History
Origin
Main article: 52
An Egyptian woman named Adrianna Tomaz is a refugee who is enslaved and brought to Black Adam as a gift from Intergang. Upon freeing her, Black Adam found her to be unafraid and highly vocal about how he could change his country for the better.
After weeks of discussion, during which Adrianna changed the way Adam looked at the world, Adam retrieved the magical amulet of Isis from the tomb of his wife and children, and asked Captain Marvel to confer its power on Adrianna. The Amulet of Isis had long ago belonged to another of the wizard Shazam's champions, Queen Pharoah Hatshepsut of the 15th Dynasty, who had used it to bring peace to her kingdom. Upon Hatshepsut's death the amulet became dormant.
Marriage
Upon holding the amulet and speaking "I am Isis", Adrianna was transformed and instilled with the powers of the goddess. She and Adam then began traveling the Middle East and freeing enslaved children, hoping to find Isis' kidnapped brother. In Week Sixteen of the series, Adam proposes to Isis and the two are wed by Captain Marvel, with several other Marvel Family members (Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Tawky Tawny the tiger and Uncle Dudley) present as members of the wedding party. It is suggested that the presence of Isis is having a calming influence on Black Adam, transforming him from the ruthless dictator he was prior to her arrival into a more benevolent figure.
Adrianna finally locates Amon, who has been tortured and crippled by Whisper A'Daire for refusing to join Intergang. Isis is unable to fully heal his wounds; Black Adam then asks Amon to say his name; Amon is stuck by a lightning bolt and transformed into Osiris. Now reunited with her brother, Isis decides "to change the world", starting from China. Coerced by her brother's will to act for changing not only the world, but the perception the world itself has of the Black Marvel Family, she coaxes Black Adam into join them in a public revealing of their human identities, and a public declaration of their good intentions for the future.
Apparently this is not sufficient, as Amanda Waller forms a new Suicide Squad, sending the Persuader to badly injure Isis with his radioactive axe, able to damage both nature and her godly superpowered form. Osiris rushes to help, shredding the Persuader's body in half. Isis hugs a distraught and weeping Osiris, then they leave. These incidents are part of a calculated series of attacks by Intergang. The events brought about the death of Isis' brother, Osiris, at the hands of Sobek, which leads directly into a battle with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, contained in physical forms created by Intergang and Doctor Sivana.
Death
Isis dies when she is infected with diseases from the Horseman Pestilence, but not before driving off the Horseman Death and saving Adam. Before she dies, Isis tells Adam that she was wrong in trying to change him, and to avenge her and Osiris's deaths. Several weeks later, a hand can be seen reaching for Isis's amulet, while her face can be seen within it.
Some time after World War III, Black Adam, now powerless due to the actions of Captain Marvel, returned to Kahndaq and exhumed Isis' remains. He gathered her bones into a backpack and trekked across the Himalayan Mountains until he came to the location of a Lazarus Pit. Dropping the bones into the pit, the restorative chemicals inside resurrected Isis from the dead, and she was reunited with her husband.[1]
Countdown
Finally Black Adam manages to end his quest for the amulet, and reunites it with the her now complete skeleton. The spell apparently backfires, resulting in a shambling, rotting corpse, and a seance in which Isis' spirit, before returning to death, swears eternal hate on her husband. Black Adam flees, laden with guilt, emptiness and rage, and then Faust begins the real rite, having shown to Black Adam Ralph Dibny's skeleton as a way to hide the real Isis from him, and blame "her" rotten condition on Black Adam's abuse of their now shared powers. So Isis is able to be fully restored to life, even if bound to powerful spells to sap her will will and bind her to mindless obedience. Now a mere puppet in his hands, Isis' magic is used to free him from his life imprisonment in Fate's Tower. Felix Faust then drags her away to a hideout, where it is strongly implied that he sexually assaults the paralyzed Isis.
