Comic Book Character Spotlight - Adam Warlock

I'm bringing you another Comic Book Character Spotlight this week, this time featuring Adam Warlock. You'll remember my previous spotlights which featured Green Lantern's Sodam Yat or the New Avengers' newest villain, The Hood. With Annihilation Conquest about to start tomorrow and Adam Warlock revealed as the saviour of the Kree race in last week's Quasar #4, I decided to give everyone the heads up on who this newly reborn character is. If you're new to the cosmic scene, Marvel or comics in general, you probably have no idea who this golden skinned character is and are looking for answers. Whatever your reasons, this spotlight is your source for answers. Hit the jump for the full skinny on who and what Adam Warlock is.

Who Is Adam Warlock?

Name: Adam Warlock a.k.a. Him
Allies: Thanos, Silver Surfer, Moondragon, Drax the Destroyer, Pip, Gamora
Enemies: Magus, Goddess, Thanos, Annihilus, Blastaar, Nebula, Inbetweener
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #66 (cameo in cacoon), 67 (full as Him), Marvel Premiere #1 (renamed Adam Warlock)
Required Reading: Magus Saga (Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-15, Avengers Annual #7, Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2), The Infinity Saga (Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Infinity Crusade, Infinity Abyss), Thanos #1-6, Annihilation:Conquest - Quasar #4, Annihilation: Conquest
Powers & Abilities: Superhuman strength, stamina, agility and the ability to manipulate cosmic energy to further enhance these powers. Typically adorns his forehead with the Soul Gem, which grants him even greater cosmic powers. Also possesses a cosmic awareness and vast knowledge and exists outside of Destiny's influence. Finally, Warlock is able to enter a cocoon, which grants him vast regenerative powers and usually results in his rebirth, typically with greater powers and knowledge in times of great crisis.

Origin

Adam Warlock was originally an artificially created human known as Him, which was born in a cocoon at a scientific research facility known as The Beehive by the organization called the Enclave. They created Him to be the perfect human through which they could control and use for their own personal gain.

After some rather uneventful adventures which saw Him encountering the Fantastic Four and, later, Thor, the High Evolutionary finds Him in a new cocoon state. The High Evolutionary renames Him as Adam, for being the first of his kind, and Warlock, because men would fear his power. It is also here that Adam receives his Soul Gem, given to him by the High Evolutionary. Warlock is then transported to a newly created duplicate of Earth known as Counter-Earth, where he goes on to fight one of the High Evolutionary's renegade creations.

It is not until the critically acclaimed Magus Saga, penned by the new series writer / artist, Jim Starlin, that Adam Warlock becomes the saviour character he is associated with today.

Why Should I Care About Adam Warlock?

While many new readers most likely have no clue as to who Adam Warlock is, know that he is the definitive cosmic hero in the Marvel Universe. Typically, if anything major is going down in the cosmic arena, Adam Warlock is there, front and center, to rally and lead the Marvel Universe's heroes, and sometimes even villains, into battle.

In probably the greatest cosmic story ever told, The Infinity Gauntlet, Adam Warlock emerged from a new cocoon to lead every being in the universe against the Mad Titan, Thanos, whom possessed all six Infinity Gems, which granted him god-like abilities and were most recently seen in the New Avengers Illuminati mini-series. So great is Warlock's knowledge and cosmic awareness that even the supreme cosmic powers of the universe, such as Galactus and Eternity, take heed of his advice in their attempts to defeat Thanos. In the end, after the defeat of Thanos, Warlock took the Infinity Gauntlet for himself and restored order to the universe.

Adam Warlock would go on to separate the Infinity Gems from the Gauntlet and create the Infinity Watch - a group of trusted individuals to which each was granted one of the Gems, similar to how the Illuminati currently holds a Gem each. You will probably recognize several of these members, as many were featured in the first Annihilation, such as Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and even Thanos.

However, the main reason you should care about Adam Warlock is he was recently revealed as the saviour character, a role he typically appears as, that Quasar and Moondragon were searching for in the Annihilation Conquest Quasar mini-series. With this revelation comes the knowledge that Warlock will be heavily featured in the main Annihilation Conquest mini-series.

Of note, however, is that Warlock was prematurely awakened from his cocoon by Quasar and the Supreme Intelligence and it is unknown what his current power levels are. Also, he is seen without his Soul Gem, which typically adorns his forehead. It has been speculated that when the Illuminati claimed all the Infinity Gems, they took Warlock's against his will and that was the cause of his new cocoon-like state. It is likely that the prematurely reborn Warlock is too weak at the present time to reprise his role as the saviour or, at the least, is weaker than previous incarnations. Further, the Phalanx, and the mystery villain controlling them, will seek to assimilate the weakened Warlock and use his powers for universal domination.

