Adam Legend of the Blue Marvel Read Online

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· 246 ratings · 44 reviews

Start your review of Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel

Sep 09, 2014 Sesana rated it liked it

I first encountered Blue Marvel in Mighty Avengers Volume 2: Family Bonding. (Great book, I highly recommend it.) Maybe this is all there is when it comes to Blue Marvel, I'm not sure. As a character, he's really interesting: a black superhero in the 60s, he walked away from the cape at the president's orders. Because the world wasn't ready for a black superhero. This part of his story is told quite well, and Adam himself really carries the book.

But. The storyline with Anti-Man is almost yawning

But. The storyline with Anti-Man is almost yawningly cliche. This would have been a much stronger book if it had stuck with the past storyline, which is really good. I also didn't buy the Avengers (plus Reed) going from, "We're so sorry come work with us!" to "That's a dumb idea go home!" over the course of just a few pages. Then again, this was during Tony's Director days, so...

The Blue Marvel is a really interesting character, and this miniseries is worth reading for him. But the modern part of the story is severely lacking, and it drags down the far better part of the story.

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Vote: 3,5 stars
What if Superman was black?

The premise of this comic book was really good and the story is a nice tuckle against racism and discrimination: a Superman-like hero in the 60s, when racism was not just a despicable and nasty point of view, but an insidious, accepted and institutionalized one, quit by Kennedy's order after is costume is torn apart in a battle revealing his black skin and turning against him the same people he was defending.

A real shame that art was not much as appealli

Vote: 3,5 stars
What if Superman was black?

A real shame that art was not much as appealling as the storyline and that adding an hero as powerful as Superman in modern continuity by retconnetting was already abused by Marvel with the Sentry.
And imagining the Blue Marvel doing nothing, waiting for a call from the President, while Galactus and other overpowered menaces were threatening Earth in the years of his retirement, is really to much to digest.

But of that, Kevin Grevioux created a very interesting character and I really want read more about Adam Brashear in the future.

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Eh, this was pretty unspectacular. The whole idea of creating a "classic" character from an earlier time period and inserting them into existing continuity has become such a cliche--I blame Brian Michael Bendis for popularizing the technique--and likewise the idea of the Avengers being unable to beat a villain until along comes a new character at just the right time who triumphs where they failed. Add a veneer of '60s racial equality over the top and you've pretty much got this GN in a nutshell. Eh, this was pretty unspectacular. The whole idea of creating a "classic" character from an earlier time period and inserting them into existing continuity has become such a cliche--I blame Brian Michael Bendis for popularizing the technique--and likewise the idea of the Avengers being unable to beat a villain until along comes a new character at just the right time who triumphs where they failed. Add a veneer of '60s racial equality over the top and you've pretty much got this GN in a nutshell. Neither the art nor the story are any better than they need to be and the result is a fairly lackluster effort. Not terrible, but not great either. ...more

Aug 31, 2021 James rated it liked it

3.5 stars. I always thought Blue Marvel was a cool character after reading Al Ewing's Ultimates. Finally got to read where he started. Pretty solid. Gives you his background of being a super powerful being who happens to be black during the 60s. Yeah not a good time for that. Super Powerful guy who has saved people all over the country and people still fear/hate him. What the government ended up asking him to do was jacked up. Years have gone by and Adam has been off the radar retired. One of hi 3.5 stars. I always thought Blue Marvel was a cool character after reading Al Ewing's Ultimates. Finally got to read where he started. Pretty solid. Gives you his background of being a super powerful being who happens to be black during the 60s. Yeah not a good time for that. Super Powerful guy who has saved people all over the country and people still fear/hate him. What the government ended up asking him to do was jacked up. Years have gone by and Adam has been off the radar retired. One of his old villains who is also super powerful has returned and the Avengers are no match for him. The learn of Blue Marvel and go looking for him for help. They do some nice things with this narrative and end up putting together a solid book. Shame Marvel doesn't use this guy at all in anything. Although so far I'm not a fan of Cantwell's books, I do appreciate that at least he put Blue Marvel in his Doctor Doom book. ...more

