Black Adam
and the Black Marvel Family
Adam created by Otto Binder & C C Beck
Black Adam
NAME + ALIASES:
Teth-Adam, Theo Adam
Teth-Adam, Theo Adam
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Teth-Adam: Shiruta (wife, deceased), Gon and Hurut (children, deceased).
Theo Adam: Sarah Primm (sister)
Teth-Adam: Shiruta (wife, deceased), Gon and Hurut (children, deceased).
Theo Adam: Sarah Primm (sister)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice Society, The Society
Justice Society, The Society
FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Marvel Family #1 ()
Post-Crisis: Power of Shazam Graphic Novel
Historical: Marvel Family #1 ()
Post-Crisis: Power of Shazam Graphic Novel
Isis
NAME + ALIASES:
Adrianna Tomaz
Adrianna Tomaz
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Amon Tomaz (Osiris, brother, deceased)
Amon Tomaz (Osiris, brother, deceased)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
The Black Marvel Family
The Black Marvel Family
FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Shazam! #25 ()
As Adriana: 52 #3
As Isis: 52 #12
Historical: Shazam! #25 ()
As Adriana: 52 #3
As Isis: 52 #12
Osiris
NAME + ALIASES:
Amon Tomaz
Amon Tomaz
KNOWN RELATIVES:
Adrianna Tomaz (Isis, sister, deceased)
Adrianna Tomaz (Isis, sister, deceased)
GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Teen Titans, The Black Marvel Family
Teen Titans, The Black Marvel Family
FIRST APPEARANCE:
52 #23
52 #23
History
Black Adam's story begins with the young boy who would one
day be known as the wizard Shazam. Shazam was born
as Jebediah, in the ancient land of Canaan. When his family
was murdered he called upon his gods for power, which they
granted. He became a god in his own right with the powers
of Voldar, Lumiun, Arel, Ribalvei, Elbiam
and Marzosh. One day he was tempted by a demon who
bore him two children, Blaze and Satanus. The
gods were so angered that they banished the children to the
netherworld. Later, Shazam battled the Three Faces of Evil
and they were trapped inside the Rock of Eternity. The gods
decreed that Shazam must watch over it for all time.
Circa 1200 BCE, Shazam became a high priest to the pharaoh
Ramses II of
Egypt. As the wizard grew older, he sought a champion worthy
to inherit his powers. The young prince Teth-Adam of
Kahndaq (Ramses' son) impressed the wizard with his fairness
and decency. But before Shazam could bestow his powers, his
daughter Blaze made a deal with the god Set. When Teth-Adam
spoke the name "Shazam," instead of gaining the
wizard's powers, he was blessed with the power of seven Egyptian
gods: Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton
and Mehen. Thus, though Adam spoke the name "Shazam," he
did not draw power not fom the wizard.
Teth-Adam (translated "Mighty Adam") served Egypt
for many years, but this duty drew him away from his wife
and children (Shiruta, Gon and Hurut)
in Kahndaq. While he was away, the mad priest, Ahk-ton ravaged
Kahndaq and killed Adam's family. The priest was powered
by the "Orb of Ra" (which gave him metamorphic abilities).
Adam could not apprehend Ahk-ton, so he entombed his family
and returned to the court of Ramses. There he served as Egypt's
champion alongside another great wizard, Nabu.
Thet-Adam finally found his revenge against Ahk-ton, with
help from time-traveling members of the Justice Society — from
the 20th century! Adam met Shazam's future champion, Captain
Marvel and was gladdened that his legacy would continue
on. Ahk-ton and his ally, Vandal Savage were defeated and
Adam slew the priest. (JSA #43-44) Teth-Adam
continued to serve Egypt for hundreds of years, but ultimately
the loss of his family drove him to extremes; he became overly
protective of Kahndaq, which attracted the attention of Shazam.
The wizard believed that Adam had been bewitched by Blaze
and dubbed him Khem Adam ("Black Adam").
