Markus Grimshaw, also known as Black Samson, is a supporting character in Invincible, debuting from Season 1 and onwards.
He is a member of the Guardians of the Globe. He was once part of the Guardians original roster until he lost his powers and left the team. He would later rejoin the team under Robot’s command.
Quick Answers
What are the powers of Black Samson from Invincible?
How did Black Samson lose his powers in the Invincible series?
Who was the unknown woman connected to Black Samson in the Guardians of the Globe?
What is the story behind Black Samson rejoining the Guardians under Robot's command?
What is the significance of Black Samson's hair in the Invincible series?
History[]
Background Information[]
Not much is known about Black Samson's past, except for that at some point in his life, he gained his abilities and joined the Guardians of the Globe. At some point during his time in the Guardians, he had a connection with a unknown woman who would later be known as Iguana, their connection would seemingly fade as she joined the Lizard League.
Battle with the Lizard League[]
The Guardian of the Globe arriving at a facility under attack by the Lizard League.
A young Black Samson, along with War Woman, Immortal, Green Ghost, and Aquarus, discovered that the Lizard League had attacked a facility. Black Samson was primarily focused on trying to take down Iguana. He attempted to reason with her, believing she was more than just a hired goon. While Aquarus suggested that she was a lost cause, Black Samson persisted, even risking his safety to save her from a collapsing ceiling.
Later, Black Samson lost his powers under unknown circumstances, which led him to leave the team. Eventually, he had to use a mechanical suit to replicate his powers.
Recruited into the Guardians[]
Years later, Cecil orchestrated a try out event at the The Pentagon, Robot and Invincible looked at many heroes lined up. Black Samson is among those who will be selected to be the new Guardians of the Globe. However, Robot wanted Invincible to try out as well, but Invincible told him that his father wanted to train him himself. Robot thanks everybody for showing up to the try outs.
Black Samson sends Throwbolt flying to the ground with a punch.
Black Samson faces off against Throwbolt, who manages to disable his jetpack with her electric powers. Samson lands and knocks Throwbolt off her feet with a single punch. Samson demonstrates his character when he offers her a hand up and she accepts, earning the applause of the crowd.
Robot announced the new Guardians.
In the end, Robot introduces the new Guardians: Black Samson, Shrinking Rae, Dupli-Kate, Monster Girl.
Robot once again introduces Monster Girl as a Guardian and tells them that Rex would also join once he recovered. After that, he mentioned that Atom Eve would be the last member, telling them that he would be announcing it publicly later. Eve told him that she could not be on the same team as Rex and Kate and leaves.
Robot tells the new Guardians that when forensic investigations concluded, they would move into the Guardians' headquarters. He tells them their schedule and Rex complains that their training was too early, and they did not even need it. However, Robot tells him that they are no longer Teen Team and Black Samson tells him he needs experience. Rex points out that if Black Samson had not lost his powers, he might have been able to help the past Guardians, which angers him. Black Samson tells him to watch it, and tells Robot they needed a leader they could look in the eye and not ones and zeros, saying that he could be the leader instead. However, Rex once again mentions that Black Samson had lost his powers and wondered why they needed to put up with him.
Shrinking Rae points out that teams needed teamwork, which Robot agrees to. Everybody leaves and Black Samson congratulates Robot sarcastically. After everybody left, Monster Girl told Robot that she could not do three combat exercises a day, but Robot said he needed the team operational. Monster Girl tells him that whenever she transforms, she gets younger and even used to go by Monster Woman. Robot apologizes and sympathizes, but Monster Girl believes there was no way he could understand since he was a Robot. From above, Omni-Man observes, describing what he had seen as pathetic.
Robot is interrupted from watching the Mauler Twin work by Rex, who welcomes him to the new Guardian's new digs. Black Samson mentions it is good to be home again, which annoys Rex since he does not enjoy hearing him say he was an original member of the Guardians of the Globe. Monster Girl tells Robot she is nervous, and Robot tells her that he is as well. Cecil walks in and tells them to not be surprised since it was their job. Rex tells him that he had missed a spot when cleaning blood, but Cecil tells them that he had left that there as a reminder and would get cleaned off when they proved themselves to be worthy of the heroes that had come before. He is radioed, told that Omni-Man wanted to see him, so he leaves. Monster Girl asks Rex if they are cool and he says they are since she had beaten him up in front of assholes. Robot walks up to Rex and tells him not to let his personal life to meddle with his professional one since it was his fault they were alienating Atom Eve and did not want it to happen with Monster Girl. Rex tells him that when he grew a pair, then he could tell him how to swing his. However, Robot mentions that he was giving him an order, patting him on the shoulder with a needle which slightly hurt Rex.
The new Guardians of the Globe celebrate a victory against the Lizard League. They all celebrate with beers except for Robot and Black Samson, who emits a high frequency, which shatters their bottles. Black Samson berates them that people were in the hospital because they had not fought as a team. They go through the fight and Black Samson lectures them on what they could have done to save lives, but Rex was unhappy and told him they had done their best and won.
