| Isis | |
|---|---|
Adrianna Tomaz as the second Isis |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Television: The Secrets of Isis: Episode #1: "The Lights of Mystery Mountain" (September 6, 1975) Comics: (as Andrea Thomas) Shazam! #25 (October 1976) (as Adrianna Tomaz) 52 Week Three (May 24, 2006) |
| Created by | (Thomas) Lou Scheimer Norm Prescott Richard Rosenbloom Marc Richards (Tomaz) Geoff Johns Greg Rucka Mark Waid Grant Morrison |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | - Andrea Thomas - Adrianna Tomaz |
| Team affiliations | (Tomaz) Black Marvel Family |
| Abilities | Magically bestowed superhuman strength, speed, endurance and wisdom. Flight. Telekinesis. Control over various aspects of nature. |
Isis is a DC Comics superhero, as well as a separate Egyptian goddess also living in the DC Universe. The recent superhero character is modeled closely after the main character of The Secrets of Isis, a live-action American Saturday Morning television program that served as the second half of The Shazam!/Isis Hour. The television character appeared in several late 1970s DC Comics publications. The more recent superhero character was introduced into the DC Universe in 2006 as a counterpart for the Shazam!-derived character Black Adam. The Egyptian goddess character has been depicted within the Wonder Woman comic book.
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Like the main character of the first half of the program, Captain Marvel, Isis also had roots in ancient Egyptian mythology. The Secrets of Isis starred Joanna Cameron as Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who gains the ability to call upon the powers of the goddess Isis after finding an Egyptian amulet during an archeological dig in Egypt (this is revealed during the opening credits only; no "origin episode" was ever produced). Fifteen episodes of The Secrets of Isis were produced for The Shazam! Isis Hour, and the character also appeared in three episodes of the Shazam! portion of the show. The Secrets of Isis was given its own timeslot in 1977, for which seven new episodes were broadcast alongside reruns from the first two seasons.
Isis later appeared in animated form on Filmation's Tarzan and the Super 7 show in 1980, as part of a segment called The Freedom Force. She later guest starred on The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'s "Hero High" segment. Cameron did not participate in these productions, with other voice actors taking over the role.
Isis demonstrated numerous powers, that manifested when the need arose. Powers demonstrated in the series included flight, super speed and strength (to a level comparable to Superman and Wonder Woman), the ability to make objects levitate, the ability to hold back elements such as rocks and water, the ability to change the molecules of inanimate objects to allow people to pass though them, the ability to act as a human lightning rod, remote viewing, and (at her power's maximum) the ability to stop and reverse time. To activate these powers, Isis usually is shown reciting a rhyming chant (the most frequent being "Oh zephyr winds that blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!"). The medallion Andrea Thomas uses to change into Isis also gives her apparent limited powers even when in her non-Isis form, as she is shown communicating telepathically with her pet crow Tut and engaging in minor mind control even without changing. She also received a superior hand-to-hand and weapons combat skills from the goddess.
Andrea/Isis' love interest is fellow teacher Rick Mason (although this relationship is more implied than explicitly stated - the two characters are simply shown in many episodes enjoying each others company: going on picnics, horseback riding, and going for dinner together). As in the classic Lois Lane example, Mason remains oblivious to the physical similarities between Andrea and Isis, beyond some idle speculation in early episodes. In one episode ("The Seeing Eye Horse") a blind character realizes that Isis and Andrea have almost identical voices, but otherwise the series never explored the secret identity dilemma in any serious way. During the abbreviated second season, cosmetic changes were made to the Isis character in terms of makeup and hairstyle.
Isis' first appearance in comics was in Shazam! #25 (Sept-Oct. 1976). She was later given her own TV tie-in book the following month, the title ran for two years. The eight issue run by DC Comics began in October (1976) and ended January (1979). All stories starred the Andrea Thomas character from the television series; the book was edited by Denny O'Neil, written by Jack C. Harris and illustrated by Mike Vosburg. Like other DC characters who have been reimagined, this version of Isis, though not mentioned or appearing in Crisis on Infinite Earths, can be assumed to have been retconned out of existence following the 1985 DC mini series.