Shazam withdrew Adam's power into a scarab, and entombed
them both for millennia. (Power of Shazam!
#10, JSA #44)
Teth-Adam rested until his sarcophagus was disturbed by
an expedition from the Sivana Foundation. There, Theo
Adam betrayed and killed Marilyn and C.C. Batson (the
parents of Captain Marvel) over Teth-Adam's scarab. With
the Scarab, Theo Adam awakened Thet-Adam's soul and accessed
his ancient powers, becoming Black Adam. When Shazam
and his new champion Captain Marvel finally caught Theo,
they took away his ability to speak and thus, his ability
to access his powers. (PoS Graphic Novel) Adam
was soon cured of this condition by Blaze. In addition, she
coerced Theo into her service by holding the soul of his
sister, Sarah Primm, hostage. When Blaze's brother, Lord
Satanus set Primm's soul free, Adam did the right thing and
fought Blaze. This distraction allowed Shazam and Ibis to
triumph and Black Adam was sent to the far reaches of the
universe. (#12)
When Black Adam returned to Earth, he claimed to be totally
free of the evil urges of Theo Adam. Even fingerprint analysis
revealed that he was a different man. He claimed that bonding
with Theo Adam was his "Holy Grail," his soul's
way out of Tartarus. He proved his sincerity somewhat by
saving Captain Marvel's life. In return, Shazam used a Mother
Box to take Black Adam wherever he wished. He chose to return
to deep space, to a world where he'd felt particularly at
home. (#44-47)
The circumstances of his return to Earth are unrevealed,
but his first reappearance again demonstrated the evil of
Theo Adam. The JSA managed to defeat Adam by stealing a bit
of lightning from the time of his creation (1200 B.C.) and
forcing the transformation back to Theo Adam. (JSA
#6) Later, Adam claimed that he had again been under
the influence of Theo. Worse, he'd made a deal with the JSA's
foe, Johnny Sorrow. Sorrow agreed to remove a malignant tumor
in Adam's brain and in exchange, Adam agreed to join Sorrow's
new Injustice Society.
Teth-Adam ultimately "betrayed" Sorrow and helped
the JSA defeat him. (#16-20) After
this, Adam placed a bid for membership in the JSA. He reasoned
that many other heroes — including Superman — had
dark moments in their history and that he, too, deserved
a chance to prove himself. (#21) The
elder members of the JSA agreed to grant him probationary
membership after his help on Thanagar. (#26) He
remained a JSA member in good standing for a while but quit
the JSA when it refused to take decisive action against the
terrorist known as Kobra. (#45)
Following this, he formed his own group to rival the JSA
and take international justice into their own hands. (#40) He
allied with the Venusian worm called Mister Mind, who took
over the body of Brainwave. He also enlisted the entire society
of Feithera, including former Infinity, Inc. member, Northwind.
Atom-Smasher, Nemesis and Eclipso II rounded out their ranks.
This group went to extremes, executing Kobra after his escape
from authorities. (#51)
Adam's ultimate goal was to free his old homeland from its
dictatorial rule. He first returned to Kahndaq when he learned
that his family's ancient burial site was excavated. His
old ally Prince Khufu (now Hawkman) agreed to stop the excavations. (Hawkman
v.5 #19) But this alliance ended when Adam's team
declared full-out war on the nation. They successfully took
control, but the JSA stepped in to stop them. Ultimately,
the JSA agreed to let Adam rule Kahndaq as long as he remained
within the nation's boundaries. Atom-Smasher and the Feitherans
remained as well. (Hawkman #25)
Apparently Adam's evil tendencies cannot be suppressed.
He was quick to help form the core of a new Secret Society
of Super-Villains with Lex Luthor. (Villains
United #1) This alliance could not save him from the
power of the Spectre. The newly disembodied Spectre had committed
to unrestrained vengeance and of ridding the world of magical
forces. This led him and the new Eclipso to Kahndaq. (JSA
#73)
The Black Marvel Family
The Black Marvel Family was founded by Black Adam
some time after becoming the ruler of his ancient homeland,
Kahndaq. At first he ruled alone, with a fair but iron fist.
