Samson, the Bible’s closest pass at a superhero, has had several such incarnations.
The mighty Nazirite from the Book of Judges, who could slay a lion with his bare hands and an army with only the jawbone of a donkey, got the Hanna-Barbera animated treatment in 1967. Samson and Goliath debuted on NBC on Sept. 9 and aired through August of the following year.
The show followed the ever-popular Captain Marvel template, featuring a boy who could use his wristbands to magically transform himself into an older superhero, complete with powers of flight and super-strength. The wristbands also turned his dog into a fierce lion, Goliath.
Young Samson was voiced by Tim Matheson, who was Eric “Otter” Stratton in National Lampoon’s Animal House and Vice President John Hoynes in The West Wing).
“Space Ghost, who made his debut in 1966, was Hanna-Barbera’s first serious superhero,” recalled comics historian Don Markstein. “Since he was a success, Hanna-Barbera, being Hanna-Barbera, made an immediate move to flood the market with superheroes. It was only a year later that they launched The Mighty Mightor, Birdman, and Young Samson (no relation), putting them squarely in the superhero business.”
“The show’s original title was Samson and Goliath, an amalgamation of two Bible stories, but it was changed to Young Samson early on to avoid confusion with Davey & Goliath, which drew its name from only one. In both cases, Goliath was the protagonist’s dog, though, in the Hanna-Barbera one, he’d morph into a flying, laser-powered lion when superhero action was called for.”
The character appeared in Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes comic book, even as an entirely different character, the dystopian Mighty Samson, was appearing in another Gold Key title.
Young Samson’s hair was longish, but that was probably forgivable, considering the source.
About Author
