Saboten Sam

With his goofy swagger and cleancut good looks Cactus Sam claims the middle ground Tezuka boy hero protagonist roles. While he is lighterhearted than Rock Holmes he is much more roughntumble than the squeeky clean Kenichi Shikishima. In fact his first appearance as the titular role in The Cactus Kid 195154 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 alongside the great Duke Red. He also also carried the slapstick comedy torch in Astro Boy 195268 Black Jack 197383 and The ThreeEyed One 197478 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 Lil 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 cactusstyle pants and clunky oversized shoes also helps. Source: Tezuka In English