May 19, 2022 Christine rated it did not like it

I wanted to like this "what if Superman were black" comic far more than I did. The idea is very good and the plot in terms of what happens to Blue Marvel when he first starts super heroing was good. The problem is the modern day bits and the fridging of Blue Marvel's wife (like how she got there made no sense, she just appears and having them work though their issue, her betrayal, would have been far better. The story also basically is saying women are just honey traps and need to look sexy but I wanted to like this "what if Superman were black" comic far more than I did. The idea is very good and the plot in terms of what happens to Blue Marvel when he first starts super heroing was good. The problem is the modern day bits and the fridging of Blue Marvel's wife (like how she got there made no sense, she just appears and having them work though their issue, her betrayal, would have been far better. The story also basically is saying women are just honey traps and need to look sexy but they will really love you in the end) and the modern story is largely moved by Tony with no interaction of any female superhero except when Sue brings Blue Marvel's wife to see her husband. It also feels like one of those stories that says everything is better now what really looking at now.

I also really didn't like the art.

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1.5 STARS - MARVEL doesn't retcon as much as DC but when they do, with the likes of Agents of Atlas, The Sentry and even Iron Fist, it's usually interestingly done. With strong writers and/or artists which help carry the high concept ideas into the MARVEL mainstream.

And while the concept of the

Legend of the Blue Marvel was interesting, it honestly reads as though it was written by a child or even by a computer... for it may have most of the elements of an origin story it has none of the depth, 1.5 STARS - MARVEL doesn't retcon as much as DC but when they do, with the likes of Agents of Atlas, The Sentry and even Iron Fist, it's usually interestingly done. With strong writers and/or artists which help carry the high concept ideas into the MARVEL mainstream.

And while the concept of the

It is a shame, however, that the author was not at the level (in this outing) a story of this weight and complexity deserved. Unlike those which have tackled this type of story in the past: the epic Truth: Red, White & Black comes to mind as an example of what this book might have been, had the writing been of higher quality. Whereas this book almost feels like a poor clone of Astro City.

I'm not sure if this book was deliberately written the way it was as a homage to Stan and the old crowd's scripting style but, for whatever the reason, the end result is that this book was almost unreadable. At even their most complex and satirical comics should not be chore to slog through. (view spoiler)[On top of which it almost seems as though the writer got lost in their own fictional biography as Adam was married after he retired, which means that Conner would have had to be the godfather of Adam's children in absentia, as he was already dead-ish?! (There is obviously another option here but from what we see of Adam that option seems unlikely.) Also the way this book leans into the "Women in Refrigerators" trope, with Adam's wife's death, it is reductive at best for a 21st Century comic book story. (hide spoiler)]

The end result of Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel, while derivative and middling does introduce a new (old) black hero who 'dates' from the 60's and can be added to the texture of the MARVEL Universe. A character with a lot of potential, even if he's a poor mashup of Quantum & The Sentry. Hopefully other writers will tell future stories with more to them then what was presented in this origin series.

RECOMMENDED: I enjoyed the "story" of The Blue Marvel, it had weight to it, but the writing... not so much. I'd say if you have the urge to read this DO NOT but instead read something like Truth: Red, White & Black it does a much better job doing what Blue Marvel attempted here, without involving a Superman clone who has none of the nuance which sets someone like The Sentry apart.

Further Reading: If you're interested in comics like this, but written well, see if you can find a copy of The Crew by Christopher Priest or look for a series or two from the, defunked, DC imprint Milestone; where books like

ICON, Hardware and Static (Virgil, I miss you man) might just blow your mind! ...more

