There is no redemption for Black Adam… at least, not when Theo Teth-Adam is the man beneath the cape.
Spoilers ahead for Black Adam #2
In Black Adam #1, written by Christopher Priest, illustrated by Rafa Sandoval, colored by Matt Herms, and lettered by Willie Schubert, a dying Theo Teth-Adam finally tracks down one of his descendants: Malik White, a med student living in New York.
Now, in Black Adam #2, Theo is dead. In his final moments, he names Malik his successor as 'White Adam.' Immediately, Malik protests the name – "First of all, this 'Black = bad, white = good' crap: you do realize we don't do that anymore," – as well as the costume, which is a white version of the classic Black Adam suit.
In fact, Malik seems reluctant to take on any of the components of the Black Adam mantle, so he rushes Theo to the hospital using the Shazam ring. Unfortunately, he's too late – meaning he's stuck with the power bequeathed to him and the demand that he redeem Black Adam's terrible legacy.
Black Adam's death was announced in DC's August solicitations, and Priest has been open about Malik's role as his descendant for months. However, now that these events have occurred in the series, the question becomes: How will Black Adam's death affect the rest of the DC Universe?
When Newsarama spoke with Priest about the Black Adam series in May, he revealed that issue #7 will begin to tie the story into the current Dark Crisis event helmed by writer Joshua Williamson. In Dark Crisis, Black Adam is the only member of the Justice League to survive a massive fight with Pariah – who's since trapped the "dead" members of the JLA on individual planets that Williamson calls "happiness prisons."
According to the solicit text for Black Adam #3, Malik "goes to extreme and unethical measures to try and revive [Theo Teth-Adam], all the while wondering if he should save the life of one of the greatest evils the world has ever known."
Whether or not Malik is successful, Black Adam must somehow return in order for this storyline to line up with Dark Crisis – unless, somehow, the Black Adam who survived Pariah's attack isn't the same Theo Teth-Adam.
In the DC Universe, anything is possible.
Another question is, how does Malik factor into Dark Crisis? If he and Theo start sharing the Shazam power after Black Adam returns (assuming he does), we may see the latter's young predecessor working with heroes like Nightwing and Superman to defeat Pariah and Deathstroke, all while trying to restore the JLA to life on Earth-Zero. This would solidify Malik's presence in the DC Universe and potentially open doors for him to join a super-team down the line.
Get to know Black Adam and his powers ahead of this big-screen debut.
