Doc Samson - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Leonard Samson was born Leonard Skivorski, Jr. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father, Dr. Leonard "Leo" Skivorski, was a popular psychiatrist in his hometown who specialized in treating young women, often conducting extramarital affairs with them. Mrs. Skivorski had nicknamed her husband "Samson" after his long hair. Leonard Jr. initially expressed disinterest in becoming a psychiatrist, perhaps because he resented his father's philandering. Despite this, he became a college professor and psychiatrist. After Robert Bruce Banner was temporarily cured of being the Hulk by siphoning off the gamma radiation that caused his transformations, Samson, who had been working with Banner/Hulk in his job as a psychiatrist, exposed himself to some of the siphoned radiation, granting him a superhumanly strong and muscular physique and causing his hair to turn green and to grow long, reminiscent of his biblical namesake. Initially, Samson's physical strength depends upon the length of his hair, though his gamma mutation eventually stabilized, making the length of his hair no longer a factor. Shortly afterward, his flirting with Betty Ross causes a jealous Banner to re-expose himself to radiation, becoming the Hulk once more to battle Samson. Samson learns that his power decreases when he cuts his green hair, but he loses his powers due to the bombardment of intense gamma radiation. Feeling guilty about his role in his patient's return to being the Hulk, Samson would spend much time working with Banner over the years.

Samson eventually regains his powers in a gamma ray explosion. He joins the Gamma Base staff. Alongside S.H.I.E.L.D., he battles the Hulk. He shrinks and projects the Hulk into Glenn Talbot's brain to cure Talbot of amnesia. Samson then battles the Rhino.

Samson is captured by the Leader. He joins forces with the Hulk against the Leader's humanoids. He attempts a psychoanalysis of the Hulk through his dreams, and diagnoses him with multiple personality disorder. Samson next encounters Angel and the Master Mold. He encounters Moonstone and battles the Hulk. Samson quits Gamma Base and becomes General Ross' psychiatrist.

Samson encounters Woodgod and the Changelings. His former relationship with Dr. Delia Childress is revealed, and he teams with Spider-Man against the Rhino and AIM. He defeats Unus in combat. With the Thing and other heroes, he is abducted by the Champion to challenge him in combat. The Vision offers Doc Samson a position as the leader of a midwestern branch of the Avengers. Samson says that he is flattered, but has already accepted a position teaching at Northwestern University, which he prefers to the life of a hero, and additionally that administration is not his strong point.

Samson, determined again to cure the Hulk, defeats him in battle by calming him. He succeeds in separating Bruce Banner and the Hulk physically into two separate individuals. He rescues the Hulk from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to execute him, although the Hulk runs amok. Samson adopts a new costume and battles the heroes Iron Man, Wonder Man, Hercules, and Namor the Sub-Mariner for the right to recapture the Hulk. He battles the Hulk, destroys the Hulk robot, and battles the Hulkbusters, resulting in the death of Carolyn Parmenter. He battles the Hulk and the Hulkbusters again, but the Hulk defeats Samson and the Hulkbusters. Samson then attempts to merge Banner and the Hulk, but an accident results in Banner's transformation into the grey Hulk.

Samson becomes mentally dominated by a mutant mind-parasite. He assists X-Factor in capturing the Hulk on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. Samson also cures Captain Ultra of his fear of fire.

To "cure" the Hulk's multiple personality disorder, Samson hypnotizes Banner with the Ringmaster's help and successfully begins the process of integrating the Banner, grey Hulk, and green Hulk personalities into a new Hulk. The results extend beyond his control, however, leading to a somewhat unstable merger which eventually fragments once more into a third personality, albeit a more benign one than the previous Hulks. Around this time, Samson attends the execution of convicted murderess "Crazy Eight".

Doc Samson was also a part of Bruce Jones' run on The Incredible Hulk, with one of the main characters Jones introduced supposed to be Samson's ex-wife. Samson sports an eyepatch during much of this run. After discovering that a covert organization which is hunting the Hulk has implanted a surveillance device in Samson's eye, he removes the device with a scalpel and wears the eyepatch for protection while his eye heals.

In addition to the Hulk, his most prominent patient, Samson has also spent time in a professional capacity with the second X-Factor, the Molecule Man, She-Hulk, and the Punisher, among others.

He is befriended by Doctor Strange's new pupil Jack Holyoak, and helps his friends' daughter Tina Punnett rescue her "new-age hippie" parents from dealing with a ghost of musician Cam Larson guarded by Living Totem. Searching for his friend Sam Laroquette, Doc Samson along with Living Totem, Tina, and Jack arrives at new age cultist Doctor Arick Schnellageister's farm where they all fight Stephen King-inspired nightmarish Weed. The third issue was written by Jay Faerber and it shows Samson helps the new Scorpion come clean after being implied to have killed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The final two-parter was a storyline involving Nightmare from a different dimension sending the alternate Doc Samson to help him invade the regular 616 Marvel Universe. Those last two issues had Frank Espinosa's short Living Totem stories as back up.

Samson reappears, helping Jennifer Walters, and treats Rachel Grey. He talks with Valerie Cooper, regarding her and the O*N*E organization taping his session with Rachel, even though he asked her not to. Samson was a member of Iron Man's pro-registration side in Civil War. He gave each member of the newest incarnation of X-Factor a session after a particularly troubling mission. He is paying particular attention to the team's leader, Jamie Madrox.

Samson is shown working alongside the Pro-Registration alliance. As part of this group, he helps She-Hulk and Spider-Man take down a rampaging robot threatening innocent civilians. Samson remains on Iron Man's side during the final breakout at the Negative Zone prison. The Pro-Registration people ultimately win when Captain America surrenders.

Read more about this topic:  Doc Samson

Famous quotes containing the words fictional, character and/or biography:

    It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.... This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking.
    Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)

    Consider the difference between looking and staring. A look is voluntary; it is also mobile, rising and falling in intensity as its foci of interest are taken up and then exhausted. A stare has, essentially, the character of a compulsion; it is steady, unmodulated, “fixed.”
    Susan Sontag (b. 1933)

    In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, “memoirs to serve for a history,” which is but materials to serve for a mythology.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)