Necessarily heavy-handed retcon miniseries introducing the Blue Marvel, a Superman analogue obliged to retire from Marvel Universe superheroics in 1962 because his blackness was scaring people. The injustices it addresses were (and are) real, and exactly the sort of issues Marvel did address in the sixties but couldn't face quite this directly until now. Still, unlike eg Truth (which noted that the experiments used to make Captain America would have been unlikely to get their first test on a whi Necessarily heavy-handed retcon miniseries introducing the Blue Marvel, a Superman analogue obliged to retire from Marvel Universe superheroics in 1962 because his blackness was scaring people. The injustices it addresses were (and are) real, and exactly the sort of issues Marvel did address in the sixties but couldn't face quite this directly until now. Still, unlike eg Truth (which noted that the experiments used to make Captain America would have been unlikely to get their first test on a white boy, given the US military's tendency to regard its black men as handy guinea pigs), this never quite works as more than a sermon. Plus, it's littered with silly mistakes (the Mariana Trench is in the wrong ocean) and bad ideas (if the US government could blow a superhero's secret identity based on a few tears to his mask in the early sixties, how come any modern character can maintain one?). Still, it did birth a character of whom Al Ewing has been making brilliant use in Mighty Avengers and Ultimates. Not that this is atypical, given he's also been making much better use than the creators did of characters originated by everyone from Casey & Dragotta to Stan & Jack. ...more

One of the worst comics I've read in quite some time. I love this character and this run did not do him justice. The writing was very cliche and not a word of it felt like natural conversation. A lot of the characters acted completely out of character (looking at you, Avengers), and the motivations of the villain felt so incredibly shoehorned-in that it wasn't believable in the slightest.

Don't even get me started on the art style - every action scene was drawn incredibly poorly (the artist has n

Don't even get me started on the art style - every action scene was drawn incredibly poorly (the artist has no idea how to draw someone throwing a punch; every frame involving that is either right before or right after, and the positioning of the bodies makes it look so strange). There's another part where Adam is running with a handgun shooting at soldiers, and its one of the most unrealistic scenes I've ever seen in a comic.

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Sep 07, 2020 Jim rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. By Actor and filmmaker Kevin Grevioux who is a comic fan himself. This is how to write a story with issues of racism and real problems,a lot of DC and Marvel writers fail at these days and make a boring story but Grevioux delivered. He actually created the character as a youth. The closest thing we got in the Past was DC/Milestone's Icon by Dwayne Mcduffie. It starts off with the avengers getting beaten by a new threat,soon they learn about Adam Breashear/Blue Marvel and how he was hero of the 6 By Actor and filmmaker Kevin Grevioux who is a comic fan himself. This is how to write a story with issues of racism and real problems,a lot of DC and Marvel writers fail at these days and make a boring story but Grevioux delivered. He actually created the character as a youth. The closest thing we got in the Past was DC/Milestone's Icon by Dwayne Mcduffie. It starts off with the avengers getting beaten by a new threat,soon they learn about Adam Breashear/Blue Marvel and how he was hero of the 60s,however due to racism he was asked to step down. They find Breshear and ask for his help. The art is amazing. I hope this can get a reprint in the near future cause the individual comics are as low as 20 bucks and the TPB is 200 bucks or higher,the cheapest way to read is a tablet,but i personally like physical copies of comics. ...more

Feb 20, 2013 Brian Anderson rated it really liked it

Grevioux makes a compelling story. The only thing that bothered me was how "holier than thou" Iron Man was during the whole thing. I just wanted Adam to punch him but then you realize he doesn't because Adam is a better person than all of us. Grevioux makes a compelling story. The only thing that bothered me was how "holier than thou" Iron Man was during the whole thing. I just wanted Adam to punch him but then you realize he doesn't because Adam is a better person than all of us. ...more

The idea is intriguing, but would require a far better writer than this. Heavy handed, uneven. Established characters act out of character. Finally, the central conceit comes too close to the Sentry, who even appears in this book.
Would not recommend.

May 14, 2020 Emma Gear rated it really liked it

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel was a miniseries I thought had an excellent premise. Set during the Civil Rights era a well-known superhero known as the Blue Marvel faces off against an incredibly powerful foe. He barely manages to win, and in the process the full face mask he wore is ripped up, revealing not only his face to the world, but that he was black. The government, fearing what could happen if word of an impossibly powerful black man got out, asks Adam to step down as a hero, and durin Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel was a miniseries I thought had an excellent premise. Set during the Civil Rights era a well-known superhero known as the Blue Marvel faces off against an incredibly powerful foe. He barely manages to win, and in the process the full face mask he wore is ripped up, revealing not only his face to the world, but that he was black. The government, fearing what could happen if word of an impossibly powerful black man got out, asks Adam to step down as a hero, and during a mission soon after he flies off into space and fakes his own death so the Blue Marvel is no longer something for people to fear during times of societal upheaval.