Battling Machine Head[]
Later, As Mark tries getting up while taking down Machine Head who had hired supervillains, he is thrown once again. Machine Head celebrates, but mentions he was getting a signal as the Guardians of the Globe show up. They mention that Cecil had gotten an anonymous call and would take it from there.
Machine Head tells his supervillains to kill the Guardians, and they swiftly defeat them. Battle Beast mentions he believed Earth had worthy opponents but was sorely disappointed. Battle Beast raises his mace and states to Invincible that killing him would be an act of mercy. Black Samson tries to shoot at him, but his tech fails and Invincible is struck in his stomach and stops responding. Black Samson removes his broken suit and charges toward Battle Beast, who rips his hand from his wrist and throws him, cracking his head. Monster Girl tries to defeat Battle Beast as well, but is also swiftly defeated.
Invincible, Monster Girl, and Black Samson are rushed into the GDA's ER. Black Samson was fibrillating, but they did not manage to wake him. Much to their surprise, he suddenly started emitting light waves which caused energy surges, but also gave him a heartbeat. After their recovery, Robot walks up to Monster Girl and Samson, from the other room saw he really cared for her. Robot tells him it was good to see him awake and explains that he was programmed to care for all humans, but he reminded him that he did not go to the Arctic for him.
Black Samson tells Robot that he feels even better than when he lost his powers. Robot tells him to go back to HQ while he remained there with Monster Girl recovered. When Samson left, Robot put his hand on her face and she suddenly awoke. She asks if they had won, and he says that they had thanks to her and he had never left while she recovered.
Monster Girl is welcomed back by the Guardians, who hug her. Rex tells them all they should party, handing her a milk carton which has beer in it. Monster Girl asks Black Samson why he had gotten his powers back, and he tells her he thinks it was because he was putting up with Rex. Robot tells her he is glad she had recovered and tells her he would never let her die, but repeated the word die many times, which the Guardians in shock.
Revelation of Omni-Man[]
Cecil tells the Guardians to be quiet and sit tight until they were called. Rex is desperate and says they needed to know what was happening, which Black Samson agrees with. He asks if Robot can find out, but Robot did not respond. Rex hits the robot on the head until they are approached by the new Robot. He presents himself as Rudolph Connors, saying robot was simply a drone he controlled remotely. Kate asks how they could know he was telling the truth and Robot says they could ask him anything. Rex asks why he looked like him, but Robot told him to wait.
Rudy tells the Guardians everything that had happened, but Rex still wants to know why he had picked his body. Everybody thought it was wrong that he had not asked Rex first, but Monster Girl realizes that he had done it for her. Rudy explains that Monster Girl was slowly getting younger and he was trapped in a mechanical tomb, while she was stuck as well. Monster Girl goes through everything Robot had done and says that she needs time to process it.
Black Samson calls the Guardians and tells them he knew why they were on high alert. They see a video of Omni-man destroying the satellite.
The Guardians say they should help, but Cecil tells them to stay where they are until he told them to move because if nothing went well, they would be their last hope against Omni-Man. Rex is confused, but everybody confirms they heard what he did and they remember what had happened to The Immortal.
The Guardians watch Nolan and Mark's transmission as they fight. Dupli-Kate suggests going to help them, but Rudy tells them that they needed to follow Cecil's orders and stay in the bunker since the battle was beyond their capabilities. Black Samson agrees, but Eve flies in, asking what was happening. Rex tells her that Omni-Man was fighting him, so Rudy says that he hopes Mark lives up to his name.
The Guardians and eve watched Omni-Man fight Mark, deciding to help civilians hurt by the fight.
The Guardians watch as the fight between Omni-Man and Invincible unfolds. Black Samson tells them to gear up because even if they could not stop the fight, they could save lives. Rudy tries to remind them of Cecil's orders, but Shrink Rae tells him they do not care. Monster Girl walks up to him and reminds him he was not a Robot anymore.
The Guardians return to their bunker, exhausted. Rex walks up to the blood stain on the wall and cleans it, but Black Samson tells him that they had not earned it yet. Rex tells him to fuck off, but when Black Samson grabs him, the Guardians all support Rex, so Black Samson drops him and told him that they were finally a team, helping him with the stain.
New Leadership[]
One month after the Omni-Man incident, Black Samson and the rest of the guardians are dealing with a giant creature attacking the city. After subduing the giant, Cecil appointed the resurrected Immortal to become the leader of the Guardians after concluding that Robot's leadership was insufficient, along with a new hero called Bulletproof as extra muscle.
Black Samson and the rest of the Guardians were sent to stop an attack on a bio research lab in Dallas that was being orchestrated by the Lizard League, during their mission they encounter another superhero by the name of Shapesmith who was originally transformed as Rex-Splode.
Personality[]
A veteran hero and one of the last original Guardians, Black Samson takes his job as a hero extremely seriously and is shown to not tolerate insubordination or immature behavior, primarily from Rex, who he initially has a very antagonistic relationship with. He also demonstrates considerable bravery, both in his willingness to remain a hero despite losing his powers and even throw himself into danger with little hope of success, shedding his armor to attack Battle Beast who had just defeated and nearly killed Invincible.
