Strange. Samson then provided gamma energy for the planet's ruler Monolith to help her fight Titan. Banner eventually took back control of his body with help from the Savage Hulk. Samson stayed on the planet to help it rebuild from the Titan's rampage as well as help explain the situation to Monolith and to Earth's heroes.[56]

Attributes

Power Grid[67]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Incalculable:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

  • Telepathic Defenses: Doc Samson has learned to recognize when his mind is being probed by telepathy, as well as having learned techniques to forcefully shock someone out of his mind by bringing his Gamma induced feelings of rage to the forefront of his thoughts, thus overwhelming the telepath and forcing them to retreat from his mind.[57]
  • Sasquatch Form: After resurrecting into the body of Walt Langkowski, Samson presumably possesses the same powers Langkowski gained in his Sasquatch form:
    • Superhuman Strength: Leonard presumably possesses enough strength to lift 90 tons like Langkowski could. Although not at strong as the Hulk or other Gamma mutates, he is strong enough to generate shock waves with a handclap.[58]
    • Superhuman Durability: As Doc Sasquatch Leonard possesses vast resistance to damage and has survived blows from the likes of Stockpile[52] and Skaar[59] and can be thrown through a wall without any damage.[4]
    • Superhuman Speed
    • Superhuman Stamina
    • Regenerative Healing Factor

Abilities

  • Gifted Intellect: Doc Samson is a skilled psychiatrist, said to be one of the most renowned on Earth.[64] He is also an M.D. as well as a PhD.[18] He has used a nutrient bath to separate Banner and the Hulk[65] and placed a rem-integrator in the Hulk's head to put him to sleep.[64] He is also a gifted inventor, physician and theoretical technician[61], having created complex devices like the Cathexis Ray Generator.[3]
  • Hand-to-Hand Combat: While he's had no formal training, his powers make him a formidable hand-to-hand combatant. He typically uses street fighting techniques that allow him to make full use of his strength.

Notes

  • Doc Samson is partly based on the biblical hero Samson, sharing a name and having the same relation between their strength and their hair's length.

Trivia

  • Samson is considered the leading expert on the effects of gamma radiation on both the body and mind. As of She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #19, he had published 38 peer reviewed papers on both the psychotropic and physiological aspects of gamma transformations.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hulk (Vol. 2) #18
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Immortal Hulk #40
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Incredible Hulk #141
  4. 4.0 4.1 Daredevil (Vol. 7) #6
  5. Doc Samson (Vol. 2) #2
  6. Defenders (Vol. 2) #5
  7. Doc Samson (Vol. 2) #1
  8. 8.0 8.1 Hulk (Vol. 2) #6
  9. 9.0 9.1 Incredible Hulk #610
  10. Incredible Hulks #619
  11. Incredible Hulks #620
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Immortal Hulk #15
  13. 13.0 13.1 Immortal Hulk #16
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Immortal Hulk #18
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Immortal Hulk #21
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Immortal Hulk #22
  17. 17.0 17.1 Immortal Hulk #37
  18. 18.0 18.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Hulk 2004 #1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Hulk 2004
  19. 19.0 19.1 Hulk (Vol. 2) #1
  20. Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
  21. Incredible Hulk #373
  22. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Hulk 2004 and official corrections
  23. Incredible Hulk #139
  24. Incredible Hulk #147
  25. Incredible Hulk #193
  26. 26.0 26.1 Incredible Hulk #314
  27. Spectacular Spider-Man #246
  28. Civil War #3
  29. World War Hulk #1
  30. Avengers: The Initiative #20
  31. Thunderbolts #128129
  32. Thunderbolts #129
  33. Hulk (Vol. 2) #2
  34. Hulk (Vol. 2) #4
  35. Incredible Hulk #600
  36. Hulk (Vol. 2) #16
  37. Incredible Hulks #619620
  38. Immortal Hulk #14
  39. Immortal Hulk #20
  40. Immortal Hulk #23
  41. Immortal Hulk #24
  42. Immortal Hulk #27
  43. Immortal Hulk #29
  44. Immortal Hulk #33
  45. Immortal Hulk #35
  46. Immortal Hulk #36
  47. 47.0 47.1 Immortal Hulk #45
  48. Immortal Hulk #42
  49. Immortal Hulk #43
  50. 50.0 50.1 Immortal Hulk #44
  51. Immortal Hulk #47
  52. 52.0 52.1 Gamma Flight #1
  53. Gamma Flight #5
  54. Hulk (Vol. 5) #12
  55. Hulk (Vol. 5) #13
  56. Hulk (Vol. 5) #14
  57. Thunderbolts #119
  58. Gamma Flight #4
  59. Gamma Flight #2
  60. Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury #1
  61. 61.0 61.1 Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1
  62. Incredible Hulk #317
  63. Immortal Hulk #50
  64. 64.0 64.1 Incredible Hulk #227
  65. Incredible Hulk #315
  66. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  67. Fall of the Hulks: Gamma Vol 1 1
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