Isis is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics and in media, originally created by Marc Richards in September 1975 before being reinvented in 52 #12 (July 2006). While related to the eponymous goddess, the character is often associated with Black Adam's supporting cast, particularly as his love interest. Within the character's original appearance in The Secrets of Isis starring Joanna Cameron, her alter ego is Andrea Thomas, a science teacher who gains powers linked to the aforementioned ancient Egyptian goddess through a magical amulet during a archaeological dig and becomes a superhero. Much later, the character was re-invented as Adrianna Tomaz, a Egyptian refugee forced into slavery by Intergang but freed from captivity by Black Adam. Impressed with her diplomatic philosophy and outspoken nature, he gives her a magical amulet also once empowered by the Wizard Shazam, transforming her into "Isis", a demigoddess-like being with powers akin to her namesake. She marries Black Adam and alongside her brother, Amon Tomaz (aka Osiris), she is a member of the Black Marvel Family and Queen of Kahndaq. The character is later killed off by enemies with ties to Apokolips and various revisions had since resurrected the character. In current continuity, Isis remains dead. The television series Smallville depicts Isis as a supervillain form taken on by Lois Lane (portrayed by Erica Durance) when possessed by the Amulet of Isis. Adrianna Tomaz appears later in the episode, portrayed by Erica Cerra. The Arrowverse television series Legends of Tomorrow introduces a new incarnation of the character named Zari Tomaz, portrayed by Tala Ashe. This version was portrayed as a wisecracking hacker from the future with wind powers derived from an amulet and no superhero code name. After the fourth season, another version of the character (also portrayed by Ashe) is introduced after an in-universe timeline change: Zari Tarazi, a social media influencer. The Adrianna Tomaz version of the character appears in the DC Extended Universe film Black Adam (2022), portrayed by Sarah Shahi.
Appearances
Shazam!/Isis Hour Like the main character of the first half of the program, Captain Marvel, Isis had roots in ancient Egyptian mythology. The television series The Secrets of Isis starred Joanna Cameron as Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who gains the ability to call upon the powers of the goddess Isis after finding an Egyptian amulet during an archeological dig in Egypt, as revealed during the show's opening title sequence. Fifteen episodes of The Secrets of Isis were produced for The Shazam! Isis Hour, and the character also appeared in three episodes of the Shazam! portion of the show. The Secrets of Isis was given its own timeslot in 1977, for which seven new episodes were broadcast alongside reruns from the first two seasons.
Freedom Force & other animated appearances Isis later appeared in animated form on Filmation's Tarzan and the Super 7 show in 1980, as part of a segment called The Freedom Force. She later guest starred on The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'s "Hero High" segment, though Cameron did not voice the character.
Publication history in DC Comics Isis' first appearance in comics was in Shazam! #25 (September – October 1976). She was later given her own TV tie-in book the following month, titled The Mighty Isis, which ran for two years, out-surviving the TV series. The eight-issue run by DC Comics began in October 1976 and ended in January 1978; early issues featured a special "DC TV" logo. All stories starred the Andrea Thomas character from the television series; the book was edited by Denny O'Neil, written by Jack C. Harris and most issues illustrated by Mike Vosburg (the first issue was illustrated by Ric Estrada and Wallace Wood). Although early issues stayed within the format of the TV series, later issues covered storylines beyond the scope of the show, such as a story arc involving Andrea abandoning her "human" alter ego and cutting ties with her friends and family, resulting in Rick Mason revealing his love for her. Like other DC characters who have been reimagined, this version of Isis, though not mentioned or appearing in Crisis on Infinite Earths, can be assumed to have been retconned out of existence following the 1985 DC miniseries. The superhero Isis was re-introduced in the DC Universe in the weekly comic book 52, in issue #3 (May 2006).
Characterization
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