What Does The Future Hold For Adam Warlock?

Obviously, with his recent rebirth and return to the Marvel Universe in Quasar, Adam Warlock will be a major player in the upcoming Annihilation Conquest mini-series. This will place the beloved character back in the spotlight in the cosmic scheme of things and has even marked him as the saviour of the Kree race in the Conquest story. On top of this, there are talks that Annihilation will be a trilogy. Assuming Warlock survives Conquest, he would likely be a major factor in any future Annihilation-like events.

Conclusion

As I've said, Warlock is the definitive cosmic hero in the Marvel Universe. With his prominent placement in the sequel to the best Marvel cosmic story in recent memory, Annihilation, Warlock's stock is sure to rise and I'd love to see him get a new series post-Conquest that deals with the Illuminati's theft of the Infinity Gems.

As a big fan of Adam Warlock, I'm pumped to see what the Annihilation team can do with him and this could be a return to the Golden Age of cosmic stories, harkening back to The Infinity Gauntlet are early Starlin Warlock stories. I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks of Warlock's return and I hope this spotlight helped people get a better grasp of who he is and what his place in the Marvel Universe is. Also, what are your thoughts on his role in Conquest? Did you see it coming? Love it? Hate it? I know I can't wait to see what happens and that's something I don't say about too many comics these days.

Interested in Adam Warlock? Check out these various Adam Warlock related trades from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

• The Rebirth of Thanos & Thanos Quest
• The Infinity Gauntlet
• The Infinity War

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Comic Book Character Spotlight - The Hood

I kicked off my Comic Book Character Spotlights with last week's Sodam Yat profile. On the weekend, I did a follow up with a spotlight on the current Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes. Today, I'll be taking a look at Marvel's newest super-villain kingpin, Parker Robbins, better known as The Hood! He's making waves over in The New Avengers and was the source of much controversy with the attack on Tigra. Find out who this guy is and why you should care about him in this week's spotlight.

Who Is The Hood?

Name: Parker Robbins

Associates: John King, Madam Masque, Jigsaw, Chemestro, Jonas Harrow, Crimson Cowl, Wizard, Blackout, as well as various other super-villains

First Appearance: The Hood #1 (2002)

Required Reading: The Hood #1-6, Beyond! #1-6, New Avengers #33-37, Annual #1

Powers & Abilities: The Hood has no natural abilities. His hood and boots give him limited invisibility, flight and demonic powers, which can manifest through increased strength, electrical discharges and demonic transformation.

Origin

Parker Robbins was recruited by his cousin, John King, to break into a warehouse, with light security, rumoured to be housing unknown, but highly valuable goods, and took the job in order to make some money to help move his mother, who suffers from an undisclosed degenerative mental illness, to a better health care facility.

Once at the warehouse, Robbins and King discover an abandoned mystic ritual. Upon further investigation, both are startled by a demon, later revealed to be the Nisanti - Runaway fans might recognize the name as Brian K. Vaughan references it in that series. Robbins instinctively shoots the demon as it leaps at them, apparently killing it. Not wanting to leave empty handed, Robbins takes the demon's cloak and boots before leaving.

Later, after being accosted by several gang members, Robbins flees. As he runs, he puts on the Nisanti boots and discovers that he can levitate with them on. Further exploration of the demonic items reveals the hood's ability to turn the wearer invisible, provided they hold their breath.

Putting his new found abilities to the test, Robbins attempts to steal some diamonds. During his escape he shoots a cop in the neck before fleeing. The police sketch depicts a hooded individual and labels the villain The Hood.

Why Should I Care About Him?

Regardless of what you think of his current role in Brian Bendis' New Avengers, The Hood's original Marvel MAX mini-series by BKV was one of the best works to come out of that imprint and somehow managed to get lost in the shuffle for whatever reason when it first launched back in 2002.

By the end of that series, Vaughan had sowed the seeds for a potential follow up mini-series or possible ongoing with several unresolved plot threads, such as The Golem's retaliation for Hood's transgressions or the new hero/villain White Fang, who wanted revenge on Hood for the death of her husband, the cop he shot during the diamond heist, and so on. Whether Bendis will follow up on these lost threads or not is still open to debate. Either way, this mini-series will give you the much needed back story and insight into this new character that will give you a new found appreciation for him.

