Black Samson

For much of his return to active duty, Markus Grimshaw appears clad in a bulky powered exoskeleton, gear built to make up for the abilities he had lost. The rig grants him flight and lets him lay down covering fire in a battle. Once his natural power comes back after a brush with death, he sheds the machinery for good and no longer needs it.

In his prime he carries the frame of a seasoned strongman, and flashbacks to his youth show him already active alongside the original heroes.

Grimshaw treats heroism as a solemn duty and has little patience for recklessness or arrogance, which puts him at odds with the brash Rex Splode early on. His courage runs deep. He keeps serving even after his gifts vanish, and he throws himself at foes like Battle Beast with almost no chance of winning, stripping off his armor to do it.

The loss of his abilities leaves him touchy, and that insecurity can make him snap at teammates. After his powers return he softens noticeably, celebrating a comrade's recovery and warming to the group as genuine teammates. He respects the rulebook without being rigid, and even during his tryout he shows real sportsmanship, offering a hand to a rival he had just knocked down. He holds that every choice carries consequences, and he stays with the Guardians because he believes a flawed institution is best repaired from within.

Little survives about Grimshaw's origins beyond the fact that he acquired his abilities and signed on with the Guardians of the Globe during their earliest days. In that era he crossed paths with a woman who later took the name Iguana and drifted into the Lizard League. When the League struck a facility, a younger Samson fought to reach her, even shielding her from a falling ceiling. Afterward his powers slipped away under murky circumstances, and he stepped back from the team, leaning on a mechanized suit to keep fighting.

When Cecil Stedman stages open auditions for a fresh lineup, Grimshaw earns a slot after besting the electric hero Throwbolt and courteously helping her back to her feet. The new roster takes shape around him, Shrinking Rae, Dupli-Kate, and Monster Girl, though friction with Rex over his depowered status keeps the group tense. During a brutal clash with Machine Head's hired villains, Battle Beast maims him and leaves Invincible near death. In the emergency room Samson flatlines, then unexpectedly surges with light and energy that restart his heart and restore his lost strength.

He stands with the team through the fallout of Omni-Man's betrayal, urging his allies to protect civilians even when ordered to hold back. Later, under the Immortal's new command and beside the recruit Bulletproof, he keeps serving, helping expose Shapesmith's hidden Martian identity as a warship approaches Earth.