The Comics History of Sam Chung, AKA Blindspot

Have you tried Marvel Unlimited yet? It’s your all-access pass to over 30,000 Marvel comics at your fingertips. Sign up today and get one year for just $5 a month!

A Chinese American immigrant living in New York City’s Chinatown, Samuel Chung, AKA Blindspot, is a formidable blend of brains and brawn, capable of giving even Daredevil a run for his money. However, he soon learned the tragic cost of being a Super Hero after he took on one of the most lethal Super Villains to menace Manhattan, which left him forever changed. 

Blindspot quickly became a major presence in Matt Murdock’s life and an accomplished Super Hero in his own right. Here is everything you need to know about Blindspot and his role in the Marvel Universe.

Powers and Abilities

When he was a child, Sam displayed genius-level intellect, developing an invisibility suit at just twelve years old. Years later, while working as a janitor at Columbia University, he perfected the invisibility technology in between overnight shifts. He then donned this experimental suit to become Blindspot and fight crime as New York’s latest hero.

A naturally gifted gymnast since childhood, Sam thrived under Daredevil’s martial arts tutelage, becoming an effective hand-to-hand combatant in a variety of fighting styles. Sam further honed his deadly martial arts skills with the ancient ninja cult the Hand after they restored his eyesight. 

With the magical restoration of his vision, Sam could see again, but everything appeared darker, while his eyes themselves took on a noticeable black color. While under possession by the Hand, Blindspot’s strength and speed were significantly augmented, with his demeanor becoming much more violent as a direct consequence.

First Appearance

Blindspot made his debut in a short story by Charles Soule and Ron Garney in ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT POINT ONE (2015) #1. In this story, Sam decided to defend Chinatown as Blindspot just before he met Daredevil during the Man Without Fear's battle with a group of criminals. Though Daredevil had to save Blindspot from nearly falling off a rooftop in the midst of that chaotic brawl, he recognized Sam’s natural aptitude towards crime fighting and decided to train him as his protégé.

The story served as a prologue to DAREDEVIL (2015), where Soule and Garney kicked off a new era for Matt Murdock that returned to the grittier and grounded tone popularized by Frank Miller’s time with the character. In addition to becoming a Super Hero mentor, Matt began working out of the New York City District Attorney’s office, as his secret identity had been restored following the events of DAREDEVIL (2011) #36. In addition to introducing Blindspot, the run unveiled the villainous Tenfingers, a Chinatown crime lord with a very personal connection to Sam’s family. 

Church of the Sheltering Hands

In DAREDEVIL (2015)'s opening story arc, Sam’s mother Lu Wei joined a religious organization called the Church of the Sheltering Hands. Sam discovered the church was headed by Tenfingers and accepted an invitation from his mother to join her, secretly working with Daredevil to expose the church’s nefarious activities and bring it down from the inside. 

After discovering the Church of the Sheltering Hands was a front for the Hand, Blindspot and Daredevil dismantled the organization and rescued those it had brought in under false pretenses. However, Sam’s relationship with his mother became strained in the fallout.

As his church was brought down, Tenfingers attempted to escape but was murdered by a mysterious figure, later revealed to be the serial killer Muse. Possessing superhuman strength, speed, and a degree of imperceptibly powerful enough to mess with Daredevil’s radar sense, Muse used the blood of his victims to create works of twisted art. As Muse’s body count grew and his crimes grew bolder with it, his next target became Blindspot due to the young hero's interference with his killing spree.

The War with Muse

After Muse kidnapped a judge who blocked access to his latest bloody mural, Blindspot followed him down into the sewers, rescuing the judge along with a city councilwoman and two police officers. Though Blindspot’s invisibility suit initially gave him the upper hand against Muse, it malfunctioned, leading Muse to attack Sam and gouge out his eyes. Daredevil stepped in to defeat Muse, resulting in the Super Villain’s imprisonment, while Sam was rescued from a grimmer fate and left to recover from the loss of his eyes.

Sam’s mother Lu Wei resurfaced shortly thereafter and brought her son to the Hand, trading her soul for the magical restoration of Sam’s eyes. This led Blindspot to become an agent of the Hand, resulting in a showdown against his mentor. Daredevil helped Blindspot overcome the Hand’s influence, but amidst the chaos, Liu Wei was killed after reconciling with her son.

Blindspot finally got his revenge on Muse after the villain escaped from custody. Blindspot tracked him down, using his latent powers from the Hand to overpower him, but rejected its call to execute the killer, effectively relinquishing his magically augmented powers. 

After repelling a retaliatory attack by the Hand with Daredevil’s help, Blindspot was last seen in the miniseries MAN WITHOUT FEAR (2019) by Jed MacKay, Danilo S. Beyruth, Stefano Landini, and Iban Coello. There, a remorseful Matt Murdock encouraged Sam to retire his Super Hero alter ego, and an understandably upset Sam left his mentor seemingly for good.

All comics mentioned are available to read on digital comics super-service Marvel Unlimited! Download the app for iOS or Android devices now for instant access to 30,000+ comics starring favorite Marvel characters.