Later Black Adam, still mourning for her, finds a bloodied flower sprouting in their family shrine. He takes it as a sign that Isis is trying to communicate with him, which becomes apparent when he finds a larger collection of flowers in the shape of the Shazam lightning bolt symbol, pointing in the direction Adam must go to find her. Eventually, Black Adam finds Isis and Felix Faust, and Adam forces Faust to release Isis from his control. The resurrected Isis is far less merciful and forgiving than before, and castrates Faust for his treatment of her. Reunited, Isis and Adam travel to the Rock of Eternity, where they banish Captain Marvel back to Earth as a powerless Billy Batson and begin setting a plan in motion to "cleanse the Earth" of evil their way, even recruiting Mary Marvel to their crusade. The Justice Society come to the Rock of Eternity, seeking to help Billy, only for Isis to brutally attack them, even throwing Jay Garrick into the mists covering the Rock, from which there is no escape. During the course of the fight, the combatants end up in Kahndaq, where the people praise Black Adam's return. Isis then kills several of the followers, claiming that they are tainted by this new Earth. Black Adam attempts to protect his people, only to be attacked by Mary and Billy, who had been tainted by Mary's power. At that point, Jay Garrick appears with the spirit of Billy's father, and Shazam, whom the former had helped Jay recover from the Rock of Finality. Adam is convinced to return his power to Shazam, so that he could save Isis from her corruption. In turn, Shazam takes the power from Isis, Billy and Mary, and transforms Teth-Adam and Adrianna into statues. Some time later, a shadowy figure appears to the statues in a bolt of lightning, wanting them to be his "champions."
Titans for Hire
Osiris takes the statues from their place with him to his new home within a secret base funded by Deathstroke for his Titans. Osiris joins the team under the guise that Deathstroke will at some point be able to bring Isis and Black Adam back from their petrified state. Eventually, Isis is freed from her prison but her body and powers reject her second resurrection as she no longer has a place on Earth and it violently upsets her use of her powers.[2] When she calms down she realizing that she has the chance to make her kingdom great once again and returns to Kahndaq as their ruler.[3]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Power of Isis: Gifted powers by the amulet of Isis. In order to change form, Adrianna must be able to say "I Am Isis", thereby invoking spells involving the energies of those extra-dimensional being once known as Shazam.[4] In her Isis form, Adrianna possesses the following attributes:
- Superhuman Strength: Like other Marvels, Isis possesses incredible superhuman strength, the likes of which allows her to lift far in excess of 100 tons. She is one of the most powerful female heroes in the DC Universe alongside Mary Marvel, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman.
- Superhuman Durability: Isis is largely immune to most forms of damage. She is able to survive falls from great heights, being repeatedly struck with superhuman force, temperature and pressure extremes, and powerful energy blasts without harm. She is also incredibly resistant to ballistic and bladed weapons.
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Stamina
- Flight: Isis can also mystically fly through the atmosphere through sure act of will, enabling her to soar through the atmosphere at sub-orbital levels and travel across the planet.[5]
- Healing: Isis can heal wounds of the flesh. She has repaired minor and major wounds alike without any seeming digression. However, she was not able to repair deep tissue damage or nerve damage.[6]
- Elemental Control: Isis has the ability to control various aspects of nature. For example, she can summon a mighty wind to sweep across the land, control the weather, create vegetation or cause geysers of molten lava to spontaneously rise from the ground.
- Weather Manipulation: Isis can control weather patterns not directed by her atmokinesis. Her ability to control weather is attuned to her emotions as well. [6]
- Chlorokinesis: Isis can manipulate and control plant life. She's created many different kinds of plants, some unknown even to her. She has used her powers to create a large tree to catch a falling demon; it grew to full size in mere seconds.[6]
- Aerokinesis: Isis can control the winds and they react to her will. She has created a tornado to rip open a military base with ease.[7]
- Pyrokinesis: Isis can control the flow of lava within the earth's crust. She has directed the flow to erupt through the surface and engulf an enemy.[8]
- Electrokinesis: Isis can control the thundering clouds and crackling lightning. She has used this in conjunction with the Power of Shazam to create elaborate lightning storms and bathe her opponents in it.[8]
- Geokinesis
- Telekinesis: Isis is able to use the power of her mind to manipulate objects with her telekinesis. It is likely that she is able to form shields of telekinetic energy and fire telekinetic force blasts as well.
Weaknesses
- Resurrection Sickness: Isis claims that due to her subsequent resurrections nature considers her a rejected subject and causes her powers to react sporadically. Although she later gained control she may still be plagued by irrational thinking.[3]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
- Isis' mortal name, Adrianna Tomaz, is an homage to Andrea Thomas, the Isis character featured in the 1975 Filmation television series, and the 1976 DC Comics series, Isis.
- Although Isis died during the 52 event, it was not the last time she was seen in comics.[8] She is resurrected during the Dark Age[1] and again during the Titans for Hire series.[2]
- It is assumed that Isis does in fact have a superhuman physiology; however, during her appearances she doesn't show any signs of strength, speed, stamina or durability. Her superhuman physiology is therefore assumed due to her own words and not by demonstration.
Related
- 40 Appearances of Adrianna Tomaz (New Earth)
- 23 Images featuring Adrianna Tomaz (New Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Adrianna Tomaz (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Adrianna Tomaz (New Earth)
Footnotes