When I read the summary I was under the impression that would cover all four issues and deal with him unsure if he should do as ordered or not, but all of that takes place within the first issue alone. In the modern times the villain that Blue Marvel seemingly defeated all those years ago returns, and overpowers the Avengers so aid has to be called in.

The story focuses on Adam's backstory, what he did during the years inbetween these two major events, and what it was like for him to be a superhuman in hiding during a time where simply being in public with his very white wife could get people to assault him. It does some decent dives into racial politics of the time, including one very revealing conversation where Hank Pym says the equivalent of "Racism isn't a thing anymore, so get over it." While it is good for the most part there are a few iffy bits as well, such as the US Government totally being on the side of giving African Americans all the rights they deserved, which was their reason for not wanting Blue Marvel to be around and scaring people while they worked on that.

Adam Brashear himself is a great character and I really liked his backstory a lot. Despite the few embarrassing details there's also clearly a lot of thought put into what it would have been like to be him, and I appreciated that sort of attention to detail. Not the strongest book on the subject by any stretch of the imagination, but an interesting enough read to recommend if you think the premise sounds interesting.

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The bits in the past work better than those in the present. It's an interesting thought experiment to ask what a liberal US Government would have done if, in the middle of the civil rights protests, America's foremost hero had turned out to be a black man, and the book explores it well. The present day sequences are far less successful, descending into the sort of "proclaiming while punching" sequences that we're all very bored of (and which don't actually make sense). There are enough good bits The bits in the past work better than those in the present. It's an interesting thought experiment to ask what a liberal US Government would have done if, in the middle of the civil rights protests, America's foremost hero had turned out to be a black man, and the book explores it well. The present day sequences are far less successful, descending into the sort of "proclaiming while punching" sequences that we're all very bored of (and which don't actually make sense). There are enough good bits to make me think Marvel could make a decent adaptation out of them, but the book itself is a more qualified success. ...more

Jun 09, 2021 Steven rated it it was ok

I really wanted to like this, but the writing is often rough, the story often sloppy, the internal chronology inconsistent, and the choice to fridge a female character for no good purpose infuriating. There's a good tale at the heart of this: the legacy of race hatred and its persistence over time, and how that endangers a nation, with a side story of how allies, empowered, can become radical enough to be an even bigger menace than what they're fighting.

Hilarious to see Tony Stark, during the Ci

Hilarious to see Tony Stark, during the Civil War mess, being accused of being a bleeding heart liberal.

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Nov 27, 2021 Matt rated it it was amazing

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel issues #1-5

I believe that I first encountered the character of Adam Brashear in Al Ewing's "Mighty Avengers" run from 2013. I was immediately interested in the character, and I enjoyed learning more about him in Ewing's run on "The Ultimates." This collection gives the explanation to where Blue Marvel had been during his quiet years, and the reason why he wasn't an active hero during that time. I found this to be a meaningful read, and I'm looking forward to track

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel issues #1-5

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SO many missed opportunities for what could have been an amazing tale. Everything in this story that takes place in the present was bad. Everything that took place in the past was very good. I wished Grevioux would have had the story focus solely on a black hero in the '60s and then him disappearing and reappearing now. Editorially there was a bunch of wonky stuff as well (Candace's age & Wonder Man's costume changes). The antagonist was comically over-powered. Overall, so much to like but more SO many missed opportunities for what could have been an amazing tale. Everything in this story that takes place in the present was bad. Everything that took place in the past was very good. I wished Grevioux would have had the story focus solely on a black hero in the '60s and then him disappearing and reappearing now. Editorially there was a bunch of wonky stuff as well (Candace's age & Wonder Man's costume changes). The antagonist was comically over-powered. Overall, so much to like but more to dislike. ...more

Sep 29, 2018 B rated it really liked it

Fun.

I feel this monster retcon origin is a move that is made a lot. You can even see it with the Sentry in this book. But when it works, it works.

