Black Adam #1

Black Adam #1 is an incredible start. The character is already one of the most imposing that DC has created, as well as being unpredictable. And yet Priest, Sandoval, and Herms shatter expectations. Read Full Review

People who wanted a lot more of Black Adam's typical brand of explosive action may be a little disappointed with this first issue, as there is only one big fight scene, but those people are just missing what makes Priest's work great. He's creating the supervillain equivalent of a nuclear arms race by the end of the issue, and the eleven issues ahead are likely to be great. Read Full Review

Challenging, subversive, and mean as all hell, this is exactly the Black Adam book you'd hope to get from this creative team. Readers are in for something entirely new. Read Full Review

Black Adam #1 sets the stage to challenge readers' existing notions of the character and global and never fail to simultaneously entertain. Read Full Review

Black Adam #1 is a fantastic debut. This is a "mature superhero comic in that it'll make readers think yet delivers the action and spandex and capes one would expect. I had high expectations for it and it met them in every way. One of the best comics of the week. Read Full Review

Black Adam #1 is an excellent first issue, as it establishes not only the characters place with the DCU but also a conflict thats fascinating. Its obvious that Priest has a plan for this series and that Sandoval's art jives with Priests vision. This premiere issue delivers a complicated picture of a complicated character with a cliffhanger that will likely leave readers wanting more. Read Full Review

Thanks to Sandoval, BLACK ADAM #1 ignites with power and explodes out of the gate. However, it's Priest's story that confuses us as readers are quickly introduced to a variety of characters and plot threads without much introduction or explanation. Read Full Review

BLACK ADAM #1 takes the titular character in a new direction and introduces readers to the funny and charismatic Malik! Read Full Review

Black Adam has all the structure and setup of a typical Priest ride. Priest will definitely take readers on an unpredictable journey so its best not to judge too quickly after a somewhat jarring opening act. Read Full Review

This doesn't feel in any way related to the Black Adam we've been seeing in Justice League and the timing is bizarre, to put it mildly, but it's a solid Priest story with okay art. Read Full Review

Black Adam overall is a solid entry with a lot of potential but needs not to rush the story. With everything in this issue, you would think it was a 6-part mini-series, not 12 parts. If they can slow it down and flush out the story, there is a fantastic story. Priest and Sandoval are building something new and unique for Kahndaq and Black Adam, but there is no need to rush and create unneeded confusion. Read Full Review

Look, I love Black Adam, love all the Captain Marvel/Shazam Family mythos but I have to say that this first issue really threw me off with what I'm supposed to know about this Black Adam since he feels so far removed from any Adam that I feel I've ever seen. On top of that, the big point of the story seems to be the heir to Black Adam, and I find his heir to be insufferable at the moment so hopefully that changes since I enjoyed the art in this book and love the character overall. Read Full Review

No matter how good the artwork may be, this debut issue cannot get around the fact that it feels completely unnatural. Read Full Review

While fighting a fake Darkseid, Adam (and later Teth) are infected with some kind of malady that the power of SHAZAM! cannot fix so the anti-hero decides to transfer his powers to a random descendant (despite the wizard being the only one who can bestow such power). This has the Ron Marz lets randomly give one hero's powers to some dude stink all over it. Read Full Review

REYNARD

Jun 21, 2022

PRIEST IS BACK! The goat himself is once again setting the record straight for DC's villains; enough with the anti-hero bullshit, they are the bad guys! Sandoval's art is awesome, but I'm sure you already knew that before picking this up. I think that the most divisive part of this issue is the new OC Malik Adam, who of course comes off as a snarky loudmouth (but remember ladies and gents, that's what character arcs are for!). His dialogue is pretty hilarious though (granted this is coming from a 19 year old). The supporting cast was fun, and i'm still trying to figure out if Shep is an OC or from some ancient set of back issue Captain Marvel stories. Interesting set of characters at the end (a chef?), and the twist is pretty obvio us but the murder mystery and death sentence plots will sustain me until next issue. The pacing is wonderful, and I feel like I got my money's worth from this book. Working on annotations as you read this... more

BigCliff

Jul 05, 2022

Priest constructs, what's surprisingly in continuity, a self-contain world that feels lived and rich with characters, locations & a story that could potentially set up the legacy of Black Adam. We see Teth Adam has been so accustom to life as Black Adam that his day to day activities center around political, both minor & large in scale, disputes both in Kanhdaq & international, taking the metro subway in Washington DC, to having healthy sparring matches with Gods of all kind...including New Gods. But when a citizen of Kanhdaq is murdered & a mysterious illness latching itself to Black Adam, it puts the story into full gear that seams to be divining deep into the Black Adam mythos and may question why this character exist. Or more importantl y the purpose for Black Adam within context of the DC Universe. What does he bring, what does he represents, has those depictions changed, does he need a successor, can this new legacy character, Malik, bring a new respectability & pride to the title that is Black Adam? etc. Its very intriguing. Much of this story carried by the stunning artwork as well. Literally the opening fight between Black Adam & Darkseid is ORGASMIC! My only complaint is that Malik feels like he stepped outta 2011. Hopefully that changes but I'm sticking around for #2. This was a great first issue. more

justonemore

Jun 21, 2022

Just weird

Sup3rsa1yan1990

Jul 04, 2022

Black adam features psychopath diversity hire, Malik, who talks like a caricature from the 90s, who looks to replace him. Fuck this trash