I'd do whatever is right, wherever and whenever it needs to be done -- and I wouldn't care what anyone thinks. Not anymore. 
- —Blue Marvel[src]
A scientist, a veteran, and a super hero, Dr. Adam Brashear is a man of many talents but lived with the hardship of being African American.[3] During a project to use antimatter as an energy source, Adam and his best friend, Conner Sims, were caught in an explosion. Adam became a living stable antimatter reactor and gained superhuman abilities, which he used as the masked hero known as the Blue Marvel. Conner on the other hand was unstable, both physically and mentally, and degenerated into the Anti-Man.[4] During one of their fights, the Blue Marvel's mask was torn, revealing to the world that he was a black man. Due to the sociopolitical climate of America in the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy ordered the Blue Marvel to stand down, and Adam regrettably complied.[2] He returned as the Blue Marvel many years later when the Anti-Man came back, but in stopping Conner, he lost his wife Candace.[5]
In his civilian life, Dr. Brashear was gifted with three kids and a brilliant mind, which he sometimes used to ward off threats even without a suit, such as the Infinaut.[6] Brashear is best known for discovering the Neutral Zone.[7][8] An encounter with his vicious rival, Evald Skorpion, caused Adam's oldest son Kevin to become trapped in the Neutral Zone. Since then, Adam dedicated much of his life researching and travelling through the Neutral Zone.[7][9]
Based in an underwater science fortress called Kadesh,[10] the Blue Marvel usually worked alone, although he has befriended the likes of the Watcher and Namor.[11] Upon his return to the super hero scene, he has joined teams such as Luke Cage's Mighty Avengers,[12] the Ultimates,[13][14] and the Defenders.[15]
History
Early Life[]
Adam Brashear was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. From an early age it was realized that Adam was a child prodigy.[16] Adam was a former fullback at Cornell University who graduated magna cum laude. Adam had Phds in electrical engineering and theoretical physics.[2]
Korean War[]
Adam was a veteran of the Korean War, a member of the US Marine Corps with two Silver Stars. While in the Marine Corps Adam met Conner Sims, the friend he would later know as Anti Man.[2]
Project: Perseus[]
Adam later became the project lead on a scientific attempt to harness Anti-Matter through the creation of a Negative Reactor which created a bridge between the Negative Zone and the positive matter universe itself.[2][17].
This reactor would then allow for an almost unlimited source of clean energy by allowing devices to tap the energy generated by a stable event horizon balanced between these positive and negative universes. Due to the unexpected explosion of the reactor, both Adam and Conner were subjected to mutagenic radiation generated by the then unstable event horizon. While Sims' body disassembled into energy, Brashear became a stable antimatter reactor and developed a set of superhuman abilities.[18]
Blue Marvel[]
In 1962 Adam received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy on the day the President asked him to retire; it had been discovered by the public that he is an African American. As the Blue Marvel, Adam wore a full-face helmet, but when it was damaged in a battle, Adam's identity was revealed. A massive controversy ensued as the America of 1962 was too racist to accept a black superman. The President reluctantly decided to ask Adam to step back. Torn between myriad considerations, the Blue Marvel conceded.[19]
At some point, Adam studied a mysterious being called the Infinaut who made various attempts to manifest on Earth.
