Black Sam

Black Sam is my flagship character. Officially, He is a Vietnam War veteran that was subjected to secret experiments under the CIA's clandestine MK Ultra project during his enlistment in the U.S. Army. Sam is one of the few survivors of the

Pretty much the center of every conspiracy

controversial program, which sought to create super soldiers completely loyal to the United States of America. Specially selected patients were subjected to mind control experiments, bizarre exercises, and a top secret serum. 

The serum, XRN-Z38, bestowed several abilities into the patient including: slowed aging, acute senses, increased endurance, enhanced strength, and in some cases psychic abilities. But the serum had drastic side effects including: deep depression, lucid nightmares, rampant hallucination, paranoid schizophrenia, etc. Most subjects either died on the operating table or took their own life, unable to cope with their experiences resulting from MK Ultra.
       
After Sam returned from Vietnam he was discharged from the U.S. Army and sought a peaceful life. He got married to his High School sweetheart, Carmen, and the two had a daughter, Samantha. The good times didn't last too long before the nasty side effects of the MK Ultra programming drove Sam over the edge. He drowned himself in alcohol and risky behavior only to drive his wife to leave him, taking their only child with her. Sinking further and further into depression, Sam turned to his old connections and became a mercenary for hire.
       
Traveling around the globe from hotspot to hotspot and selling his deadly services to the highest bidder, Sam immersed himself in the black ops world of assassination, drug running, coup attempts, bribery, extortion and counter intelligence operations. Eventually the murder and mayhem was too much even for Sam and he left that life behind too.
       
Since then, Sam has tried to make amends by championing the causes of the weak, the innocent and the downtrodden. He sees himself as a wolf guarding sheep from other wolves in various guises. His unique talents, abilities and experiences make him a formidable adversary for anyone stupid enough to stand in his way. Although he was born Samuel Ulysses Brown, he will forever be known as.......Black Sam!

Unofficially, Sam is a concept that has evolved in my mind over the years. He is an amalgam of a couple characters I have either watched or read since my childhood. The two characters that are Sam's greatest influences are Hawk, played superbly by Avery Brooks on two television shows and Hellboy created by Mike Mignola, who if it were up to me would be a Nobel Literature prize winner.