Marvel Database
Marvel Database
Marvel Database
262,709
pages
in: Characters, Name legally changed, Crew (Earth-616)/Members,
and 39 more

Josiah al hajj Saddiq (Earth-616)

Sign in to edit

I thought given the current tension, flying this flag would be a good idea. African American Muslims have not traditionally been terribly patriotic. We have, instead, more closely identified ourselves with the lost tribe of Shabazz--a misplaced people. Strangers in a strange land. In that view, I have offended some of our brethren with this flag. While, at the same time--I've inspired some people with it. Somewhere between those extremes, is where I belong.

—Josiah X[source]

Josiah X was a Muslim minister and activist. Josiah X was the genetically engineered child of Isaiah and Faith Bradley, born to be a Super Soldier.[2]

History

Origin[]

After losing the secrets of the Super Soldier Serum when Dr. Erskine was assassinated by the Nazis, the United States Army sought to create more like Steve Rogers, aka Captain America.[10] To this end, Col. Walker Price and Dr. Wilfred Nagel took 300 African-American soldiers from Mississippi and subjected them to experimental variants of the serum. Only a handful survived, and just one endured the covert missions: Isaiah Bradley.[11]

Bradley's final mission was to destroy Nazi research on the German Super Soldier formula and a Nazi death camp in Schwarzebitte, Germany. Before departing, he took a Captain America costume and shield with him. Though successful, he was captured but later rescued by German freedom fighters. Upon returning to the U.S., he was court-martialed and sentenced to life in prison for stealing the Captain America uniform. Starting in 1943, Isaiah endured 17 years in solitary confinement, his body and mind deteriorating due to unforeseen serum side effects. His wife, Faith, tirelessly petitioned President Eisenhower for his release, sending letters for three years. In 1960, on the day of Kennedy's inauguration, Isaiah received a full pardon under the condition of secrecy.[12]

During Bradley's imprisonment, the U.S. military attempted to replicate his powers. They harvested his blood (before the serum made him super durable) to engineer a child with the same Super Soldier compatibility. After 38 failed attempts, a viable embryo was finally carried to term. A young African-American woman matching Faith's blood type served as the surrogate mother. Upon learning the child's purpose, she fled with him to Faith Bradley. Publicly scolding the girl for her recklessness to mislead government monitors, Faith later orchestrated the baby's escape. Late at night, she and Sarah Gail placed the infant on a train with a note: "My name is Josiah."[2]

Serving in Vietnam[]

Josiah al hajj Saddiq (Earth-616) from Crew Vol 1 5 005

Josiah during the Vietnam War

Josiah was raised in a Catholic orphanage outside Boston, where he struggled with feelings of abandonment. When his powers manifested, he accidentally knocked Sister Irenia unconscious and, fearing he had killed her, fled. Later, under the alias Josiah Smith, he falsified his age and enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Josiah served multiple tours in Vietnam, becoming a battle-hardened veteran. His predominantly Black combat unit was nearly wiped out due to a racist officer's reckless bombing order. In response, Josiah struck the officer and was court-martialed, then sent to a military prison in the U.S. While imprisoned, medical tests indicated he could be the missing Super Soldier child. Offered his freedom in exchange for minor tests, Josiah consented and was transferred from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to a secret research facility in Berkeley, California. Blood tests confirmed his identity, and his surrogate mother was brought in for verification. Once again, she helped him escape, revealing what little she knew of his past—including his genetic parents' names.[2]

Sarah Gail Bradley (Earth-616) meets Josiah al hajj Saddiq (Earth-616) from Crew Vol 1 5 001

Sarah Gail meets the grown Josiah X

Family and Islam[]

Four years later, Josiah, now involved with the radical Black Panther Party, uncovered details of the Super Soldier experiments on Black WWII soldiers. He traced his roots to Mount Vernon, Virginia, and finally met his mother, sister, and his now childlike father. Unable to stay long due to government surveillance, Faith urged him to return when the time was right.[2]

For a time, Josiah lived as a mercenary, killing for profit. Eventually, he embraced Islam, found purpose, and completed the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Upon returning to the U.S., he sought out Sister Irenia, only to discover she was alive and well. They formed a deep friendship, and upon her retirement, she became his housekeeper and mentor.[13]

Josiah al hajj Saddiq (Earth-616) from Crew Vol 1 5 001

Josiah trying on his new uniform

The Crew[]