In January 2002, DC Comics re-introduced the goddess Isis as one of the chief gods worshipped by the Bana-Mighdallian Amazons in the Wonder Woman comic. Although the Bana tribe was introduced in 1989, their gods were not shown until 2002. Her introduction depicted her in a standard white sleeveless gown and Egyptian head-dress containing her trademark symbol. Later, the various Amazon gods were depicted as selecting more modern appearances for themselves. After this, Isis was then shown as wearing a black business suit with skirt, long straight black hair and a neck choker containing an ankh.
The superhero Isis was re-introduced in the DC Universe in the weekly comic book 52. In this series, an Egyptian woman named Adrianna Tomaz (an homage to the Andrea Thomas character on the television program) is a refugee who is enslaved and brought to Black Adam as a gift from Intergang along with $2,000,000 in gold. Upon freeing her and killing the emissaries who had brought her to him, 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 and inspired him to commit kinder acts, Adam retrieved the magical amulet of Isis from the tomb of his wife and children, and asked Captain Marvel, now the Keeper of the Rock of Eternity, to confer its power on Adrianna. The Amulet of Isis had long ago belonged to another of the wizard Shazam's champions, Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, who had used it to bring peace to her kingdom. Upon Hatshepsut's death the amulet became dormant.
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 using a jewel given to Cleopatra by Caesar and the two are wed by Captain Marvel, by the Gods of all the Universes and planets, despite an attempt by Intergang to ruin the wedding with a suicide bomber, with several other Shazam! characters (Mary Marvel as bridesmaid, Captain Marvel, Jr., Tawky Tawny the tiger and Uncle Dudley) present as members of the wedding party. It is suggested in 52 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.
This incarnation of Isis has powers similar to Black Adam's. She also possesses healing abilities, which can heal minor and fatal wounds. She also has control over nature, which can be affected her mood; rain falls when she's sad even if she is inside, while flowers bloom when she is happy. Despite her first transformation using the phrase "I am Isis," in later transformations (such as during a press conference when the Black Marvel Family depowered and resumed their superhero forms in public), the traditional "Oh Mighty Isis" was used.
Adrianna finally locates Amon, who has been tortured and crippled by Whisper A'Daire giving him repeated beatings for refusing to join Intergang's religion of crime and trying to run away. Isis stops Black Adam from killing some of the Intergang members, despite their crimes. Isis is unable to fully heal his wounds as they are too deep and complex; Black Adam then asks Amon to say his name; Amon is stuck by a lightning bolt and transformed into Osiris. She prevents Adam from killing the Intergang members. 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 joining them in a public revealing of their human identities, and a public declaration of their good intentions for the future. The Black Marvels defeat the demon, Sabbac, at Halloween when he tries to sacrifice children to Neron with a lightning strike, increasing their popularity. During a charity dinner with Mrs Sivana, Osiris befriends a humanoid crocodile which escaped from Sivana's lab.
Not convinced by this, 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. He is able to cut her cheek open. Osiris rushes to help, shredding the Persuader's body in half. Isis hugs a distraught and weeping Osiris, then they leave, while a storm rages. The event is filmed, turning public opinion against the Black Marvel family. These incidents are part of a calculated series of attacks by Intergang. Osiris believes his power is evil and fights Adam, only stopped when he accidentally strikes Isis. 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.
Isis dies when she is infected with diseases from the Horseman Pestilence, but not before driving off the Horseman Death with a geyser of lava 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. Fury from their deaths leads Adam to World War III. Several weeks later, a hand can be seen reaching for Isis's amulet while her face can be seen within it.