That changed the day Intergang came to Kahndaq. (52
#3) Intergang's emissaries attempted to offer Adam
a partnership. As a gesture of "good will ," they
offered Adam the gift of a young woman they had kidnapped: Adrianna
Tomaz. Adam was insulted by the offer to join with this
notorious mob and he killed the men. As for Adrianna, she
was kept out of sight, but treated well. Intergang had killed
her parents and sold her brother, Amon, into slavery.
In the wake of the Infinite Crisis, Adam busied himself
with the creation of the Freedom of Power Treaty.
This was an agreement between nations against the United
States. Member nations would agree to help protect each against
the common "threat" of American metas, and allow
lethal force against them.
During a high profile meeting of Treaty members, Adrianna
interrupted Adam. She opposed the path he was taking to preserve
peace. Adam sent her away but visited her later. He was both
infuriated and fascinated by Adrianna. During their argument,
he learned about her family's fate. (#10) As
they continued their discussion, Adrianna challenged Adam
to use his power only for peace. She helped him to see more
clearly how his anger still stemmed from the ancient loss
of his wife and sons. Upon this revelation, he brought Adrianna
to the Rock of Eternity, where they met its guardian, Captain
Marvel. Adam produced the amulet used by Shazam to imprison
him for millennia, but only Adam knew that Shazam had hidden
another powerful totem within. This amulet of the goddess Isis had
last granted power to Egypt's Queen Hatshepsut. Adam gave
the amulet to Adrianna, and when she uttered Isis' name,
she was transformed as well! With the clarity of godly vision,
Isis agreed to join Adam's worldwide mission — that
is, after they found her missing brother, Amon. (#12)
They began their humanitarian mission by freeing imprisoned
children in southwest Asia. (#13) Soon
the couple fell in love and Black Adam proposed to Isis.
The wedding was arranged quickly, and the original Marvel
Family (Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Marvel Jr.) were
in attendance. The ceremony was nearly ruined by a suicide
bomber, who was stopped by the Americans Renee Montoya and
her companion, the Question. (#16)
Afterwards, Adam awarded the Americans medals of honor.
As it happens, the pair were in Kahndaq on the trail of Intergang
themselves. (#18) As they followed
their own mission to Yemen, they unwittingly discovered Adrianna's
missing brother, who was being tortured along with other
children by Intergang. (#23) They
summoned the Black Marvels who were quick to destroy Intergang's
operation, but not before Amon had been badly injured. His
injuries were beyond his sister's new healing abilities,
but Adam produced a solution that would save the boy's life.
As Captain Marvel had done before him (for Freddy Freeman),
Black Adam extended his own gods-given powers to Amon. Once
revived, Amon took the name Osiris, the name of Isis'
brother. Osiris quickly took to up sister's mission and accompanied
both of them across the world. (#24)
When Venus Sivana (Dr. Sivana's ex-wife) donated millions
to a Kahndaq charity, Adam's new family accepted an invitation
to dine with the Sivanas. Though Venus and Thaddeus had divorced,
she still worried about his disappearance and asked Adam
to help find the mad scientist. Adam was receptive. Amon,
however, felt as though they were being bribed by enemies.
He stormed out of dinner, feeling alone. As fate would have
it, he stumbled across an unexpected new friend: a crocodile-man
created by Sivana himself. (#26)
Notes
Adriana first appeared in 52 #3,
but wasn't named until #10.
Powers
Black Adam possesses much the same power as Captain Marvel.
Unlike the Marvels, though, he does not need to utter a magic
phrase to summon the power. Originally, this was so, but
he now draws his power directly from an ancient mystical
scarab.
From the Egyptian gods, Adam draws super-strength, invulnerability,
flight and super-speed.
He is susceptible to the mental influence of his evil host,
Theo Adam. Theo Adam is currently suppressed within Thet
Adam's psyche.
No comments:
Post a Comment