Before her name was slandered by radical terrorist organizations, Isis was The Egyptian Goddess of Heath, Marriage and Wisdom. And she was a superhero. This week's Z-Lister has an interesting history, so let me introduce you loyal readers to DC Comic's Isis!
Before Isis ever hit the comic book pages she was originally the main character of the television show "The Secret of Isis" in 1975. The company Filmation and producers Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer, Dick Rosenbloom and Arthur H. Nadel, along with developer Marc Richards, created "The Secret of Isis" for the CBS Network's Saturday morning lineup. Along with the show "Shazam!" starring Fawcett Comics/DC Comics superhero Captain Marvel/Shazam, Isis' show made up what was called "The Shazam/Isis Hour". As portrayed by Joanna Cameron, Isis was a teacher named Andrea Thomas who acquired a magic amulet while on a trip to Egypt. This amulet could grant the user "powers of the animals and the elements" when the user spoke the name of "The Mighty Isis". When Andrea returned to the United States she began a duel life as a science teacher and as the superhero Isis. Stories usually revolved around Isis saving unwise teenagers and her oblivious love interest Rick Mason. Isis would occasionally wink at the viewer (a 4th wall break) and even team up with Shazam. Her powers were vast: Super strength, super speed, telekinesis, intangibility, control over aspects of nature, telepathy, and-at her maximum-time control. While the character appeared in animated form in "Tarzan & The Super 7" and "The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam" her voice was not by Joanna. However, it was thanks to Isis and her show that the mid-seventies revolution of female superheroes on television kept it's stride with other shows like "Wonder Woman" and "The Bionic Woman".
In 1976 Isis appeared in "Shazam! #25" from DC Comics, this was her first appearance in the comics. In 2002 her character was established as one of the Goddesses worshiped by Wonder Woman and The Amazons, but in 2006 she was given a full re-imagining. Recreated as Adrianna Tomaz, she was a slave given to Black Adam as a gift from the criminal group Intergang.
Quick reminder! Black Adam is the main antagonist of Captain Marvel/Shazam. Back in the ancient Egypt era a powerful Wizard gave a slave named Teth Adam the power of the Egyptian Gods, but Teth went from freeing his people to enslaving his country of Kahndaq. As punishment, The Wizard sealed Tech-renamed Black Adam-away on Pluto for centuries. When Black Adam returned to Earth he found that The Wizard was dead and his power was passed on to a new champion known as Captain Marvel/Shazam/Billy Batson/The Big Red Cheese. That's how it started, but eventually Shazam understood that all Black Adam really cared about was protecting his country and the two formed an alliance.
Upon killing the men who brought Adrianna, Black Adam talked to her and she informed him on better ways Kahndaq could be lead. Black Adam fell in love with Adrianna and benefited from her wisdom. As a gift to her Black Adam grabbed The Amulet of Isis from his families' burial, this amulet held the power of the now-dead champion Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty. With Shazam's help the power of the amulet was transferred to Adrianna, this gave her similar abilities to her previous incarnation with additional healing powers and weather control connected to her mood. Over the course of their relationship, Black Adam and Isis freed slaves, turned Kahndaq into a diplomatic country, and finally got married with the company of The Shazam Family. Though trouble would befall them and the universe would undo their acts, the greatest days of Black Adam and Isis will forever be remembered in these adventures.
Isis is pretty damn awesome. Obviously she started out as being a bit simplistic and overpowered, but 1970's superhero shows were more about the charm and lessons than about lore and realism. What's great is that instead of just forgetting this character, DC Comics went the extra mile to remold her into an interesting character. They could have easily made her a tag-a-long or background character or just redo the show premise, but instead they made her a powerful female influence on an already beloved DC Comics character. Isis was remade as a deep protagonist and made Black Adam an even more entertaining character. It's so often that female characters are used as "pretty, innocent objects" to change a villain into a hero, but with Isis she's actually a fully realized character and not a simple plot device. It's great to see that both the classic and modern versions of this character don't disrespect their target audience. I can only pray to Ra they don't feel the need to go too far from the source when they eventually bring her back again. Which they will. I mean, there's going to be a Shazam movie which means there is going to be Black Adam and he'll be played by Dwayne Johnson and everyone will be like "Oh, The Rock is so cool as that Black Andy guy or whatever he should have a movie" and they'll need a love interest and blah, blah, blah. Sigh. Anyone else pumped for "Black Panther"?
Thanks for reading!
In 1976 Isis appeared in "Shazam! #25" from DC Comics, this was her first appearance in the comics. In 2002 her character was established as one of the Goddesses worshiped by Wonder Woman and The Amazons, but in 2006 she was given a full re-imagining. Recreated as Adrianna Tomaz, she was a slave given to Black Adam as a gift from the criminal group Intergang.
Quick reminder! Black Adam is the main antagonist of Captain Marvel/Shazam. Back in the ancient Egypt era a powerful Wizard gave a slave named Teth Adam the power of the Egyptian Gods, but Teth went from freeing his people to enslaving his country of Kahndaq. As punishment, The Wizard sealed Tech-renamed Black Adam-away on Pluto for centuries. When Black Adam returned to Earth he found that The Wizard was dead and his power was passed on to a new champion known as Captain Marvel/Shazam/Billy Batson/The Big Red Cheese. That's how it started, but eventually Shazam understood that all Black Adam really cared about was protecting his country and the two formed an alliance.
Upon killing the men who brought Adrianna, Black Adam talked to her and she informed him on better ways Kahndaq could be lead. Black Adam fell in love with Adrianna and benefited from her wisdom. As a gift to her Black Adam grabbed The Amulet of Isis from his families' burial, this amulet held the power of the now-dead champion Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty. With Shazam's help the power of the amulet was transferred to Adrianna, this gave her similar abilities to her previous incarnation with additional healing powers and weather control connected to her mood. Over the course of their relationship, Black Adam and Isis freed slaves, turned Kahndaq into a diplomatic country, and finally got married with the company of The Shazam Family. Though trouble would befall them and the universe would undo their acts, the greatest days of Black Adam and Isis will forever be remembered in these adventures.
Isis is pretty damn awesome. Obviously she started out as being a bit simplistic and overpowered, but 1970's superhero shows were more about the charm and lessons than about lore and realism. What's great is that instead of just forgetting this character, DC Comics went the extra mile to remold her into an interesting character. They could have easily made her a tag-a-long or background character or just redo the show premise, but instead they made her a powerful female influence on an already beloved DC Comics character. Isis was remade as a deep protagonist and made Black Adam an even more entertaining character. It's so often that female characters are used as "pretty, innocent objects" to change a villain into a hero, but with Isis she's actually a fully realized character and not a simple plot device. It's great to see that both the classic and modern versions of this character don't disrespect their target audience. I can only pray to Ra they don't feel the need to go too far from the source when they eventually bring her back again. Which they will. I mean, there's going to be a Shazam movie which means there is going to be Black Adam and he'll be played by Dwayne Johnson and everyone will be like "Oh, The Rock is so cool as that Black Andy guy or whatever he should have a movie" and they'll need a love interest and blah, blah, blah. Sigh. Anyone else pumped for "Black Panther"?
Thanks for reading!
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