In Black Adam: The Dark Age, Adam (now under his civilian title of "Teth-Adam") gets into Khandaq under a false name, and takes her remains despite a shootout in which nearly all his men are killed. On the mountains he is forced to eat his servant Hassan who offers himself to Black Adam. He fails to notice that he has dropped one of her fingers and her ring at the tomb. He resurrects Isis using the Lazarus Pit. Her resurrection is short lived, as Adam is forced to kill Isis again upon seeing her new body rotting away as soon as she has come back to life. Her bones are then transferred to Doctor Fate's tower, where, with the assistance of Felix Faust, Adam turns them into a magical conduit to imbue himself with god-like powers taken from Isis' corpse itself. Apparently, Isis still could be revived, but every time Adam takes power from her, her bones become more brittle, jeopardizing a new attempt at resurrection. Faust reveals that it is Isis' amulet that can revive her, and that Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. broke it into four parts and scattered it across the globe. It is later revealed that the missing fragments of her body, the reason the Lazarus Pit failed, were being held by Atom-Smasher who found it when the Justice Society investigated the tomb. He meets Black Adam and gives them to him.
Finally, Black Adam manages to find the pieces of the amulet and reunites it with the now-complete skeleton. The spell apparently backfires, resulting in a shambling, rotting corpse. A séance takes place in which Isis' spirit swears eternal hate on her husband, before returning to death. Black Adam flees, laden with guilt, emptiness, and rage; then Faust begins the real rite, having shown 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 by powerful spells to drain her will and bind her to mindless obedience. Now a mere puppet in Faust's hands, Isis' magic is used to free him from his imprisonment in Fate's Tower by creating a magical doorway through the tower wall. Felix Faust then drags her away to a hideout, where it is strongly implied that he sexually assaults the paralyzed Isis.[1]
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.[2] 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, as Isis has turned him back using magic lightning from saying Shazam from a spell book, and begin setting a plan in motion to "cleanse the Earth" of evil their way, even recruiting Mary Marvel to their crusade.[3] 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.[4] 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. Shazam is released from his stone form. 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."[5]
After the events of the Blackest Night storyline, Osiris is resurrected by the White Lantern Entity and returns to Khandaq, vowing to restore the kingdom to its former prosperity. Osiris takes the petrified bodies of Adam and Isis and flies off to an unknown destination.[6] Despite his best efforts, Osiris is unable to return Adam and Adriana to their living states. He ultimately aligns himself with Deathstroke and his new team of Titans after being told that the mercenary can help him return his family to life.[7] Both Adriana and Teth-Adam are currently stored in Deathstroke's base of operations, the Labryrinth.[8]
It is ultimately revealed by the White Lantern Entity that Osiris was resurrected with the express purpose of saving Adriana from her fate.[9] During a battle with a drug kingpin named Elijah, Osiris experiences a vision of Isis after falling asleep due to the villain Pisces. He is told that he is guilty for his hand in the murder of Ryan Choi, and that in order to free her, he will have to kill more people. Osiris accidentally electrocutes Elijah after waking from his vison after yelling 'Isis,' and returns home to find that more cracks have appeared on Isis' statue. He then surmises that it was Elijah's death which caused the cracks, and states that he will indeed have to kill more people to free Isis from her prison.[10] He then kills a guard at Arkham Asylum using his lightning channelled by saying 'Isis' again, although he seems to not enjoy this action, saying 'Great Ra forgive me.'[11] After killing two bank robbers, Osiris is confronted by Freddy Freeman. Somehow, Osiris manages to steal Freddy's power and give it to Isis. However, Isis' first words upon being reunited with her brother are "What have you done to me?"[12] It is soon revealed that the killings Osiris did in her name have corrupted her soul, causing her to haphazardly shift between her kind, caring personality and a callous, cruel one. When Osiris' back is turned, Isis breaks out of the Labyrinth.[13] She goes on a rampage, unable to stop herself from using nature to try to destroy the world. In desperation, she attempts to commit suicide by lightning, but Osiris shields her with his own body. When they awake, Isis discovers that the corruption has left her, but she still feels it inside Osiris, and it worries her.[14]