Adam came back for one final mission and defeated the herald of an alien armada bent on enslaving the Earth. After that fight, Adam left the Medal of Freedom in the Blue Area of the Moon, where he first met Uatu the Watcher. Adam's conversation with the Watcher was interrupted by the late arrival of the alien armada and Adam defeated them. The United States Government used this final mission to fake his death. The government later set up S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Marlene Frazier as Adam's monitor under the cover name Candace. Marlene eventually became Adam's lover, his wife and the mother of their three children. Adam later became a tenured professor of physics at the University of Maryland.[4]
Mighty Avengers (1970's)[]
In November 1972, Adam joined an earlier version of the Mighty Avengers a team formed by different people who came across each other while investigating the murder of a were bat.[20] When The Bear revealed the Deathwalkers led by Lichidus were behind this, the team officially formed to take them down. Kaluu tracked down the black magic used in the werebat to a secret subway station below the City Hall. The Mighty Avengers then attacked the Deathwalkers before they could make their sacrifice. After Blade recovered the Talisman of Kamar Taj, which was required to perform the sacrifice, Adam caused the subway to collapse above the Deathwalkers. With the Deathwalkers stopped, the team disbanded.[21]
Infinaut's Return[]
In the Infinaut's second manifestation in 1998, Adam and his son Kevin used an anti-matter powered rig to interrupt it. Adam discovered that if Infinaut had manifested on Earth at his large size, he would've destroyed it.[6]
Anti-Man[]
Conner Sims, the Anti Man, was a radical who, partly because of his history with Adam Brashear, violently hated racism, and in his power fueled insanity sought to eradicate it, and probably humanity right along with it. When Anti Man returned and defeated the Avengers, Tony Stark tracked down Adam and with the help of Reed Richards they come up with a plan to stop Anti Man. After a surprise confrontation with Conner on the moon, Adam was left unconscious. Later an extended fight with Anti Man resulted in Adams death. At the conclusion of their battle, Adam took Anti Man up to the edge of the ionosphere and siphoned off his remaining anti-matter energy which caused his waveform to permanently decohere and collapse.[22]
Afterward, Adam returned to action as a full-time superhero. After a discussion with Uatu the Watcher, Adam traveled to Uzbekistan to help the Winter Guard subdue the extra dimensional King Hyperion.[23]
Blue Marvel vs King Hyperion
Fear Itself[]
The Blue Marvel was exploring the Neutral Zone when he returned and discovered a submarine lodged into Kadesh, Adam's undersea base. Both the Chinese and American forces blamed the other, and they seemed on the brink of war. The Blue Marvel managed to save his anti-matter samples from being exposed to water, and relations between the Chinese and Americans returned to normal. Though the Blue Marvel was left wondering how a submarine got into his Kadesh, Adam soon discovered that the sea dragon that was guarding the Serpent's undersea prison was responsible for sending a submarine into his base.[24]
Mighty Avengers[]
The Blue Marvel was seen with Uatu at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. After a one-sided conversation,[10] Adam took up his costume and flew through Shuma-Gorath's head. Adam was able to heal Spectrum, who had been incapacitated by Proxima Midnight's spear. Adam was able to boost Monica's powers temporarily and was among those Luke Cage declared Avengers.[25]
Adam remained in the team, while Adam spent most of his time still working in Kadesh.[26] The Blue Marvel brought the Mighty Avengers into a conflict against his son Max Brashear, who had been trying to open a portal to the Neutral Zone to rescue Kevin. Max, under the alias of Doctor Positron, lured his father and his teammates to his base in an island to activate a portal to the Neutral Zone in order to bring Kevin back.[27] Kevin started emerging from the portal hideously enlarged and distorted as Max attempted but failed to stabilize the portal. The Blue Marvel realized the only way to save him was to push him back, for which She-Hulk attacked Kevin until he went inside the portal once more so it could be deactivated without any risk.[7]
Sometime later, Max reunited with his father in more calmly manner and informed Adam that he had managed to get rough coordinates of Kevin's location within the Neutral Zone, and Kevin communicated with him, warning him about the Beyond Corporation.[9] When the Mighty Avengers confronted one of their avatars, Adam and Max worked together to reprogram the portal Beyond Corporation used to enter reality and successfully bring back Kevin, who had been empowered by his exposure to the Neutral Zone. Kevin forced Beyond's agent back to the Neutral Zone, disappearing as well in the process. Adam and Max set out to try to reach out to Kevin again.[28] Around this time, the Blue Marvel and Spectrum started to develop romantic feelings towards each other, and slowly began a relationship.[9]
