Warning: Spoilers for Black Adam #7 ahead!While Shazam is somewhat infamous for his history of being an overeager boy scout, it turns out that not even perpetual scowler Black Adam is immune to the cheesier aspects of the wizard's gift. Although the past decade has been something of a darker reboot for the character, Shazam's moniker of "The Big Red Cheese" is well-earned through a history of dramatic speeches about truth and justice, paired with a child's absolute conviction that good will prevail. Now it turns out that Black Adam had his own cornball phase in the early days of his powers, and it's equal parts charming and bittersweet to behold.
In Christopher Priest, José Luís, Jonas Trindade, and Matt Herm's Black Adam #7, Malik, the heir to Black Adam's powers, tracks Adam's last known location to a warehouse in northeast Washington D.C. There, he finds a VR set used to trap Black Adam in the previous issue. When Malik puts the headset on, he's treated to visions of Black Adam's past, including some of his earliest exploits: clad all in white, the memory of Teth-Adam introduces himself with a gigantic grin as "Mighty Adam," the "wellspring of justice, archrival of malignity!"
Mighty Adam Is A Bigger Cheeseball Than Shazam
For context, Shazam has long been known as "The Big Red Cheese." The phrase was at first a term of contempt given to him by his nemesis Doctor Sivana, but it became particularly apt due to Shazam being the super-powered form of the child Billy Batson. As Shazam, the hero still carried the young Batson's childlike earnestness, leading to some particularly corny speeches and adventures.
As the fallen former champion of the wizard, Black Adam's dour nature serves as a perfect foil to Shazam's naive idealism. That's why it's so heartbreaking to see Black Adam sporting that same idealism himself in the early days of his power. Not yet cynical, not yet haunted by dreams of revenge or years of violence, Mighty Adam is the physical embodiment of that boyhood dream of using magical power to strike out at a palpable, tangible evil and save the day.
Readers know that Black Adam eventually fell from grace and was banished to the furthest reaches of the cosmos for his crimes. Even so, Mighty Adam serves as a reminder that, just like Shazam, there was once a joyous and eager youth behind the thunder and the lightning. Black Adam may be one of the darker anti-heroes today, but it's good to remember that there's someone even cheesier than Shazam buried somewhere very, very deep inside.
Black Adam #7 is now available from DC Comics.