Doc Samson #4
The Final Analysis
Learning that Doc Samson is back on the hunt for the gamma mutated serial killer known as Patchwork, Geiger, and Detective Trina Sharp are trying to catch up with him. With Geiger's powers, they are able to get to the scene of the latest murder in a subway tunnel. There they learn from the officers on the scene that Samson had left after taking some notes but has something for Detective Sharp: a torn corner of a magazine cover. Geiger then picks up Samson's signal again and they follow it to the hospital where Jennifer Walters has been recovering since she was attacked and her powers stolen by Patchwork. They arrive too late to catch up with Samson but learn that Samson comes to question her about her encounter with Patchwork. They finally find Leonard at a magazine shop. There they find him purchasing issues of the adult publication, Playpen Magazine. Doc Samson says it's all connected to the case. Soon they meet with the owner of the magazine. There he lays out that Patchwork is using the magazine as a guide to building the ideal woman. When the owner of the magazine expresses his fear for his models, Samson points out that the models in the magazines have all been airbrushed.
Samson suggests that they publish photos of a unique woman, on with green hair, to try and lure Patchwork into a trap. Leonard is about to convince Geiger that she should pose for the magazine when suddenly they spot Polaris, another one of his other patients approaching the building. Polaris explains that she needs to see him immediately to talk about her problems. Samson takes her aside to an office and learns that the mutant member of X-Factor is having problems dealing with the end of her relationship with her teammate Havok. Polaris explains that so much of her identity has been defined by her relationship now that it is over she is having problems with her own identity. She is frustrated that she is a hero and at the first sign of trouble she comes running to her psychiatrist. This suddenly makes something dawn upon Samson and tells Lorna to join him.
He rushes to Detective Sharp to tell her that he knows who Patchwork is: the man they saved from committing suicide the first day he arrived in New York City. He explains that he came to this conclusion when he remembered his phone call from Kyle Barker when he first considered giving up on the case. Barker said "everyone needs someone sometime", something that Patchwork said to him verbatim when last they fought. This comes as a coincidence as the owner of Playpen knows who Kyle is as he's a student that retouches photos for their magazine and he is in the building. Down in the basement of the magazine, Kyle Barker is digitally touching up a photo spread. As he does so he thinks about how his grandmother punished him as a young man for having adult magazines in his room. His thought is cut short when Detective Sharp tries to arrest him at gunpoint. As Kyle changes into Patchwork, the policewoman manages to get a shot off hitting him in the eye. Soon she is joined by Doc Samson and Polaris.
When Patchwork tries to escape, he smashes through a wall and comes face-to-face with Geiger and instantly recognizes her. Made even more confused, Patchwork knocks the girl aside and manages to escape. The three heroes are forced to let him go in order to save the people endangered by the compromised structural integrity of the building. With their quarry gone, Geiger explains why he is committing the murders after reading his mind. Samson then suggests that they use the media to plaster Kyle Barker's face all over the city and that he's already been manipulating the press to his ends. At the hospital where Jennifer Walters has been recovering, she finds herself being badgered by reporter Rudy Pinkerton who wants an exclusive with a Patchwork survivor. However, all this does is get Jennifer angry enough to trigger a transformation into She-Hulk, allowing Walters to fully recover from her injuries. This transformation happens just as Doc Samson and his allies show up.
They then discover that Kyle Barker was an outpatient at the Felder Institute where they are allowed to check his room. They find a number of pin-up photos taped to the wall of his room that has been treated with gamma radiation to develop the film. Samson deduces that there is only one place where Barker could have done that: the particle accelerator at Empire State University. Since that is where Geiger goes to school she goes to ask around if anyone has seen anywhere there. They find Patchwork in the accelerator where he intends to use the device to commit suicide. Samson and Polaris try to stop him but he seals himself inside and turns on the device. Not willing to let Patchwork kill himself, Samson and Polaris enter the device before he can seal the door. Polaris puts up a magnetic shield to protect herself and Leonard from the gamma radiation but Samson refuses to just sit back and watch Patchwork die. He leaps out into the radiation and shuts down the particle accelerator.
With the threat over, Patchwork is turned over to the authorities. In the aftermath, not only does Samson decide to become active as a superhero again, but to also provide testimony during the trial against Patchwork to see that he gets the help he needs instead of being executed for his crimes. After telling this to the press, he bids farewell to Lorna, telling her their sessions will have to take a backseat to the trial. He also wishes Geiger luck in the future, giving her a lock of his hair so she can constantly keep synced to his gamma-ray powers. He then thanks Detective Sharp for convincing him to work with her on this case, but before he leaves he hands her his bill for services rendered.
Recurring Characters
Doc Samson, Geiger, Polaris, She-Hulk, Patchwork
Continuity Notes
Polaris wishes to talk to Doc Samson about the recent end of her relationship with her teammate Havok. The two had been in a relationship since Incredible Hulk #150. At the time of this story, Havok brainwashed into joining the Dark Beast, leading to his abandonment of both Polaris and X-Factor in X-Factor #118.