Ultimates[]
When Captain Marvel proposed to Black Panther the creation of a government-sanctioned proactive task force with the purpose of looking into potential threats and solve them before they could become a problem to the Earth, T'Challa suggested having Adam in the team. Adam in turn suggested Spectrum, and also demanded that the team refrained from applying violent solutions whenever possible.[29]
During a mission in an attempt to explore what lies outside all of reality, the Ultimates stumbled upon Anti-Man in the Neutral Zone.[8] The Blue Marvel attempted to kill Anti-Man, in part because he had deemed him too dangerous and in part to avenge his wife, but Kevin persuaded him to spare Conner. The Blue Marvel did and had Anti-Man brought onto the Abeona so that he and the Ultimates could fix him later on.[30] The Ultimates' journey outside was cut short when their ship was destroyed by the strain it was enduring. Galactus saved the Ultimates' lives and returned them to Earth.[31]
After the second superhuman Civil War, the Ultimates were terminated by the government due to their differences on the source of conflict, the use of the precognitive abilities of the Inhuman Ulysses Cain.[32] Regardless of their dissolution, the Ultimates would later on reassemble in secret at the request of Galactus in order to investigate the mystery of who had chained the embodiment of the Multiverse, Eternity.[33] In the process of unveiling the mystery and helping defeat Eternity's jailer, the First Firmament, the Ultimates were absorbed into Alpha Flight, being reinstated as an openly sanctioned team.[34]
Reforming the Three Xs[]
When Jimmy Woo began investigating a man who had been wearing the Eternity Mask and posing as the Masked Raider, he reformed the Three Xs with the Blue Marvel and Night Thrasher, in order to help with the investigation.[35] They also helped several heroes with the mysterious murder of an unknown man.[36]
Doctor Doom[]
Following the explosion of the Antlion Space Station caused by terrorists disguised as Latverians, creating a Black Hole, the Blue Marvel was asked to recapture a recently escaped Doctor Doom.[37] He, along with H.E.R.B.I.E., were able locate Doom at Morgan Le Fay's apartment, however, after Doom was shot by Taskmaster. Le Fay tried to convince Blue Marvel that Doom was innocent this time, but upon his revival, Doom blasted Marvel unconscious.[38] After relocating Doom at the house of Fruzsina Markovich, he battled Silver Sable, Victorious, and Kang who were there to aid Doom in reclaiming his throne. The Blue Marvel tried to capture Doom, however, Doom was able to escape him once again.[39]
He and Reed Richards were later able to contact Doom and help in how to deal with the Black Hole, with Doom convincing them that Marvel's powers were more than enough to fix the problem.[40] After donning a suit for Black Hole Exploration he went inside the black hole in order to fix the problem. However, after entering the black hole his powers were tapped out and was stuck inside, while the black hole kept existing. Suddenly, the Blue Marvel was approached by Doctor Octopus from an alternate reality who was sent by his reality's Doctor Doom to help in fixing the problem with negative energy bombs.[41] While Otto told Blue Marvel that his reality's Doctor Doom, the benevolent ruler of the world, had horrific visions of Marvel's Doom, they were attacked by the Brood. Otto himself was killed by the monsters, but the Blue Marvel somehow could not die, and so escaped to the other side the singularity that was within the hole.[42]
The Blue Marvel would land in the alternate reality, where he would find the reformed Doctor Doom that Otto spoke about. Brashear was taken back to a futuristic version of Doomstadt and discussed the Antlion and Octavius with the alternate Doom and the Doom of the Prime Universe. Later, in a fit of rage, Victor would murder his alternate self and take an encased Ultimate Nullifier to destroy the reality. However, he spared the Blue Marvel, dropping the angry hero into a remote ocean on Earth-616.[43]
Defenders[]
Following the death of Doctor Strange, Adam Brashear was handed a box containing items that Strange had kept from his previous Defenders mission, including Strange's tarot cards which he had released into the cosmos. While in Kadesh, Strange's "final spell" came alive and forcibly assembled the Defenders, which included Brashear, America Chavez, Taaia from the Sixth Cosmos, a time-displaced Loki originating from the Seventh Cosmos, and Tigra. The new Defenders were sent through Adam's portal to the Neutral Zone, where they encountered Eternity informing them that they must investigate a threat to him from the Outside.[15]