Current reasons to care about The Hood lie in Bendis' desire to make him "the ‘Godfather’ of all super villains" in the post-Civil War Marvel Universe over in his New Avengers title. Bendis has an obvious desire to build this character up and as one of the major creative driving forces in the Marvel Universe, Bendis has the means to do so.

Recent New Avengers issues has Robbins working with his cousin, King, to establish his super villain empire. Many minor villains have fallen under Hood's sway, including Madam Masque, Crimson Cowl, Jigsaw and a number of others.

Various exploits by The Hood under Bendis' care include going toe-to-toe with Wolverine, with The Hood coming out victorious, apparently killing The Owl for operating without The Hood's permission, reprogramming Deathlok and using him to steal over 4 billion dollars in cash and, finally, acquiring detailed information on several heroes working under the Super-Hero Registration Act and using that knowledge to send a message to other heroes by brutally beating Tigra as well as showing the villains that he can protect them from said heroes if they ever become a problem.

The Tigra beating by The Hood has been a major source of controversy and even required an interview with Bendis by Newsarama, which you can read here. Whether you believe the scene was an misogynistic 'women in fridges' moment or not, the scene has put a major focus on The Hood and elevated him from a simple villain and helped establish his rule over the other super-villains. So, while you might hate the character after this, the scene has given the viewers a much more vested interest in seeing the New Avengers get their eventual pay back on the fledgling, would-be 'godfather of super-villains'.

What Does The Future Hold For The Hood?

The Hood's rise to power will continue to unfold in the pages of New Avengers for the rest of the year before concluding in the New Avengers Annual #1 in January. Even with this storyline set to end with a large dust up with the New Avengers team, I doubt Bendis will simply throw away all the work he has put into building up The Hood by simply incarcerating or tearing down his newly built empire. I predict a draw when these two teams meet later this year and fully expect Bendis to continue to build on The Hood's story over the next year or two in either New or Mighty Avengers, or possibly both.

Also, many rumours and various interviews have linked The Hood with the Skrulls and Bendis' upcoming Secret Invasion event in some form or another. While I doubt he will end up being a Skrull or end up working with them, I do believe his super-villain army might pose a threat to the Skrulls, leading to their attempt to take over or eliminate the group. Whatever ends up happening, Hood will be featured in the event in some capacity and should further raise his stock.

Conclusion

As I said earlier, with Bendis pushing him, The Hood has no where to go but up as the biggest creative driving force in the company pushes him into the spotlight in Marvel's biggest and highest profile book, The New Avengers. Combined with the strength of his debut mini-series, which was recently re-released in hardcover format to coincide with his introduction in New Avengers, The Hood is set to become one of the biggest players in the Marvel Universe.

Personally, I'm curious to see if Bendis will bring in the various back story elements from The Hood's original series. Will we see a retaliation for the attack on Tigra on Robbin's girlfriend or child, who was recently born, in some form or another? Will the White Fang or Golem be re-introduced to throw a wrench into his plans? The character has a lot of potential with the excellent work Vaughan did establishing him and I hope we get a chance to see Bendis expand upon it as he builds his criminal empire.

Interested in The Hood? Check out these various Hood related trades from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

• The Hood by Brian K. Vaughan
• Beyond! by Dwayne McDuffie

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Comic Book Character Spotlight - Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

I kicked off my Comic Book Character Spotlights with last week's Sodam Yat profile. This week, I'll be taking a look at DC's young hero, Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle! He's currently starring in his own book, Blue Beetle, and recently joined the Teen Titans in issue #50. On top of that, he'll be playing a part in Booster Gold's attempts to save Ted Kord as well as having a tie-in with the incredible Sinestro Corps War in next week's Blue Beetle #19. Find out who this new hero is and why you should care about him in this week's spotlight.

Who Is Blue Beetle?

Name: Jaime Reyes
Hometown: El Paso, Texas
Affiliations: The Posse, Teen Titans
Currently Appearing In: Blue Beetle, Teen Titans
First Appearance: Infinite Crisis #3 (cameo), Infinite Crisis #4 (as Jaime), Infinite Crisis #5 (in costume)
Required Reading: Infinite Crisis, Blue Beetle #1, 3, 7, 12-13, 18, & Teen Titans 50-54

Powers & Abilities: The Beetle armour can reconfigure to create energy cannons, blades, shields, wings and just about anything Jaime can imagine. It's AI weapons system allows him to lock onto and track any energy source - biological, technological or mystical in nature.

Origin

Jaime is a teenager living in El Paso, Texas, residing with his parents and younger sister. He is an honours student with an acute sense of responsibility, very similar in nature to Spider-man, and this is especially noticeable later in the series when he fails to save everyone in a town during an attack by the villain Typhoon.

