[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syttorak

I never knew THIS - the part of him empowering his own family! Thank you for mentioning that. I guess I have some research to do! I love learning new stuff about comic character history. It is really very amazing how in-depth and connected so many of the stories are! Pz out!

I can't speak for the Fawcett Comics history as I haven't consumed that. However, he joined the JSA for a good clip during the David Goyer and Geoff Johns run (a favorite DC title for me in the early aughts). He was always treated with a considerable amount of caution and he waffled a couple of times, but he was undoubtedly a member of the team and expressed a sincere want to reform his image. Honestly, it felt like an on the nose aping of Namor when I read it. But, being a considerable Namor fan and given the similarities in the presentation of their personalities, it felt right. Whereas Byrne explained away Namor's stints as a villain being the result of his needing to spend equal amounts of time in the sea as he does on land (spending too much time away from either creates a chemical/psychological imbalance), apparently, Teth Adam and Theo Adam are different entities, with one being noble and the other a ne'er-do-well. He eventually leaves the JSA to rule Kahndaq continuing to be a hero, albeit, distinctly an antihero who is willing to kill his enemies with no compunction. The idea was that he, similar to Namor, is a sovereign king and must do what is necessary to protect his people at any cost including complete annihilation. His 'family' of Black Marvels is really just Isis (his lover) and her brother, Osiris. There's Sobek too, and Mary Marvel gets swirled up in there as well.

It was all pretty entertaining with the exception of some insinuation that Kahndaq, a fictitious middle-eastern nation, needed an antihero leader like Teth Adam to keep the peace through intimidation and extreme violence. IMO, the overtures were too uncomfortably close to stereotyped clichés attributed to middle-eastern and Muslim cultures and the idea that you need an authoritarian despot to keep the peace. Other than that, the take on Adam from that period made a fan of me.