The Defenders went through the different planes outside the Multiverse, encountering the Beyonders in the Beyond, the Phoenix Force in the White Hot Room, and Glorian and the Queen of Nevers in the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be.[44] Finally, they reached the House of Ideas where they met the One Above All. Adam did not believe that the One Above All was the truly above "all," despite being the top of everything they could reach. After explaining himself to the deity, he asked the One Above All if there is a final guiding hand to which the One Above All responded, "The mystery intrigues me, Adam." The One Above All rewarded the Defenders with a glimpse of the mysterious threat to Eternity, the "Enigma" to come, and the Defenders returned to the Multiverse.[45]Attributes
 |
Powers
Anti-Matter Energy Absorption Physiology: Theoretically, it seems to be the main source of the Blue Marvel's power. This source of power is the energy released from anti-matter which derives from the dimension called the Negative Zone.[16] Anti-matter is the same as normal matter except that the sub-atomic particles are the opposite charge. Therefore, anti-matter and normal matter cannot coexist without exploding. CERN was the first to synthesize particles of anti-matter on Earth in 1995, keeping them in a magnetically charged vacuum to keep it from coming in contact with normal matter. Nuclear fission releases energy with 1.5% efficiency; anti-matter releases energy with 100% efficiency. One gram of anti-matter contains the same energy as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. One droplet could power New York City for a full day. Adam Brashear is the first human anti-matter generator and reactor. The experiment he gained his powers from renders his form unaffected from anti-matter. The Blue Marvel was considered to be an Alpha Level Threat by Captain America (Sam Wilson) and Tony Stark.[46]
- Superhuman Strength: The Blue Marvel possesses vast levels of superhuman strength, capable of lifting excess 100 tons.[47] He was seen as capable of effortlessly lifting the 1960 era's American warship Enterprise[2] which weighs over 93,000 tons.[48] The Blue Marvel is capable of greater feats of strength as when he effortlessly moved a meteor "easily the size of Arkansas."[2] The Watcher states that Adam is capable of splitting the Moon into two with a blow.[18] He was able to directly engage Iron Man, Ares, Wonder Man, and Ms. Marvel in combat at the same time and casually overpower them.[22] He is strong enough to push the Sentry to the limits of his strength and knock him into Earth's orbit with a single punch.[22] He even managed to ultimately defeat in physical combat the powerful King Hyperion, who had slaughtered numerous other incarnations of Blue Marvel as well as heroes of multiple worlds (including Hercules, and Thor of his own Earth,[49] as well as the Sentries, Hulks, Thors, and Eternals of other worlds.[23] When he and the Ultimates confronted their Earth-1610 counterparts he was able to defeat their Hulk with just one punch.[50]
- Nigh Invulnerability: The Blue Marvel has survived a hydrogen bomb blowing up in his hands unfazed.[51] He was capable of withstanding blows from a large collection of superhumans made up of Ms. Marvel, Ares, Iron Man, Wonder Man, and the Sentry.[22] The Blue Marvel can also breathe and survive in space.[52] He can also survive in a nuclear explosion without being harmed.[16]
- Anti-Matter Manipulation: The Blue Marvel can manipulate anti-matter in various forms and for various purposes. This mainly can be seen by him stabilizing anti-matter so it does not destroy positive matter.[citation needed] He can destabilize his anti-matter at will, as seen when he used anti-matter to destroy a Beyonder's "flesh-suit" made of matter.[53]
- Energy Manipulation: Adam can also manipulate material bonds as well as he can control and manipulate anti-material and energy. Able to do so from the molecular to particle levels as he was capable of producing new particles to repair the damages to Spectrum's light form.[25]
- Energy Constructs: The Blue Marvel can use his energy to create durable forcefields, as seen in his battle with King Hyperion.
- Concussive Force Bolts: The Blue Marvel can release anti-matter energy from his hands as bolts of concussive force or his eye in form of optic beam. Blue Marvel can project low energy of anti-matter bolts that render human beings' unconscious.
- Energy Pulse: The Blue Marvel can release all of his body's anti-matter energy as a massive omnidirectional pulse of devastating power.
