Big Brain Time : The Angel of Death

I often talked about how I enjoy depicting Bruce as a demon and Sam and angel, a fallen one.

So today let's explore that, it's Big Brain Time ! 

Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's not. Sometimes he's inspired through imagery, sometimes through writing. There's a lot to talk about so I'll try to keep it short.

Sam was created in 1964 and you know what was very popular back then? The Adams Family, first version I mean

If you're familiar with Tales to Astonish's Sam it will now appear incredibly obvious to you but Sam's design was inspired by John Astin's Gomez. Hulk was inspired by monsters so they find another kind of creep to design him.
That's why Sam's design was kinda very different from what we got when Herb Trimpe stepped in afterward, especially the form of his head, it was way more roundish.

Tales to Astonish 64 (1964) writing Leon Lazarus pencil Carl Burgos

John Astin as Gomez

Sam is also, obviously, inspired by Frankenstein. Sam and Bruce are very similar so it's not really surprising that you see what inspired Bruce's writing in Sam's.

But a bit different.
Bruce is more a "book accurate" version of Viktor while Hulk would be a "movie version" of his creature. And for Sam it's the other way around. He's way closer to "movie version" of Viktor while being quite close to "the book version" of his creature. Especially with his relationship to Bruce, as we quickly mentionned here. Created by Bruce (accidentally), rejected by humanity, chasing Bruce to get someone to understand him the way the creature chased Frankenstein.
So Sam would be a bit of both, the genius of Frankenstein movie version mixed to the writing of his creature in the book version (that's why I like drawing him with a lot of scars haha)

Tales to Astonish 69 (1965) writing Stan lee pencil Jack Kirby

Colin Clive as Dr Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931)

That being said, let's dive in into another classic.

Isn't it funny how Hulk changed Hyde forever in pop culture? There was a before and after Hulk. Hyde parodies eventually became Hulk parodies and it makes sense in the way that Hulk is inspired by Dr Jekyll & Mister Hyde.

Hyde and Go Tweet (1960)

Let's quickly talk about Jekyll and Hyde, a very respected Dr who suffered his reputation and wanted to separate the "him" who was seeking pleasures, he creates a potion to do it and he turns into Hyde.
Hyde is very different from Jekyll both physically and mentally. He's depicted as younger, very small, grotesque, very hairy with a diformed head/face who inspires fear and hate to everybody who sees him. He's also quite smart, has a bad temper and is made of evil, or badness, I don't know the English translation lol.
At first Jekyll enjoyed turning into Hyde and being able to give in to his fantasies but slowly Hyde took over and shit happened and he became Hyde.
And you see, when you think of it, the Jekyll/Hyde story matches Sam way more than it matches Bruce both physically and psychologically.
Ironically enough, there is a before and after Hulk in Hyde's modern depiction, you'll often see a big mindless Hulk rather than the sneaky small and smart Hyde.

Because evil dude being smart is as old as time and they all have the same origin (the Devil) so it's not surprising you find a bit of each one of them in Sam.

Take the Phantom of the Opera, for exemple. A disfigured guy who was casted away by people.

He's kinda similar to Frankenstein's creature in that matter, people are scared of him so he wants to take his revenge over the World. He's pretty much obsess with music and is a genius composer but he has nobody to listen to his work so he'll use the face of Christine for that, she would be his face and his voice.

And this whole working in the shadow and using other people as your face is something very common with Sam. It's something he tried to do through Ross, putting a familiar face to get people's trust while he's pulling the strings in the shadow.

He's also a very lonely dude full of ressent who was casted away by people, especially since his mutation.

Incredible Hulk 2882 (1983) writing Bill Mantlo pencil Sal Buscema

It is also true for characters like Faust/Mephistopheles. A man making a pact with the Devil in exchange of his soul. Hard to not see how it inspired Sam.

