<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Black Adam
Gender	Male
Publisher	DC Comics
Origin	Kahndaq, Egypt
First Appearance	Power of Shazam Graphic Novel (1994)
Creator(s)	C.C. Beck , Bill Parker, Jerry Ordway
Alter ego	Teth-Adam
Aliases	Hassan Bari, Theo Adam, Khem-Adam
Abilities	Strength, Endurance, Speed, Flight, Invulnerability
Affiliations	Secret Society, Injustice Society, Justice Society of America (JSA).

Black Adam is a fictional comic book super-villain character owned by DC Comics. He is probably one of comic books most complex, interesting, and scary villains.

Black Adam was created to be the "opposite number" sort of nemesis for the superhero Captain Marvel. He seems to have almost the same awesome powers as the hero, and a very similar origin. His motivations, particularly in later years, don't seem to come from an evil nature, but from two senseless tragedies. First, in ancient Egypt, his family and much of his nation was destroyed by an evil wizard. Then, thousands of years later, embracing a new and peaceful life, almost the same thing would happen again. It's as though what happened to tragedy born characters like Batman and the Punisher happened twice to the same person. Whether his violent and even murderous actions stem from the evil of Theo Adam (his descendant who awakens his power in modern times), a demon's corruption back in ancient Egypt, or whether he is the natural product of a good man reacting badly to two horrible tragedies, is difficult to determine.

Character Origin and History

Black Adam began as a Prince of ancient Egypt who was once considered to become the Wizard Shazam's champion, the position that was later bestowed upon Billy Batson when he became Captain Marvel. Due to the intervention of the demon Blaze and the god Set, Theth-Adam (whose name means “Mighty Adam”) drew his power, not from the benevolent wizard, but from the Egyptian Gods. When he spoke the magic word, “Shazam”, the Egyptian prince was bestowed with the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aton, and the courage of Mehen.

At first, Teth-Adam seemed a good choice. Then an evil wizard, Ank-ton, destroyed the people of his home, an area of Egypt called Kahndaq. Adam's wife and children were included in this. For a while, Teth-Adam was unable to bring the wizard to justice. He went back to the court of Ramses and served as the champion of Egypt with another great sorceror, Nabu, who would become part of the being known centuries later as Dr. Fate. He also allied himself with Prince Khufu, who was destined to be reincarnated again and again as Hawkman. Eventually, Adam would be successful in killing Ank-ton for the murder of his family.

After this, Adam returned to Kahndaq and overthrow the government there and become its ruler. Whether by these Egyptian Gods, the demon Blaze, or the tragedy of the destruction of his family and the people of Kahndaq, Shazam felt that Teth-Adam had become corrupted. He imprisoned his soul and powers in a magic scarab, and entombed the scarab with his body, where it remained for thousands of years. Shazam renamed him Khem Adam, which means “Black Adam”.

In modern times, the Teth-Adam’s tomb was discovered by his descendant, Theo Adam. Theo Adam is an evil man, who murdered Billy’s parents for the Egyptian treasure. Theo Adam awakened the soul and power of Teth-Adam, and was transformed into Black Adam when he said the magic word. He was destined to clash with his opposite number, the heroic Captain Marvel, in the graphic novel, The Power of Shazam (1994).

Adam would join the Injustice Society as one of the JSA's foes. He would betray the organization, and help the JSA defeat them. After this incident, he petitioned to join the Justice Society of America (JSA) and tried to reform. He claimed at this point to be free of Theo Adam's evil nature. This worked for a while, but when the JSA refused to take decisive but morally questionable action against terrorists, he resigned.

Eventually, he returned to Kahndaq, which was once again being ruled by dictators. Again, he conquered the government and became ruler, now in modern times. Since most of the JSA had opposed this, he now felt as though they were his foes again. he even joined the Secret Society, though claimed it was to protect Kahndaq.

In the year long limited series 52 (2006), Adam would again find love with a beautiful gift from Inter-Gang, a woman by the name of Adrianna Tomaz. He married her and granted her part of his power, and she took the name Isis. She also was reunited with her younger brother, and Adam gave him too a portion of his power, and he took the name Osiris. Thus, the Black Adam Family was born, again, a distorted mirror of the Marvel Family. Isis and Osiris had a great influence on Adam, and for a while they lived in peace.

Then, tragedy mirroring what happened to him in ancient Egypt struck again. A plot by the terrorist nation Bialya caused the death of many of Kahndaq's citizens, including Isis and Osiris. Black Adam went mad with rage, and attacked Bialya, killing almost the entire nation.

Later, out of despair and weariness, he gave his powers up to Mary Marvel, and now walks the Earth a normal man.

What will happen next, will be revealed in his new six part limited series, Black Adam: The Dark Age (2007) by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke.

To see specific information about Captain Marvel, the Marvel Family, the Justice Society of America, and the wizard Shazam, please on one of the individual links to the Captain Marvel character or the superhero team here, or within the article.