During Infinite Crisis, the Blue Beetle scarab found young Jaime Reyes for its new champion and, with the scarab's help, he assisted Batman and the other superheroes in the destruction of the Brother Eye satellite and, thus, a new hero was born.

Why Should I Care About Him?

As I said in my Crisis of Faith - Blue Beetle review, the Blue Beetle book is one of the best comics coming out of DC today and the creative team has done an incredible job building up Jaime and his amazing supporting cast of characters. While many were upset with the death of Ted Kord, try not to hold this against the young Jaime Reyes. This series does not ignore the previous Blue Beetles nor does it stomp all over their memories. In fact, the book has numerous references to the previous Beetles and pays homage to them on several occasions.

On top of that, this book is just plain fun. It reminds me of the earlier, more simpler days of Amazing Spider-Man with its focus on the characters and how the burden and responsibility of the Blue Beetle affects Jaime, his friends and family.

The current focus of his own title has been on expanding the role and history of the Blue Beetle scarab. The team has done an excellent job with the introduction of The Reach, the intergalactic creators of the scarab, in issues #12 and 13 and their presence has been a major turning point in the quality of this book, giving it the focus and drama it lacked in its earlier issues.

On top of the introduction of The Reach, Jaime has recently joined the Teen Titans, as seen in the joint telling in Blue Beetle #18 and Teen Titans #50. This new role as a member of the Titans should give the fledgling Reyes the exposure his excellent solo title lacks and will give him an even larger role in the DC Universe at large.

Jaime has also been making cameos in Geoff Johns' Booster Gold series and with that book's focus on Booster trying to resurrect Ted, Jaime should appear or be mentioned again in the future.

What Does The Future Hold For Blue Beetle?

Blue Beetle #19 sees a Sinestro Corps War tie-in that has The Reach, long time enemies of the Guardians, activating a scarab on the newly recruited Sinestro Corps member, Peacemaker, who is a friend and confidante of Jaime. The previews of this issue look great and this should be far more than a generic or forced tie-in. Jaime and Guy Gardner previously met in the opening issues of the Blue Beetle series and again, later, in Blue Beetle #14, where they helped fight against The Reach.

As I mentioned earlier, he is a member of the Teen Titans and, with their popular Titans of Tomorrow storyline currently running in Teen Titans #50-54, Jaime should get even more exposure and spotlight.

Also, as seen in Booster Gold, Jaime will at least be appearing in Booster's attempt to save Ted Kord based on the brief glimpses of the future as Rip Hunter and Booster travel through time. Combined with his Sinestro Corps War tie-in and his new membership with the Titans, these roles in the various high profile books should cement Jaime's role in the DCU.

On top of these various appearances, his current trials and tribulations with The Reach in his own title should continue to escalate and provide a compelling story. Future solicits show a major change in Jaime's life and, if you aren't picking this book up now, you will surely be missing out on some great, fun and highly entertaining comics.

Conclusion

I cannot give Blue Beetle enough praise. His book is easily one of my favourite comics coming out of DC, or any publisher for that matter, and he rarely gets the recognition he deserves due to the negative connotations many have after the death Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle. The book is funny, smart and entertaining and this is more than a generic rehash or replacement for Ted. Jaime's his own man and one of the best new heroes of the past decade.

You all know my love for the character, but I'm curious to hear what others think of him. Will you be picking up the next issue for the Green Lantern tie-in? Does his joining the Teen Titans interest you in his current series at all? Can you Ted Kord fans look past his death and give the new and equally deserving character a chance or will your hatred of DC's and Dan DiDio's killing refrain you from picking up and enjoying this book? Looking forward to all your thoughts and comments.

Interested in the new Blue Beetle? Check out these Blue Beetle trades from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

Blue Beetle

• Blue Beetle Vol. 1: Shellshocked
• Blue Beetle Vol. 2: Road Trip

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Comic Book Character Spotlight - Green Lantern Corps' Sodam Yat

Comic Book Character Spotlight is something new I'll be trying over the next couple weeks. I'm not sure how people will react to it, but feel free to let me know in the comments whether you like it or hate it or what I need to change with it.

The basic jist of this column will be taking random characters and putting the spotlight on them. Generally speaking, I would like to keep this related to specific events coming up or the big reveal of a certain villain or even the debut of a brand new character. For this opening salvo, I decided to put the spotlight on Sodam Yat of the Green Lantern Corps. He had a huge presence in the most recent GLC issues, which you can see in last week's Comic Book Moments of the Week, and since he is a new character for most people, I wanted to give a little background information on him and explain what makes him the "Ultimate Green Lantern". Hit the jump to find out more.


