My Rating
“Mighty Samson”
They finally did it. In the last part of the twentieth century the nations’ governments went to war. Launching their stockpile of nuclear weapons, mankind laid waste to the globe destroying civilization as we know it. Time passed and nature took its course. The once mighty cities of old became overgrown with mutated plant life, turning sprawling metropolises into dense jungle ecosystems. There in the remains of shattered streets and rusted out machinery, exotic new animals, mutated by the radioactive fallout, stalk the virgin landscapes looking for their next meal.
During this eco-renaissance period, the remaining humans gathered into various tribes for safety and hunting purposes. This begins the story of the Mighty Samson. Born to a member of the N’yarks tribe, Samson’s mother raised him in a world of ever constant danger. He was considered a normal child until the day a predatory plant entangled Samson and his mother in a death grip of living vines.
The toddler grabbed a hold of the trunk-like appendage and tore it in half with superhuman strength. The two escaped leaving the mother questioning the source of his abilities. It must be the radiation. Time would tell as the boy grew into a man.
What foul creature stalks the berry fields located in the ancient place called Times Square? Will Samson be able to defend his tribe against a group of bloodthirsty savages intent on enslaving his people? Is there secret magic stored inside the building with the rectangle scriptures?
“Ancient Weapon”
With the help of a young woman named Sharmaine and her eccentric father Mindor, the Mighty Samson has defeated a very large beast called a Lion Bear. Now Samson accompanies his new friends as they attempt to explore the ancient city called N’Yark.
As the three explorers search through streets overgrown with mutated plant life, they come across a building that fascinates Mindor. “Yes, I recognize those words”, Sharmaine’s father says as he points to the carvings engraved into the stone above large doorways. This was once the Armory building for the 109th U.S. Army Regiment. Inside the building the trio find very odd looking machines indeed. Some looked as big as rhinos with tracked wheels and large pipes the size of tree branches extruding from their hulls. Mindor could only hypothesize the use of such monstrosity as the machines have not been seen outside this room in centuries.
In another area of the warehouse, Mindor recognizes something he read about in his ancient books. These were called cannons. Before Mindor could explain in detail what ancient man used these for, the sounds of heavy footsteps could be heard approaching their position. As the thing grew closer to them odd crackling sounds began to fill the air. Mindor and his daughter both yelled as they realized what it was. A deadly Lightning Beast had sniffed out their position!
Can Mindor unlock the secret behind the Armory’s Death-sticks? Does Kull the Killer’s tribe have enough warriors to prevent Samson from rescuing Sharmaine? How many antlers does a six-pawed Gorilla have? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
If you’re a fan of old school Science Fiction movies like Planet of the Apes, or television shows like Thundarr the Barbarian, then you will love the Mighty Samson. I knew nothing of this series until I found a copy of this Gold Key Comic at an antique shop over a month ago. As a novice collector of the Gold Key characters, I decided to pick this up since it reminded me of all those Saturday mornings watching the Thundarr cartoon on the old 1970s console television.
After reading the first issue I can confirm this is very Planet of the Apes adjacent, with H.G. Wells’ Time Machine peppered in for good keeping. As with the times, the stories are primarily written for preteen readers, so don’t expect arduous tales of epic proportions. The first two stories focus on exploration, fighting with a competing tribe of homicidal man hunters, and mutated plant/animal life. The Mutant stuff was my favorite part of this to be honest. Who wouldn’t want to see a six-payed gorilla or flying wolf?
The art is pretty interesting but limited to the gold standard six art panels per page in most cases. I’m going to check out more of the series in the near future, so take that as a good thing. As a side note, these books still seem reasonably priced. I found issue one for less than $15 bucks. If you are looking for a cheap silver age series to collect, try out the post apocalyptic world of N’Yark. I’m giving issue one of the Mighty Samson four out of five stars.
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