During Absolute Superman No. 18, the comic book fans were introduced to Teth Adam, a.k.a. King Shazam. Unlike Black Adam in DC Comics’ prime universe, he wasn’t gifted the powers of the gods by Wizard Shazam; he was captured and tortured by the Brainiacs.
In Absolute Superman No. 19, readers learn that Teth Adam was given a chance to free the slaves of Egypt and claim the throne for himself. Sadly, after only an eight-day reign, he was recaptured and imprisoned for three thousand years. Now, he needs to get his revenge on the people who imprisoned him.
Absolute Superman No. 19
- Writer: Jason Aaron
- Artist: Rafa Sandoval
- Colors: Ulises Arreola
After Teth Adam escapes his prison, he asks how long he was "left for dead," and why everything is so noisy. When Talia al Ghul sees the power coming off him, she asks her father why he went after Superman when he had the King Shazam in his basement. Ra’s al Ghul says it's because Teth couldn’t be controlled - that point is proven when King Shazam refuses to accept his help and dismembers him in front of Talia. This causes Kal-El to furiously attack Teth Adam.
While the two gods are fighting in the Metropolis sky, John Henry Irons gets involved in his supersuit. If you assumed that a mortal man wearing armor that he made while he was living in his car wouldn’t be able to contest with King Shazam, you'd all be wrong. Steel holds his own and stays with the two brawling brutes in a fight that starts in Metropolis and continues at Mach 25 throughout the world.
When they stop fighting in the air, they land on the beach where Kal-El and Adam continue their battle. Then, out of nowhere, Hawkman shows up and tells Steel to stay down. Of course, John Henry Irons declines.
Before the issue ends, Teth has his eyes on Steel, and Hawkman stares at Superman and says: “Is it just me… or has this ‘superhero thing' got outta hand?” It’s an easy guess that the fighting will continue in the next issue of Absolute Superman, but before that, I have some questions about what will happen next.
First, how far is Superman willing to go against Hawkman and the people he works for? At the end of Absolute Superman No. 19, Kal-El told Hawkman to tell his handlers that he was coming for them. Now that he’s interrupted Superman's heroics again, will this speed things up for the Man of Steel?
Secondly, DC Comics’ Absolute Universe kills people all the time. With Steel being a normal guy fighting a god, will he be the next character to go? Teth Adam has already proven that he won’t hesitate to take someone out, so it’s doubtful that he’ll pause against John Henry Irons.
Lastly, if Steel does survive, will he and Kal-El work together? Supes needs help on his farm, and Irons is the right person to help him with that. Plus, if Steel is as powerful as he seems, it could lessen Kal-El’s superhero load. But, importantly, Kal-El needs a friend.
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