That's what all of the above characters have in common. They all have the same inspirations, somehow, they're all a form of angel of Death, Luciferious figures, normal m'en, often kind, who became the Devil out of temptation and so is Sam, that's why I talked about them. There's a lot more stories inspiring him, some that are irrelevant to this post's main theme, some that I forgot while talking about it, some that I'm not aware of or never thought about. And y'know, that's what I love with characters who are written by so many people, they evolve and so do their inspirations and interpretations. That's also why I wish I wasn't alone in my love for him because I'd love hearing other pov to add to mine, more things to explore. As much as I love Sam I can't come up with everything haha.

There's a lot of interpretation of Lucifer but ultimatly they're all about a fallen Angel. Not just any Angel, but the closest to God, the prettiest and most importantly the smartest.

There's a lot of Lucifer interpretations, but we'll focus on the most commons

The Angel who wanted to become a God

Sam was a very good hearted person, always putting people's need before his own. Until his mutation. As the Leader, his main goal was, for some time, to take over the World. He's an old villain (born in 1963) so he's your egocentrical evil genius with a God complex, thinking he's more than human, thinking destiny created him to lead humanity, so basically thinking he's a God. Immortal Hulk made it even clearer by having him saying it.

This part is pretty obvious, the sweet little angel who damned himself out of pride and greed to become God but let's dive in something more interesting.

The Angel who wanted to save humanity

For some people Lucifer damned himself because he wanted to protect humanity from God, because the way God tested people faith through suffering and kept them away from knowledge and such was unfair to him, thus the temptation snake. And this one does apply to Sam too.

Sam didn't hate humanity at first, he wanted to save it from self destruction. Sam loved people, it's the reason he started hating it, we explained that already here, how his love led to hate. And even now he's trying to save and rebuilt humanity, stronger, smarter. Sure his vision of saving is twisted and even supremacist but that's not the point, the point is Sam always wanted to turn humanity into Hulks to create a stronger and independant kind of humanity, not to punish it but to save it, to save it from their weak faith and freed them from God's hands.

The Angel who loved God

For others Lucifer was God's most loyal angel and he saw humanity as God's only mistake so he wanted to destroy it as a way to wipe out God's mistake and protect their perfection. And yes, this apply to Sam too. Sam was TOBA (the Gamma God, the One Below All, the One Above All)'s most loyal servant, sure it was to serve his own interest but still. Sam was his loyal angel until shit happened.

Immortal Hulk played a lot with that Luciferious figure, having him refering to himself as a sinner soul who felt Below everything, as a God, as the Devil and then as a damned.

And speaking of temptation

So as we said Lucifer is both very beautiful and very smart and through these two quality he is the embodiment of temptation, his main goal is to tempt humanity into sin and that's Sam's main power too.

People often think that Sam is dangerous because of his gamma brain and it's kinda true but it's not his mental powers that makes him so dangerous and powerful, it's his ability to trick and tempt. Even people who know he can't be trusted will succomb to his lies and promesses. He whispers and gives you what you want and make you pay the highest price for it.

That's what Sam is, not just a big brain doing smart and nerdy shit, Sam is a Devil who whispers in your ear, who push you to sin. How many people who know he couldn't be trusted did he trick ? Samson, Talbot, Ross, Betty, even Bruce. They all followed him, knowing his evil nature.
In Immortal Hulk, Sam is here to make people pay the price of their wish, it's easy to understand the very obvious subtext of the Devil ready to reclaim whay you owe when you made a deal with it.

The thing with Hulk is there is no good or evil, it question everything. Is he a man or monster or both, it applies to everything. That's why Bruce is written as a demon, the Devil, threatening, bestial while Sam is written like an Angel, smarter, lighter, presenting himself as this kind of elegant and polite gentleman everytime he's about to trick you. They opposite each others but at the same time they're the same, that's the point of their relationship but that's also the point of the whole Hulk lore and that's the point of Luciferious beliefs as well, questioning the Rightful. Is God as good as we pretend? Is Rightness really right?

And speaking of that "don't trust what you see", do you remember Immortal Hulk? Remember Immortal Hulk 12, when you learn about Angra Mainyu and Ahura Mazda and how the writing has you think Hulk is Angra Mainyu, the destructive God, first born of two twins? Alright let's explore that :

Immortal Hulk 12 writing by Al Ewing

And because it ends with this you automatically assume both Satan and Angra Mainyu are names and metaphores for Hulk, thus the name "Devil" for this alter. After all, this alter was created after the Devil's snake :

Eventually, later you see "God" talking to Hulk and giving him the choice, Geburah or Golachab and through this you understand that Hulk still has the choice, he's not Satan just yet, he could very well be but he could also be the opposite.

And as the story goes on and on you eventually learn about the story of two tragic Sterns brothers and you remember, brothers, Angra Mainyu has a brother and you realize Hulk certainly has one too, metaphorically at least.

Immortal Hulk 13

We know "anger" is Hulk and Bruce's fuel and we know "hate" is Sam's and indeed, it's not Bruce who'll end up controled by TOBA, it's Sam. Certainly he will use Bruce/Hulk (anger) to feed him strength and power but he IS the creature of hate and that's the funny thing with this moment, you think it's teasing you Bruce's destiny, even Sam did, but it ended up teasing Sam's destiny instead.
You might think it's a fan stretch but hear me out

Immortal Hulk 34

In this little moment, you learn that Sam's Leader was created a few days prior to Bruce.
Now why is it important? Because as I said here, Sam and Bruce are written like two brothers in Immortal Hulk, with a shared destiny. You know who else was the first born? The destructive Angra Mainyu who had to be stopped by his own brother.

But let's go deeper than that alright, as the story says, there's a lot of name for the Devil, like Satan, angel of God. Who's The One Below's angel in Immortal Hulk? Who's his herald? The one who use his powers to help him out? It's Sam.

And remember what it said, Satan was given permission to test job. In Immortal Hulk the One Below All is the One Above All, so "God", is testing Bruce/Hulk and how did it test them? Through Sam's shenanigans. Bruce and Hulk aren't Satan in this story, they are Job "Job demands an answer from God. He demands to know why he was hurt so much. Eventually God reponds"

Immortal Hulk 50

From the very beginning Sam was always here to take everything from Bruce, to tempt him, to bring him on the destructive path. Sam IS the Devil, he is TOBA's angel, God's angel.

And if you keep this idea in mind, how Sam is TOBA's mask and Hulk its fuel, you'll see how everything it says makes soooo much sense.

 
For exemple, let's go back to that a moment, alright?

TOBA is yelling "I HOWL THROUGH MANY MOUTHS" as the text is about Satan (Sam) "I BREAK WITH MANY HANDS" as the text is about Job (Bruce). And of course his many hands is a direct reference Hulk's hands, destroying and smashing everything.
As for his mouths, it's obviously Sam, as he uses him to express itself.
Maybe this one is a stretch but we all know how much Incredible Hulk vol.2 31/32 inspired Immortal Hulk's writing, ESPECIALLY Sam's writing, by "hinting" (it's not really hinting considering it was written 20 years prior to Immortal Hulk but you get what I mean) Sam becoming TOBA (God), Sam and Bruce's ancestors. Hell, Immortal Hulk 34 and Sam embracing Hell itself is literally from these two issues, it's the continuation of this exact moment. Like, this one is not a stretch, it's crystal clear, these issues are highly connected and it highly inspired Al Ewing.
But let's take a few seconds to focus on that Sam from issue 31/32. He was "odd", he wasn't the Leader, nor Sam, he was "something else", under some kind of influence that pushed him to go back to the Place Below were TOBA was waiting for him. And now notice his red cloudy eyes

This is TOBA's signature

And he refers as Sam and the Leader as a scream.

Let's stay with Immortal Hulk 12 here and see this other quote :

And yes the Breaker of Worlds is supposedly Hulk (like, it's literally one of his name) but it's a Hulk under TOBA'S control. The keeper of the door who holds the power to cast in Hell is Sam. It's totally Sam, it's him who open and close people's personal Green Doors, he's the keeper of the doors.

That's why everything Devilish applies to both, because it's about TOBA's control in the end and one of them actually embraced it.

But that's the difference between Sam and Bruce/Hulk. Sam will follow this destiny and become what TOBA expects from him, becoming his angel of Death, keeping the door, tempting Job etc... But Bruce/Hulk will resist it. They can still become it but so far, they're resisting it. They became Ahura Mazda because as TOAA itself kept saying, they have free will, they have the choice to become one or the other.

And it means this choice do apply to Sam too.

And you see what I said above with Sam being influenced in Incredible Hulk vol.2 31, well it kinda makes sense if you consider this. "I poison your mind and kill all love in you". Sam is under TOBA's influence, that's probably why when Sam got freed from the gamma, he kind of "woke up" "where" he was seconds before his gamma accident "I'm Sam from the plant", that's the first thing he remembered because that's the last moment he was himself, at the plant, before it explodes.

And I think Sam might have tried to resist that influence before. Because when he's under it, right before he embraces TOBA, he called for Bruce to stay by his side as a way to keep his humanity near him and if he embraced TOBA that's only because he thought Bruce rejected him, cutting off that last link to humanity, but through Bruce he did try to resist.
Sam is like Bruce, he's a very tragic character.

Like Lucifer he was full of love but damned himself.

And you see, that's why I love Hulk, especially Immortal Hulk, so much. Because it's a matter of perspective as we said. It even applies to God. Why would you make your own children suffer like that? Why would you turn them into creatures of hate and destruction? Is there evilness in God? Is there goodness in the Devil? That's why even if he's Job, Hulk is still depicted as the Devil, having a sneaky alter named Devil, hurting like Satan. Because nothing is just good or evil, nothing is that simple, not even Sam who still struggle to keep the humanity he tries so hard to reject. They both had a choice and they both still have it.
And we saw what happens when Bruce/Hulk take the opposite path through Maestro. I hope one day we get to see what happens if Sam also take the opposite path, though we had a little glimpse at it when Mark Waid wrote him in Thunderbolts (before another team took over and completly erased his work, but that was seemingly the path he was giving to Sam).

When Hulk is mentionned in Immortal Hulk it's always "Devil" "Satan" etc... When it's about Sam he's named a God, 'cause that's what he's trying to be and what led him to his path of damnation.
The Angel who wanted to become God, sounds familiar right?

And that's what Sam is.

Sam is a Fallen Angel, an Angel of Death, he's Lucifer.

And that's why Mercy had so much interest in him, wherever he goes Death follows.

Thunderbolts vol2 16 (2013) writing Charles Soule, pencil Jefte Palo

And while it's too soon to speak about the MCU, I like to think that this moment is also a Death allegory.

Sam in a leaked D23 trailer of Captain America Brave New World

From his obvious Reaper outfit, the inconscious corps on the ground, the way he walks but also the very white, immaculous, big, empty and full of light scene. 'Cause if Death is often depicted as black, white and light is also related to Death and its kingdom and you'll often see people in white rooms as a metaphor from the Death Realm. This short lil' second of leaked Sam seems like Death bringing people in its Kingdom.

Sam is a fallen angel, his destiny is to bring temptation, death and judgement upon the World and himself.

--

Edit : A little Tim Blake Nelson interview came out a few hours after I posted this whole post and I think it's incredibly relevant and matches perfectly this whole post so I'll add it :

And you see, that's exactly what I said above about not mentionning other themes that might inspire him or at least work with him and why I wish I could talk with his fans or his creatives.

Enjoy~