Sam was born in New York city (named Sam Jones by his parents) to a jewel thief mother and a mercenary father. His parents were criminals. But when he was a year old his parents had robbed a bank and drove off with police cars chasing them and while trying to escape their car plunged into a ditch by accident, killing both his parents. Sam was brought to Gotham and adopted by a wealthy family, the Blacks. He became known as Sam Black, instead of Sam Jones. When he was six years of age, he attended Gotham Elementary School for Kindergarten. Sam was often a troublemaker at his school, often pranking his classmates or even teachers. When he was eight he was suspended for throwing what appeared to be horse dung from a catapult he had made at his teacher. As he got older, Sam heard about Batman