The Incredible Hulk #141
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Incredible Hulk #141 is the opening chapter of one of the most enduring supporting-character introductions in Bronze Age Marvel: the first appearance and same-issue origin of Leonard Samson, a.k.a. Doc Samson, a gamma-irradiated psychiatrist who immediately reshuffled the emotional geometry of the entire Hulk cast. Unlike the parade of one-off monsters writer Roy Thomas had been throwing at Bruce Banner, Samson was conceived as something more structurally interesting — a man who willingly chose his mutation, retained his intellect, and then used his newfound power to court Betty Ross, forcing a humiliated Banner to re-irradiate himself just to win her back. That triangle gave the series the kind of character-driven soap-opera tension the best 1970s Marvel ran on, and Samson proved durable enough to carry his own limited series decades later, anchor World War Hulk, achieve a permanent resurrection in The Immortal Hulk, and receive a loose film adaptation in the 2008 MCU entry. The issue also marks one of the earliest in-continuity 'cures' of Bruce Banner — accomplished here via Samson's Cathexis Ray Generator — a device whose mythology was still being elaborated as recently as the 2010s.
In "His Name Is... Samson!", Bruce Banner finds himself on the edge of a new life—free from the Hulk—until a desperate plan to save Betty from a crystal prison forces him to confront the man who once helped him control his rage: Dr. Samson. With Samson's experiment a success, Bruce's world shifts again when the doctor's growing closeness to Betty ignites a primal jealousy, pushing Bruce back into the monstrous form he thought he'd left behind. Written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Herb Trimpe, with inks by John Severin and colors by Mimi Gold, this pivotal issue features a cover by Trimpe that captures the tension in every line.
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Writer Roy Thomas conceived Doc Samson specifically to give the Hulk a super-powered human opponent with green hair, drawing deliberate design inspiration from Golden Age comic-strip advertisements for Captain Tootsie — a promotional character created by Fawcett Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck. Thomas showed penciller Herb Trimpe photocopies of those 1940s ads and asked him to adapt the basic costume, adding a lightning bolt and modified boots as an homage to the Fawcett Captain Marvel. The issue was produced under the standard Marvel Method of the era, with Trimpe functioning as an uncredited co-plotter, and was inked by John Severin with lettering by Artie Simek, under editor-in-chief Stan Lee. It appeared on newsstands in April 1971 with a July 1971 cover date, during Trimpe's landmark, nearly unbroken seven-year run on the series that had begun with issue #106 in 1968.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance AND same-issue origin of Doc Samson (Dr. Leonard Skivorski Jr.), created by writer Roy Thomas and penciller Herb Trimpe.
- Story title: 'His Name Is… Samson!' — Cover date: July 1971; on-sale date: April 13, 1971.
- Full creative credits: Roy Thomas (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils and cover), John Severin (inks), Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor).
- Doc Samson's visual design was based on the Golden Age Captain Tootsie comic-strip advertisement character created by C.C. Beck; Trimpe added a lightning bolt emblem and modified boots as a nod to the Fawcett Captain Marvel.
- The issue depicts the first appearance of the Cathexis Ray Generator — Samson's device that siphons gamma and psionic energy from Bruce Banner, temporarily curing him of being the Hulk and simultaneously restoring Betty Ross from her glass-statue state (a condition imposed in issue #138).
- After the experiment, Samson secretly bombards himself with the stored gamma radiation, gaining superhuman strength and long green hair, then begins courting Betty Ross — provoking Banner to re-expose himself and become the Hulk again to fight Samson.
- Doc Samson went on to appear in over 330 published Marvel Comics issues, starred in solo limited series in 1996 (written by Dan Slott) and 2006, and was portrayed by Ty Burrell in the 2008 MCU film The Incredible Hulk.
- The issue has been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk and in the Incredible Hulk Epic Collection series, and is referenced in Marvel's official Hulk history reading guides as a key turning point in the Bronze Age run.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in The Mighty World of Marvel #109 (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #110 (1974), Marvel Treasury Edition #5 (1975), Hulk #8 (1978), Marvel Super-Heroes #92 (1980), Essential Hulk #3 (2005), Essential Hulk #3 [Second Edition] (2012), Incredible Hulk Epic Collection #5 (2020), True Believers: King in Black - Gamma Flight's Doc Samson #1 (2021), The Incredible Hulk Omnibus #3 (2025), Biblioteca Marvel: Hulk #15, De verbijsterende Hulk #17, Hulk E I Difensori #18, L'Incredibile Hulk #38, O Incrível Hulk #16
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