Saboten Sam

With his goofy swagger and clean-cut good looks, “Cactus” Sam claims the middle ground Tezuka “boy hero” protagonist roles. While he is lighter-hearted than Rock Holmes, he is much more rough-n-tumble than the squeeky clean Kenichi Shikishima. In fact, his first appearance, as the titular role in The Cactus Kid (1951-54), only came after he bumped major star Rock Holmes out of the job after the very first chapter. Believing he needed a brighter character, better able to pull off the goofy slapstick comedy, Tezuka fired Rock and recast “Cactus” Sam in the role that gives him his name.

Outside of the lead in his own series, “Cactus” Sam has also played strong supporting roles, most notably in Cyrano the Hero (1953), along-side the great Duke Red. He also also carried the slapstick comedy torch in Astro Boy (1952-68), Black Jack (1973-83) and The Three-Eyed One (1974-78), among others, with roles that benefit from his goofy temperament and appearance.

His name is a literal translation of the Japanese word “saboten” which means “cactus” in English.

Modelled after L’il Abner, “Cactus” Sam can be easily identified by his small nose and the black tuft of hair over his forehead. Of course the fact that he is usually wearing cactus-style pants and clunky oversized shoes also helps.

(Source: Tezuka In English)