Who Is Sodam Yat?

Name: Sodam Yat
Race: Daxamite
Sector: 3182
First Appearance: Green Lantern Corps #12 (cameo), Green Lantern Corps #14 (full)
Required Reading: Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (1989), Green Lantern Corps #15-16, Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion #1

Sodam Yat is a Daxamite, hailing from the planet Daxam. Daxamites are the genetic cousins of Kryptonians, like Superman, who left Krypton eons ago to search the galaxy and, eventually, settled under a red sun of their own. They are an intensely xenophobic and secular race and typically stick to their own planet and have little interaction with other races. Under a yellow sun, they gain powers rivaling Superman, including strength, flight, invulnerability, speed and heat and X-ray vision. Daxamites are deathly allergic to lead and the slightest exposure illicits a response similar to kryptonite on Kryptonians.




The origins of the character, Sodam Yat, go all the way back to 1989 when the Alan Moore penned story Tygers, contained in the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2, first saw print. This story introduced the prophecy of The Blackest Night, which is the focal point of Geoff Johns' current Sinestro Corps War storyline. This same story introduced Sodam Yat as the Ultimate Green Lantern who was destined to die fighting the Children of the White Lobe, although his name was spelled, 'Sodom', in this tale. The character depicted in this issue was a huge, hulking version of the Sodam Yat that we eventually saw introduced in Green Lantern Corps #14.

Pictured above is the current rendition of the prophecy of The Blackest Night with the current model of Sodam Yat being impaled by the Children of the White Lobe. As seen in Green Lantern #15-16, this prophecy did not come to pass as both Yat and Mogo survived the Battle of Mogo.

Why Should I Care About Him?

Sodam Yat's claim to fame came during the Battle of Mogo where, under the orders of Kilowog, he was sent with a small group of Green Lanterns to take down the sentient city, Ranx, from the inside. Once inside, Yat quickly took control of the group, showing excellent tactical knowledge and intuition, as well as leading the charge in most battle situations.

The Green Lantern, Arisia, was sent by Salakk to ensure Yat was not killed during this battle and to ensure the prophecy did not come to pass. While battling inside Ranx, Arisia arrives to see Yat take the full blunt of several Sinestro Corps members, which she feared killed the young Daxamite. To her surprise, Yat survived with nary a scratch on him, showcasing his Superman-like strength and durability.

Later, Sodam Yat opts to stay behind and detonate Ranx's core by himself so that the other Lanterns won't be killed in the ensuing explosion. Arisia is forced to leave with the rest of the Lanterns, fearing she has failed in her duty to protect the rookie Lantern. Moments later, Ranx detonates high above Mogo and wins the Lanterns the battle. Much to everyone's surprise, Sodam Yat survived the massive explosion and reports in to Kilowog nonchilantly after the battle, as if it was no big deal and he knew he'd survive all along.

What Does The Future Hold For Sodam Yat?

The future looks bright for young Sodam Yat. Rumours abound that he will become the new Ion in the near future, replacing Kyle Rayner, who is tied up in the current Countdown event. The cover of the upcoming Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion #1 portrays both Kyle and Sodam reaching with outstretched hands for a floating Green Lantern ring. The Ion rumours come from the fact that Sodam is competing with Kyle on the cover of the Ion special as well as the fact that Sodam is wearing a version of Kyle's Ion uniform in the same image, which you can see to the left.

If he does, in fact, become the next Ion, Sodam will more than likely become the focus of the Green Lantern Corps comic and take up the position as the Torchbearer of the Green Lantern Corps in place of the Parallax tainted Kyle Rayner. This position almost guarantees more exposure for the relatively new character and should cement his claim as the Ultimate Green Lantern.

Conclusion

In closing, I hope everyone enjoyed this introduction to Sodam Yat. I'm curious to know what you think of this new character. Do you feel he is being "forced" onto us? Should he be the new Ion? Where do you see this new character in the next few years? Personally, I'm enjoying his character and wish Gibbons had started using him earlier in the GLC title. I can't wait to see what they have in store for him and this is definitely an exciting time to be a Green Lantern fan.

Interested in Sodam Yat or Green Lantern, in general? Check out these various Green Lantern related trades from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

Green Lantern

• Green Lantern: Rebirth
• Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear
• Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Green Lanterns
• Green Lantern Vol. 3: Wanted - Hal Jordan

Green Lantern Corps

• Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
• Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1: To Be a Lantern
• Green Lantern Corps: Vol. 2: A Darker Shade of Green

Click Here to Read More!