The racial politics alternate between too simple and rather complicated here. I'd be interested in hearing from the author how much of the complication was intentional.

Great design (except everyone seems to have agreed to drop the Dr. Fate style mask.)

Fun.

I feel this monster retcon origin is a move that is made a lot. You can even see it with the Sentry in this book. But when it works, it works.

The racial politics alternate between too simple and rather complicated here. I'd be interested in hearing from the author how much of the complication was intentional.

Great design (except everyone seems to have agreed to drop the Dr. Fate style mask.)

...more

This was a very interesting story dealing with the idea of a super powered individual in the 1960s..that happened to be black. It's a very realistic story in the regards of race relations in the 60s, even if much of the story is traditional super hero fare. This is somewhat of a sleeper book and that's a shame as this is a much more relevant story than you see in comics for the most part. The art didn't quite live up to the story, but it was okay. Overall I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very interesting story dealing with the idea of a super powered individual in the 1960s..that happened to be black. It's a very realistic story in the regards of race relations in the 60s, even if much of the story is traditional super hero fare. This is somewhat of a sleeper book and that's a shame as this is a much more relevant story than you see in comics for the most part. The art didn't quite live up to the story, but it was okay. Overall I was pleasantly surprised. ...more

I thought the story was well thought out and great for a new idea .thank you Gregory

I give the story an eight an it's great to see a superman level black character .I hope to see more of this character.

I thought the story was well thought out and great for a new idea .thank you Gregory

I give the story an eight an it's great to see a superman level black character .I hope to see more of this character.

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Like really it's 2.5. The stuff that's directly dealing with race and the lead's experiences as a Black man are well-done, but the art's fairly lousy and any of the superheroic side of the writing is pretty bad.

A strong and intriguing first half let down by cliche, inconsistent art and narrative that preached more than told story in the final parts.

Should have read this a long time ago

What a deeply moving story. Adam Brasher is the man. With the Ultimates gone he needs his own book. Fantastic

Phenomenal Story

This was gifted to me by a friend from work after he realized I had never heard of Blue Marvel or Anti Man. This was thoroughly enjoyable!

I'm floored.

I should have read this book a long time ago. It's immensely important now; more than its ever been. Please do yourself a favor and read it.

I'm floored.

I should have read this book a long time ago. It's immensely important now; more than its ever been. Please do yourself a favor and read it.

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Jun 25, 2020 Chris W rated it liked it

3.5 stars. Black superman. The best parts are the ones that deal with the racial tension in the 50s and 60s

Outstanding book

Great artwork, terrific storyline and overall theme. We need more patriotic works now more than ever and this story hits spot on.

A bit too idealistic

Sometimes the right words aren't enough to change the world. Retroconning a hero. Not bad but laden with too much expectations.

An exciting new addition to the marvel universe.

Kevin Grevioux is an American actor, screenwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known for his role as Raze in the Underworld film series, which he co-created.

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Grevioux was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in various other states including Alaska, Oklahoma, Boston and New Jersey. He graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Microbiology, afterwards attending graduate school and this time working towards a Masters in Genetic Engineering. While studying, he congruently took screenwriting and cinematography classes as well, and by the time his first semester of grad school had finished, Kevin had chosen film as his preferred career and moved to Los Angeles, where he began to work as a writer in earnest. To this end he has written several scripts in various genres and has written and directed two short sci-fi films Indigo and Thanatos.

Kevin met 'Underworld' director Len Wiseman while working on the sci-fi hit Stargate: la puerta del tiempo (1994), when Len was a prop assistant and Kevin an extra. The two formed a friendship and later collaborated on a host of other ideas and concepts leading to the completion of two scripts, one of which was Underworld (2003). The idea for the concept was Kevin's; in addition, he wrote the original screenplay and treatment for the film in 2000.

Kevin has also studied acting and has had several small roles in television, film and commercials. Most recently in Planet of the Apes (2001), Charlie's Angels (2000), Marvel Comics' The Hulk and in Underworld (2003), playing the formidable Lycan character Raze. He also serves as an Associate Producer on the film and is currently working on several other screenplays as well as his first novel, a science fiction thriller.

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