Isis (DC Comics)

For other uses of the name Isis in comics, see Isis (comics).

Isis
Adrianna Tomaz as the second Isis
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 goddess also living in the DC Universe. The superhero was originally 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 character appeared in several late 1970s DC Comics publications, and was reimagined and introduced into the DC Universe in 2006 as a counterpart for the Shazam!-derived character Black Adam. The goddess is depicted within the Wonder Woman comic book.

Fictional character biography

Andrea Thomas and Saturday morning television series

Joanna Cameron as Isis in The Secrets of Isis.

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.

Powers

Isis demonstrated numerous powers, that manifested when the need arose. Powers demonstrated in the series included flight, super speed and strength, 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.

Love interests

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.

First appearance in comics

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. Isis though never appearing or being mentioned in The Crisis on Infinite Earths is retconned out of existence following the DC mini series.

As a goddess within the DC Universe

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. It must be noted though that the goddess and the superhero are two separate individuals.

Adrianna Tomaz

52

Main article: 52 (comics)

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 (a 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 $2000000 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, 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 Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, who had used it to bring peace to her kingdom. Upon Hatshepsut's death the amulet became dormant.

Artwork for the cover of 52 Week Twelve, the debut of the character as Isis within the main DC Comics continuity. Art by J.G. Jones.

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 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. 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. 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 with a lightining strike. 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.

One Year Later

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. 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.

Finally, Black Adam manages to find 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.

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, as Isis has turned him back using magic lightining 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. 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. 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."

Brightest Day

After the events of the Blackest Night storyline, Osiris is resurrected 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. Despite his best efforts, Osiris is unable to return Adam and Adriana to their living states. He ultimately alligns himself with Deathstroke and his new team of Titans after being told that the mercenary can help him return his family to life. Both Adriana and Teth-Adam are currently stored in Deathstroke's base of operations, the Labyrinth.

It is ultimately revealed by the White Lantern Entity that Osiris was resurrected with the express purpose of saving Adriana from her fate.

In other media

Television

Isis will appear in the tenth and final season of Smallville's tenth episode Isis, protrayed by Smallville actress Erica Durance.

DVD releases

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:

• Space Sentinels /The Freedom Force - The Complete Series - August 22, 2006
• Hero High — The Complete Series - May 22, 2007
• The Secrets of Isis — The Complete Series DVD Set - July 24, 2007

Despite her stated support for the DVD release, Cameron did not participate in the release of the live-action series DVD.

External links

• Isis (Shazam) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Isis (Egyptian Goddess) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Isis (Adrianna Tomaz) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Isis at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Isis TV Biography at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
• DCU Guide : Isis (Wonder Woman version)
• Guide to Isis TV show and comic books
• Guide to Isis comic book
• Secrets of Isis