Josiah became a Muslim minister, founding the mosque in Little Mogadishu ("The Mog") in Brooklyn. He crossed paths with James "Rhodey" Rhodes after Rhodey's sister died under suspicious circumstances.[1] Eventually, he joined Rhodey's "Crew" to dismantle crime lord Triage and his 66 Bridges Gang. Armed with his father's shield, Josiah vowed to protect his community from crime.[14]

Josiah continued visiting the Bradley family after they relocated to The Bronx, cherishing time with them.[2] However, at some point, he ceased contact, and the family had not seen him for over a year.[15]

Eaglestar[]

Josiah had in fact gone into the shadows, having become fully disillusioned with the American state and its uncaring government. Changing his title to Shadow Soldier, Josiah began looking out for the poor people who had been left and abused in the dark.[3] He investigated Eaglestar International, specifically their latest project, the Skydream, which involved luring in the poor people of minorities to flying platforms where they could supposedly live happily in farms. Shadow Soldier sneaked inside one of the platforms, and found out that these people were being mind controlled by Eaglestar's director, Dennis Harmon, who was using them for his own benefit.

During his investigation, he saw that Eaglestar had imprisoned the new Captain America, Sam Wilson, and his sidekick Joaquín Torres, and was forced to blow his cover to free them. He explained to them what he had been doing, and the three of them decided to work together to bring this conspiracy down, but first they needed to escape. As they traversed through the facility, they saw that Eaglestar had been performing inhumane experiments on animals, but upon reaching Sam's cousin, Billie, Harmon dosed them with his mind controlling gas, causing them to be forced to work in the farms.[4]

Thankfully, Sam and Billie were able to fight off the effects of the gas and proceeded to free Josiah and Torres without drawing suspicion. They planned to break inside the Skydream's command center in order to shut it down, but as soon as they arrived to the bottom of the center the quartet were attacked by the War Angels, security guards whose DNA was spliced with that of Torres. They fought their way up to the command center where they discovered that the other Skydreams were headed to cities with the largest black populations.[3] Just as the War Angels regrouped, Josiah's nephew Patriot suddenly appeared, having asked Wiccan to teleport to him to his uncle's location due to concern.

After they fought the War Angels, the group quickly caught him up on what was happening. Sam was determined to bring this whole operation down, prompting Josiah to question the morality of this as despite the farse people were happy in the Skydream. Sam countered by bringing up how both of them had been used by those with power, and was unwilling to let his people get advantage of. Instead of destroying the Skydream, the group decided to steal it from Eaglestar. While Billie went to confront Harmon's head scientist and free Robert Maverick from Harmon's control, the four men made their way to the platform's core where they crashed the servers to slow down the other platforms. Interrogating one of the War Angels, the group found Harmon in the Moira Headquarters at the belly of the Skydream, but were unable to reach him due to a force field. Harmon revealed that the Skydream was supposed to be a place for habitation once society collapsed on the ground, but due to their sabotage he decided to raze the cities the platforms were directed to the ground.[16]

Harmon then unleashed his griffin-like experiments on them to get away. Sam lured one of the monsters into impaling Maverick, turning him into Red Hulk who went to attack Harmon. He destroyed the force field which caused their surroundings to explode, leaving everyone to fall. Maverick caught Josiah before growing a pair of wings to stop both of them from falling, and landed on Harmon's flying disc to prevent him from escaping. Although cornered, Harmon refused to abide with their demands, but as he attempted to take back control of Maverick he slipped, allowing another of his experiments, a winged shark, to devour him whole. Working fast to stop the Skydream from exterminating innocent civilians, Patriot, Torres and Maverick went to disable its defenses and weapons, while Josiah, Sam and Billie helped evacuate the farmers on it. They successfully averted the catastrophe, and in the aftermath Josiah and the others spread the Skydream's resources to help the people that were caught in the attack.[17]

Attributes

Powers

Josiah has powers similar to his father and his nephew. During his creation his genetic code was monitored with great precision, and manipulated to compensate for the side effects of the unrefined Super Soldier Serum. These powers included:

