Publisher Marvel Comics Species Human Mutate Creator Kevin Grevioux | Alter ego Adam Bernard Brashear Place of origin Earth Fictional universe Marvel Universe | |
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Created by Kevin Grevioux (writer) Team affiliations United States Marine Corps
Mighty Avengers
Ultimates First appearance Legend of the Blue Marvel #1, (November 2008, Adam) Affiliations The Mighty Avengers, Ultimates, United States Marine Corps Similar Hyperion, Sentry, Monica Rambeau, Amadeus Cho, Beta Ray Bill | ||
Blue Marvel (Adam Bernard Brashear), is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Blue Marvel debuted in Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 (November 2008) and was created by actor/writer Kevin Grevioux, who originally conceived the character as a child.
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Publication history
Adam Brashear debuted in the five issue Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel mini-series created by Kevin Grevioux. A different version later appeared briefly in What If? Secret Invasion #1 (February 2010).
In 2013, Blue Marvel appeared as part of Luke Cage's new team of superheroes during the Infinity crossover, in the Marvel NOW! relaunch of Mighty Avengers.
Fictional character biography
Adam Brashear is a former fullback at Cornell University as well as a veteran of the Korean War, a member of the Marine Corps with two Silver Stars. While in the Marine Corps he met Conner Sims, the friend he would later know as Anti-Man. Brashear 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. This reactor would be a source of unlimited clean energy by allowing devices to tap the stable event horizon balanced between the two universes. Due to the unexpected explosion of the reactor, both Brashear and Sims were subjected to mutagenic radiation generated by the unstabilized event horizon. While Sims' body dissolved into energy, Brashear became a stable "antimatter reactor" with superhuman abilities, which he used to fight crime under the superhero alias 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, since it had been discovered by the public that he is an African-American. As the Blue Marvel, Brashear wore a full-face helmet, but when it was damaged in a battle, his identity was revealed. There was massive controversy as the era of 1962 was too racist to accept a black superhero. Although Kennedy personally approved of Brashear's actions, the President reluctantly decided to ask Brashear to step down, and the Blue Marvel conceded.
At some point, Adam Brashear studied a mysterious being called the Infinaut who made various attempts to manifest on Earth. 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.
He came back for a final mission, defeating the herald of an alien invasion armada. After the fight, he left the Medal of Freedom in the Blue Area of the Moon, where he first met Uatu the Watcher. His conversation with the Watcher was interrupted by the late arrival of the alien armada, which he defeated. The United States government used this final mission to fake his death. The government later sets up S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Marlene Frazier as Brashear's monitor under the cover name Candace. Frazier eventually became his wife and the mother of their two children. Brashear later became a tenured professor of physics at the University of Maryland.
Conner Sims, the Anti-Man, was a radical who, partly because of his history with Adam Brashear, violently hated racism (he being Caucasian), and in his power-fuelled insanity sought to eradicate it. When Anti-Man returned and defeated the Avengers, Tony Stark (Iron Man) tracked down Brashear and with the help of Mister Fantastic they came up with a plan to stop Anti-Man. After a surprise confrontation with Sims on the moon, Brashear was left unconscious. Later an extended fight with Anti-Man resulted in Candace Brashear's death. At the conclusion of their battle, Brashear 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.
Afterward, Brashear returned as a full-time superhero in Age of Heroes #3. After a discussion with Uatu the Watcher, he travelled to Uzbekistan to help the Winter Guard subdue the extra-dimensional King Hyperion.
During the Fear Itself storyline, Blue Marvel was exploring the Neutral Zone when he returned and discovered a submarine lodged in Kadesh, his undersea base. Both the Chinese and American forces blamed the other, and they seemed on the brink of war. Blue Marvel managed to save his anti-matter samples from being exposed to water, and relations between the Chinese and Americans returned to normal. Blue Marvel wondered where the submarine came from, and he soon discovered that the sea dragon guarding the Serpent's undersea prison was responsible for sending the submarine into his base.
During the Infinity storyline, Uatu visited Blue Marvel in his Undersea Science Fortress which he had previously modified. Blue Marvel talked with Uatu about his family life and how he could have taken up the opportunity to join the Avengers. After a one-sided conversation, Blue Marvel took up his costume and flew through Shuma-Gorath's head during its fight with Luke Cage's team. He was able to heal Spectrum (who had been incapacitated by Proxima Midnight's spear) and boost her powers temporarily. Subsequently, Blue Marvel was among those Luke Cage declared to be part of his Mighty Avengers.
During the "Last Days" part of the Secret Wars storyline, Blue Marvel was seen with the Mighty Avengers where they fight the Illuminati. After the battle, Blue Marvel tells Mister Fantastic and Black Panther that he is angry they never consulted the other heroes on this, saying they could have prevented all this if they had all worked together.
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, Blue Marvel appeared as a member of the Ultimates. Blue Marvel's first mission with the Ultimates involved retrieving the incubator that Galactus was brought out of prematurely. Once they put him back into it, he fully emerged as a lifebringer. While in Exo-Space with the Ultimates within their ship the Aboena, Blue Marvel finds that his old enemy Anti-Man has reassembled there. As Blue Marvel wanted to kill Anti-Man where he deemed him too dangerous, he also discovered that his son Kevin was also in Exo-Space who persuaded his father to spare him. Blue Marvel does and has Anti-Man brought onto the Aboena so that he and the Ultimates can fix him.
During the Civil War II storyline, Ulysses later received a vision that tipped off Blue Marvel about Infinaut's ninth manifestation attempt enabling him, Giant-Man, and the Ultimates to work on a Pym Particle accelerator within a week. When the day in question happened, Blue Marvel and the Ultimates used the Pym Particle accelerator to anchor Infinaut and shrink him down to human size. When he finally spoke to Blue Marvel and the Ultimates, Infinaut was pleased to finally meet them.
Powers and abilities
The Blue Marvel has powers that allowed him to fight the Sentry, one of the most powerful beings on Earth.
Brashear holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He maintains a massive undersea headquarters in the Marianas Trench at a location known only to Namor the Sub-Mariner.