It was later revealed by the Entity that Isis was brought back to life because she's the one that will aid the Swamp Thing.[15]
Later, Isis aids her brother Osiris in stopping the Quraci soldiers who are attacking Khandaq. Isis learns that Osiris has become more violent, killing the soldiers. When the Justice League attacks Deathstroke's Titans, they were stopped by Isis, who forced them to leave Khandaq at once. She declared her rulership of Khandaq, and withdrew the country from the United Nations, stating that they will outlaw outsiders and recognize no power but their own, and that any intrusion will incite World War III. The Justice League's only option is to leave and Deathstroke's Titans leave as well. Isis then tells Osiris that he is not welcome in Khandaq, because of his bloodlust.[16]
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 Isis on earth. This spell adds almost a hundred pound of impervious godly muscle and tissue to her frame. This spell seems to be solely vocal; she cannot access this spell if she is gagged or hampered in some way from talking. The precision of this spell is somewhat askew. All Adrianna has to say is "I Am Isis" and she is mystically transformed and instilled with the powers of the goddess.
In her Isis form, Adrianna possesses the following attributes:
-Superhuman Strength: Isis has superhuman strength drawn from the Egyptian Gods, and can lift in access, 100 tons. She is one of the strongest women on Earth, and nearly on the same level as Wonder Woman.
-Superhuman Durability: Isis possesses a high degree of invulnerability to most conventional weapons and magical harm.
-Superhuman Speed: ability to sharpen her awareness and increase her temporal flow, appearing to move faster than humanly possible. She can move at incredible speeds, possibly equal to Wonder Woman, but maybe approaching that of Jesse Quick who can attain speeds up to the half of the speed of light. She can move fast enough to not register in the normal peripheral range of humans and seemingly vanish and disappear at will. At this speed, her mind processes information at least on a subliminal level that she is aware of her surroundings.
-Superhuman Stamina: Her godly metabolism provides her with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities.
-Superhuman Wisdom: Isis has exceptional photographic recall and mental acuity allowing her to read and decipher hieroglyphics, recall everything she has ever learned, solve long mathematical equations instantaneously and make intuitive guesses based on limited data to the point her guesses are almost always correct.
-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. She is immune from the effects of extreme height, such as dizziness and being lightheaded. With effort, she can travel from the earth to the moon, but she requires extra-precautionary paraphernalia for interstellar travel.
-Clairvoyance: By using a second amulet affixed to her brow, Isis can perceive objects from a remote distance. She can only use this ability to see things taking place in the present. It does not grant her the power of precognition or post cognition. The exact range of this ability is unknown.
-Telekinesis: ability to move objects with the power of the mind.
-Healing: ability to heal minor and fatal wounds.
-Elemental Control: Isis has the ability to control various aspects of nature. As Isis, Adrianna has control over all of the elements. For example, she can summon a mighty wind to sweep across the land, increase or decrease the force of gravity, control the weather, create vegetation or cause geysers of molten lava to spontaneously rise from the ground. Her ability to control nature was attuned to her emotions as well.
-Chlorokinesis: One of the many applications of Isis' command over the elements is the ability to manipulate and control plant life.
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Isis is mentioned by her brother, Osiris believing that she has been killed by the Atlanteans/Amazons war.[17] It is revealed that Isis was held captive by the Outsider for Black Adam into selling the Outsider his home country, Khandaq. The Outsider then shot Black Adam and threw him off of his train, joining Isis as his trophy/prisoner.[18]
Fans of the TV series, with support from Joanna Cameron, lobbied for the release of the series to DVD for several years. BCI/Ink and Paint has released three DVD sets containing the TV character of Isis:
Despite her stated support for the DVD release, Cameron did not participate in the release of the live-action series DVD.
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