  • Peak Human Strength: Josiah's strength is increased to the very peak of human potential. He is far stronger than normal humans. He could sustain weight slightly exceeding 1,000 lbs, which gave him the power to bend very strong rusty iron bars as his powers manifested as a teen at the orphanage.[2] [18]
  • Peak Human Speed: Josiah is much faster than normal humans, superior to the finest human athlete. He could run and move at great speeds, which makes him capable of reaching up to 40 mph. On one occasion, he has been shown to easily outrun a squad of soldiers after breaking out of the testing facility he was in.[18]
  • Enhanced Stamina: Josiah's musculature produced considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than most other humans, though not to a superhuman degree. He could physically exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.[18] His lung capacity is also at peak human level enabling him to hold the breath for 6 minutes underwater.
  • Superhuman Durability: His muscle and bone tissues are augmented to levels that are vastly denser and harder than normal humans, making him far more resistant to physical injury than that of normal humans. For example, if a person beats him with a ironwood baseball bat, the bat will easily break and he would shown a little discomfort.[18] He is capable falling several stories about 100 ft and withstand certain amounts of blows from superhuman opponents.
  • Peak Human Agility: Josiah's equilibrium, balance, flexibility, dexterity, and bodily coordination are greatly enhanced to the levels that are far above an Olympic-level athlete. He has the combined agility and acrobatic prowess of the most accomplished circus aerialists and acrobats.[18]
  • Enhanced Reflexes: Josiah's reflexes were greatly increased to levels that are far superior to the finest human athlete.[18] He has been shown to dodge gunfire from multiple shooters simultaneously.
  • Peak Human Healing: Josiah's healing is much faster than normal humans. He is able to heal broken bones, torn muscles, several gunshot & knife wounds and other severe injuries within of several days and most lesser injuries like cuts, scrapes and burns within hours. Unlike his father and his nephew, it is unknown if he is capable of regenerating lost limbs.[18]
  • Peak Human Senses: Josiah's senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are enhanced to the absolute highest limits of human potential.[18]
  • Extended Longevity: Josiah's aging is dramatically slowed due to having incredibly healthy cells in his body.[18]
  • Artificially Enhanced Intelligence: Unlike his father, Josiah's mental performance has been greatly enhanced while his creation was being monitored, allowing his mind to operate in the most efficient and rapid manner possible. One manifestation of this is his tactical genius; the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (e.g., threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations. Josiah also possesses an eidetic memory, meaning that he never forgets anything and has perfect recall. This enables him to remember any military tactic and apply it to any situation.[18]
Darkforce Manipulation: Under uncertain circumstances, Josiah was imbued with Darkforce energy which he could produce out of his body and use it how he wished.[16]

Abilities

In the course of his many years, Justice has had experience and training as a soldier, a radical activist, and as a mercenary. He has learned a variety of martial arts styles, foreign languages, and weapons training.[13]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Former Equipment
Josiah al hajj Saddiq (Earth-616) from Crew Vol 1 7 001

Josiah with The Double V Shield

Weapons

  • Isaiah Bradley's Shield: Justice carries the scarred battle shield belonging to his father, Isaiah. An unsophisticated concave triangular shield, useful for defense or as an attack weapon. Justice does not typically carry a firearm but has no compunction against using one.

Notes

  • Since the series cancellation of The Crew, Josiah has been mentioned only in the pages of Young Avengers. Josiah's nephew Eli Bradley, member of the Young Avengers, has to recently revealed that his uncle has not been seen or heard from in over a year by their families. Eli also revealed that the Vision had been aware of Josiah's existence and status as a Super Soldier, having been on the Vision's Avengers Fail-Safe Program's list of potential replacement Avengers.[15] Josiah reappeared around twenty years later in Sam Wilson, Captain America, though in it it's stated that he had been missing only for a number of weeks.
  • Before anyone comments on the history statement that Isaiah Bradley was a victim of experiments to recreate the Super Soldier serum, please note:
    1. Prior to the start of the experiments, one of the soldiers in The Truth: Red, White & Black was seen reading Captain America Comics #1.
    2. The story in The Truth was set after Pearl Harbor; Steve Rogers became Captain America before Pearl Harbor.
    3. The final issue confirms that Steve Rogers pre-dates the experiments on Isaiah and the other black soldiers.
    4. The presence of "Doctor Reinstein", who dies when Steve Rogers becomes Captain America, at the experiments on Isaiah Bradley, does not disprove this, as "Reinstein" was a codename, and thus could easily apply to more than one person.
    5. The Truth creators Robert Morales and Kyle Baker have reconfirmed that Rogers pre-dates Bradley in the Truth: Red, White & Black trade paperback collection (2004).
    • None of this lessens the impact of the U.S. military committing atrocities on African American troops while attempting to create Super Soldiers.

Trivia

See Also

Links and References

References

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms