Samaritan (comics)
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Samaritan is a fictional character in the comic book series Astro City. Created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, Samaritan is the premier superhero of the world, much in the vein of Superman and Captain Marvel. Despite his powers, however, the mind of the man called Samaritan is that of a weary and worn time-traveler with little time to himself and no future to return to.
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[edit] Overview
In the dystopian future of the 35th century, a man was selected to go back in time to prevent a catastrophic event whose consequences ultimately ruined the future world. Launched into the timestream, he was caught up in empyrean fire, the strands of energy that make up time itself. Crash-landing near Astro City in late 1985, he spent the remainder of the year learning to master the empyrean forces that had suffused his body, and to alter it to change back to a more normal appearance (the empyrean forces had changed his hair to a bright shade of blue). Desperately working to control his powers, he succeeded barely in time to prevent the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the event he had been sent to amend. Upon placing the Challenger on the ground, he was besieged by the media, who pressed him for details on himself. Briefly dismissing himself as just "a Good Samaritan", he departed immediately to better figure things out.
Eventually deciding that he could do a lot of good with his powers, he added a cape to his outfit and took the name "Samaritan", basing himself in Astro City. Additionally, he used his Zyxometer, a living bio-computer shaped like a diamond with tentacles to create a civilian identity for himself as "Asa Martin" (an anagram of "Samaritan"), a fact-checker for Current, a newsmagazine based in Astro City. With the quiet his job affords, Martin has programmed the Zyxometer to do his daily duties at Current, enabling Samaritan to simultaneously continue performing his heroics and protecting the people. Unfortunately, this has caused Asa to appear to his colleagues as standoffish. His sense of duty has led to a similar problem as Samaritan, leading him to attempt to ameliorate it with what he considers non-essential activities. For example, he consents to attend dinners and banquets held in his honor, lest he seem arrogant by those he serves. The plaques and trophies given to him at these events end up in an alternate dimension, nicknamed "the Closet", that he can access. He is less remote with his peers, primarily fellow heroes in Honor Guard, some of whom occasionally refer to him as "Big Red".
The stress of his responsiblities have affected Samaritan as of late. With little time to himself, he often (though silently) grouses that the need to fly rapidly to various locations to stop crimes and prevent disasters leaves him little time to enjoy the sheer sensation of flight. He also frets over the fact that he cannot be omnipresent and deal with every problem that warrants his attention. His problems were further compounded when on a time-travelling mission back to his home future, he discovered that saving the Challenger changed the timeline (as planned), but in a way that resulted in a paradoxical future in which he never existed; thus, he has no home to which he could ever conceivably return.
[edit] Infidel
When Samaritan changed the timestream, he unknowingly wiped out the future Earth, which was ruled by Infidel, a mystic time-traveler who had built an empire for himself. Finding himself in a strange new world, Infidel escaped to the past and attempted to destroy Samaritan by causing the Cuban Missle Crisis to escalate into World War III. However, Samaritan managed to stop him and reset the world. Their feud continued for years, Infidel managing to restructure reality but Samaritan always protected by the empyrean energies and working to stop him. When one battle destroyed the world, the two realized the futility of it; Infidel could not destroy Samaritan and Samaritan couldn't keep Infidel from escaping his prisons. After restoring the world, they settled into a truce, with Infidel living in a palace outside the time stream and he and Samaritan meeting once a year. At the same time, Infidel tries to figure out a way to wipe out Samaritan just as Samaritan works on ways to strip Infidel of his powers. At the end of each meeting, Samaritan asks Infidel if he's willing to help mankind while Infidel asks if Samaritan is willing to join him and truly change the world. Each man always replies in the negative but at their latest meeting, Infidel sensed that Samaritan was starting to weaken in his resolve. Infidel felt doubt soon after, upon feeling attracted to a scientist named Gretchen Hastings. Her writings had been forwarded to him by Samaritan, and it was soon revealed that she initiated this action in hopes of getting the Infidel to work with her for the benefit of mankind.
Like Samaritan, Infidel has been imbued with empyrean energies, which has turned his beard and eyes green. Whereas Samaritan uses his energies sparingly and only to help, Infidel uses his constantly, not just for lightning-like attacks but to do simple tasks in his home. It has been shown that Samaritan, a modern man who owes his existence and powers to science, is uncomfortable with Infidel's magic-based ways and old beliefs such as women being inferior to men. Despite their differences, Infidel does seem to hold a respect for Samaritan and seems to truly wish he will join forces someday.
As of recent, Samaritan has been able to spend (very little) time with Winged Victory, another troubled superhero based in Astro City. Whether their relationship will develop beyond one of purely professional status remains to be seen. During their annual dinner, Infidel offers to tell Samaritan how it will turn out but Samaritan says that even if he could trust Infidel to tell the truth, he prefers the uncertainty.
[edit] Powers
Due to exposure to the energies that make up the timestream, Samaritan is extremely powerful. He is capable of hypersonic flight, as evidenced in a flight from the United States to the Philippines that took 6.2 seconds. He can manipulate a field of energy, called an empyrean web, to carry and hold objects larger than he. Additionally, he has exhibited super strength, though it is not known whether it is due to muscular feats or his manipulation of energy fields. He has shown enhanced senses such as super hearing, though if his other senses are also advanced is not known. Lastly, he can travel into alternate dimensions unaided (and frequently does, to access "the Closet"). It is not known if he can travel through space-time on his own accord.
His earpiece is an extension of the Zyxometer, constantly feeding him updates on emergencies from various sources.
[edit] Influences
The biggest influence on the Samaritan character is Superman, which shows in several ways. First, the "traveler from beyond" theme echoes Superman's origin, as does the saving a spacecraft from disaster that kicks off both their careers (this was shown for Superman in The Man of Steel limited series, which rebooted his origin). The majority of Samaritan's powers mimic those of Superman as well.
DC Comics' Captain Marvel is often seen as an additional influence. Like Marvel's, Samaritan's cape is non-standard; in this case, it was designed to look like a Greco-Roman toga (this according to the author; in fact, only the Romans, not the Greeks, wore togas). Many of the powers of Captain Marvel and Superman are identical, and these match to Samaritan.
Kurt Busiek, however, provides the definitive version of Sarmaritan's derivation: "Samaritan's early influences are my childhood flying dreams, a book called Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon by Jim Paul, a 'generic' superhero call[ed] (I think) Captain Cash from a Neal Adams-drawn magazine ad in comics form, Robert Mayer's Superfolks, Moses and Bright Lights Big City -- and maybe a little from a pin-up Leonard Starr did in Superman #400. With all that roiling around underneath, it's probably more understandable why I flinch when people assume he's just Superman again. (His cape, by the way, which was credited to Captain Marvel, comes simply from looking for imagery associated with his name, and an attempt to make him look different from the other "flying strongmen" of comics history.)"