- Energy Infusion: The Blue Marvel has been shown to direct the energy he generates towards specific parts of his body in order to increase striking power.
- Telekinesis: The Blue Marvel was able to use his energy manipulation to simulate telekinesis in order to move a girl out of the way of danger when he fought King Hyperion.
- Matter Manipulation: The Blue Marvel was able to rearrange the photons in Spectrum (Monica Rambeau)'s body to stop the anti-photons from destroying her body and made her stronger and more powerful, strong enough to take down a tiny shadow of Shuma-Gorath.[25]
- Flight: The Blue Marvel flies by manipulation of gravitons, manipulation of magnetic fields, control of his absolute molecular movement, and utilizing his Superhuman Speed. The Blue Marvel can fly far beyond supersonic speeds. He has been seen flying into space unaided under his own power.[18]
- Longevity: The Blue Marvel ages much slower and lives much longer than normal human beings.[30]
- Enhanced Mental Perception/Hyper Cosmic-Awareness: The Blue Marvel possesses the ability to sense & comprehend things on levels that far exceed human capabilities. He can perceive different sensory spectra beyond the regular norm. Superior Spider-Man once likened him to being his own Electron Microscope,[25] enabling him to see into Spectrum's damaged energy form in order to repair what Proxima had done. Later he would expand his consciousness further through one of his inventions to find out about the imprisonment of conceptual existence.[33]
Abilities
- Super-Genius Intelligence: Adam Brashear is a genius in the field of theoretical physics and has made extraordinary strides in the study of antimatter.[16] According to Reed Richards, Adam's intellect matches that of Doctor Doom.[54]
- Trained Combatant: He has been trained by the US Marines in armed and unarmed combat.[2][16]
- Athlete: Brashear is also a highly talented football player though he is out of practice.[2]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Trivia
- Kevin Grevioux based the Blue Marvel on the concept of "What if Superman were black in the early 1960s, and how would the world react to him?"[55]
- In Ultimates (Vol. 3) #4, Adam was stated to be 87 years old.
- Adam is godfather to Uatu and Ulana's child.[56]
- Portal tech is one of Adam's hobbies.[15]
See Also
- 124 appearance(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 22 minor appearance(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 16 mention(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 154 image(s) of Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 11 quotation(s) by or about Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Adam Brashear (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Defenders: Beyond #3
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1–3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #4
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1–5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ultimates (Vol. 3) #9
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ultimates (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #5
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #3–4
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #2–3
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 6) #0
- ↑ Ultimates (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Defenders: Beyond #1
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1
- ↑ Ultimates (Vol. 3) #4 ; the project was revealed to be in the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #2
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #3
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #5
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Age of Heroes #3
- ↑ Fear Itself: The Home Front #4
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #7
- ↑ Ultimates (Vol. 3) #8
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Ultimates (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Ultimates (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Ultimates (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Marvel Comics #1000
- ↑ Incoming #1
- ↑ Doctor Doom #1–2
- ↑ Doctor Doom #3
- ↑ Doctor Doom #4–5
- ↑ Doctor Doom #6
- ↑ Doctor Doom #7
- ↑ Doctor Doom #8
- ↑ Doctor Doom #10
- ↑ Defenders: Beyond #2–4
- ↑ Defenders: Beyond #5
- ↑ Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #1
- ↑ "As long as I'm writing the character, he won't be so strong that he makes other characters look foolish. He is just in the same league as the Hulk, Thor, Superman, Sentry, Orion, J'onn J'onzz, etc. He's NOT above them." Interview with creator Kevin Grevioux
- ↑ Roughly 93000 tons as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65) & http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/CVN65.htm
- ↑ Exiles #45
- ↑ Ultimates 2 #100
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 ; When the military used references to gauge how powerful Blue Marvel is
- ↑ Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #2 , as he was seen observing the earth from the moon without anything more than his casual attire
- ↑ Defenders: Beyond #2
- ↑ Doctor Doom #2
- ↑ Mu'Min, Huda (24 January 2014) Kevin Grevioux Gives Frankenstein New Life The Root. Retrieved on 16 August 2016.
- ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update Vol 1 1