Samson is also shown to be somewhat sensitive about his lack of powers, it being part of the reason he was not with the Guardians for some time. Though he does not allow this to stop him from being a hero, it can make him quick to lash out at others.
After regaining his powers, he seems to have mellowed out somewhat and while he is something of stickler for rules, he is not inflexible, happily celebrating Monster Girl's recovery with the others and embracing to others as teammates. Even before joining the new Guardians he was shown to be cordial, with a sense of sportsmanship, as was the case during his tryout for the Guardians, most notably helping a candidate he just defeated to pick herself back up.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Enhance Physiology: Markus physiology unlike normal human poses far denser bones and muscles granting him greater level of physical strength and resilience far above that of the average human. For unknown reason Samson powers would vanished for several years until regaining them fallowing his trashing at the hands of Battle Beast.
- Electrical Powers: Black Samson generates electricity and can direct it as blasts
- Superhuman Strength: Black Samson enhance physiology allows him to lift at least 20 tons, With him being shown to rival Komodo Dragon in strength during his youth.
- Superhuman Leap: Samson legs strength can allow him to perform leaps up to 150 feet in the sky, allowing him to cover up to 300 feet.
- Superhuman Durability: Samson possesses great resistance to blunt physical injury as shown being able to take on weaker blows from a evil variant of Invincible, his body is resilient to penetration wounds of any kind up to high caliber bullets. Thanks to his physiology he can survive great falls at terminal velocity so long as he land upright.
- Superhuman Stamina: Samson has great resistance to both pain and fatigue something that allows him to remain in battle far longer than most heroes.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Black Samson can survive a great deal of harm. Likewise, he can heal and mend himself in short periods of time far more efficiently than normal humans.
Abilities[]
- Skilled Combatant: Black Samson is an experienced fighter, having participated in various battles alongside the Guardians of the Globe. Samson is able to defeat Throwbolt during recruitment try-outs during their respective duel.
Equipment[]
- Mech Suit: After losing his powers, Samson had to rely on a power mech suit to sustain him in battle. This suit allowed him to fly and fire bullets. However, after a near-death experience, he regained his powers and no longer needs to wear the suit.
Sightings[]
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "It's About Time": | Absent | 5. "That Actually Hurt": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Here Goes Nothing": | Absent | 6. "You Look Kinda Dead": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "Who You Calling Ugly?": | Appears | 7. "We Need To Talk": | Appears | |||||||||
| 4. "Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out": | Appears | 8. "Where I Really Come From": | Appears | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "A Lesson For Your Next Life": | Appears | 5. "This Must Come as a Shock": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to a Fish": | Non-speaking | 6. "It's Not That Simple": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "This Missive, This Machination!": | Absent | 7. "I'm Not Going Anywhere": | Appears | |||||||||
| 4. "It's Been a While": | Absent | 8. "I Thought You Were Stronger": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "You're Not Laughing Now": | Appears | 5. "This Was Supposed To Be Easy": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "A Deal With The Devil": | Appears | 6. "All I Can Say Is I'm Sorry": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "You Want A Real Costume, Right?": | Appears | 7. "What Have I Done?": | Appears | |||||||||
| 4. "You Were My Hero": | Absent | 8. "I Thought You'd Never Shut Up": | Appears | |||||||||
| Season 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "You Gave Me No Choice": | Absent | 5. "TBA": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "TBA": | Absent | 6. "TBA": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "TBA": | Absent | 7. "TBA": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "TBA": | Absent | 8. "TBA": | Absent | |||||||||
Trivia[]
- The show's version of Black Samson is based on Doc Samson, while his comic counterpart is based on Black Lightning.
- Coincidentally, Khary Payton, the voice actor for Black Samson also played Black Lightning in Young Justice.
- It's implied he had a story with Iguana.
- In the comics, after Samson nearly died from the fight with Machine Head's crew, he came back stronger, with a unique ability that gave his body electric bolts emitting from his eyes and an immense aura, this power, he used on Omnipotus, but currently the series has not adapted this ability.
- In the comics, after the Guardians of the Globe were assassinated, Black Samson was actually the main suspect for their murder by Damien Darkblood as Black Samson was casted out of the team after losing his powers. With Art even stating how Black Samson was very impatient during the production of his mech suit which was stolen. Though Omni-Man disproves the theory by telling Darkblood that Black Samson couldn't be the murderer as he is too weak to even kill one let alone all seven of the Guarian members
- In season 1, Samson wore a mech suit, but after episode 5, and by the second season he no longer wears it, upon regaining his powers.
- His superhero moniker is most likely based off of the Biblical strong-man Samson, known to have had the strength to kill wild animals with his bare hands and decimate entire armies. Samson however lost his strength after having his head shaved, but subsequently regained it after growing his hair again and praying to God. Coincidentally, Black Samson also lost his powers for a time, had his head shaved and eventually regained his powers after a near death experience, not unlike his namesake.