History
Adria was a sorceress and a minion of Baron Mordo.[1] She had also been chosen by Mordo to be deputy leader of the area that included New York City.[2]
When some time had passed without receiving any word from Mordo, Adria, the Demon and Mordo's disciple Kaecilius met at the empty Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange. After Kaecilius made a final unsuccessful attempt to mentally contact Mordo, the trio concluded that he must have failed and so it was time to rid themselves of Dr. Strange. Reasoning that Strange could easily detect any black magic trap, Adria (who was then wearing a disguise that completely hid her gender) produced a simple bomb and hid it within a brazier. The trio then left, with the Demon erasing all traces of anyone other than himself having been there. A short time later, from a hidden vantage point directly across the street, the trio observed that Strange had returned. When it became clear that he had not found their bomb, Adria began to activate the trigger device, slowly and gently, so that their target would not detect it.[1] However, before the bomb could explode, Strange recalled that Mordo had recently been in his home and realized that the fact that there was no trace of his presence meant that an enemy had been there and erased their traces. Now alerted, Strange's mystic eye quickly found the bomb and Strange was able to fly it outside and hurl it upwards. Although he was able to hurl it far enough to prevent it from causing any damage to the city, Strange was caught by the shock waves from the blast and the trio, working together, managed to take advantage of his brief disorientation to capture him and render him unconscious.[2]
While Strange was unconscious, the trio took his Eye of Agamotto amulet and his Cloak of Levitation from him, then moved him to another building where they bound him with gloves that prevented him from using his hands to cast spells, encased his head in a mask that prevented him from speaking or seeing, and surrounded him with a spell that prevented him from moving or releasing his spirit self. Adria announced that, as Mordo's chosen deputy, she would be assuming command until he returned and the other two agreed. Adria then stated that she would study Strange's amulet, Mordo's helper would study his cloak and the Demon would remain with the prisoner to probe his mind. Later, after returning to her rooms in another building, Aria had just removed her disguise when she sensed that her mental link with the Demon had been broken. Using the power of her mind to view the scene, she saw that the Demon had fallen under Strange's control and had been forced to dissolve the spell binding Strange. Reacting quickly, Adria placed the Demon in a trance that made it impossible for Strange to make further use of him and alerted Mordo's other followers before returning to her study of the amulet.[2]
When the others were unable to locate Strange, Adria used a spell that she had previously cast on his mask and gloves to lead her to where he had hidden his physical form while his astral self searched for his cloak and amulet. Adria brought Strange's body back to her rooms, knowing that his spirit form would have to try to rescue it. When Strange tried to use Kaecilius, who was now under his mental control, as a pawn through which he could attack her once her guard was down, Adria immediately detected his presence but pretended to be fooled so that she could more completely trap him, which she soon did. Hoping to force Strange to reveal the secret of the amulet, Adria threatened to cast a spell that would prevent his physical and ethereal selves from ever uniting. Strange's only response was to mentally command the amulet to open and release the Eye which began to sap her will. Helpless to stop it, Adria was within seconds of falling under Strange's control when the Demon arrived and broke the hypnotic bond. Strange attempted to even the odds by using Kaecilius but Adria rendered him powerless before he could help Strange. Adria and the Demon then began to attack Strange's spirit form but his control over both his amulet and his cloak kept the battle at a stalemate until he was able to manipulate both his foes into hurling mystic bolts at him at the same time, tricking them into firing at each other. Although Adria's bolt struck the Demon, his missed her and she was now determined to kill Strange instead of capturing him. However, Strange used his cloak to bind her arms, preventing her from employing any magical gestures so that he could use the Eye on her without interruption. Once she was under his control, Strange had her remove the mask and gloves, enabling his spirit form to merge with his body, making it possible for him to use his full powers again. Strange then cast a spell on Adria and her two allies, one that would cause them to remember nothing of black magic once they awoke. Strange then released them so that their future lives might redeem their past deeds.[3]
Years later, the trio's memories of magic returned, as Strange had intended. However, believing instead that this meant that they had been too strong for his spell to have a permanent effect, the three got together and plotted to attack him. Learning that Morgana Blessing and Strange were friends, the trio mystically disguised themselves and posed as the staff of Independent Video, a small video house hoping to produce and sell a series on occult history. As director Sylvia Nettlebaum, Adria approached Morgana and had her ask Strange about doing an interview with her that "Sylvia" and her associates, cameraman Joe Crocker (Kaecilius) and soundman Tyrone Lewis (Demonicus) could record. However, Strange secretly knew of their plot to attack him as soon as they had Morgana ask him about the interview but he played along and allowed the interview to take place. Eventually, after speaking truthfully about much of his early career, Strange chose to reveal that he knew of their deception and used the All-Seeing Light of Agamotto to dispel their disguises. Once Strange easily dealt with their initial combined attack, the trio split up so that they could escape and regroup but the forces within the walls distorted the hallways through which they fled until they all ended up imprisoned in the same room. When Strange confronted them there in his astral form, Adria let her two allies battle him while she searched for the source of great power that she sensed within some cabinets in that room. After Strange saw her searching one particular cabinet and warned her away from it, Adria assumed that it was because he didn't want her to find a certain small purple globe and prepared to use it. Ignoring Strange's desperate claims that she didn't know how to handle it, Adria cast a spell that allowed the power within the globe to merge with every living, corporeal being in that room and to then pull them through a one-way gateway to the Purple Dimension. Once they were gone, Strange returned the enchanted globe to to its resting place.[4]
At one point, after Strange had abdicated his position as Sorcerer Supreme and was secretly living in his Sanctum that had been made to appear to have been destroyed, he was confronted by a woman he identified as Adria. This woman tried to place magical handcuffs on him but Strange used a non-magical trick to evade them. Adria then told Strange that she had a spell that he didn't know, an energy lock that moved power uphill, and that she was going to use it trap him on the brink of oblivion forever, in a sealed glass case, as a trophy in the Sanctum which was to be her new home as she acquired every bit of power that he had hidden within it. Strange admitted that he had concentrated all of his power into one item and, when Adria asked what it was, Strange replied that it was the piano even as he grabbed her hand and held it against the piano's keys. As Strange called her an "impulsive little wretch" and told her that of course he knew that spell and that, when enchanted into a piece of furniture, it made for excellent security, Adria's body seemed to disintegrate, leaving behind only a small pile of ashes smouldering on the floor.[5]
The trio remained trapped in the Purple Dimension for years, learning about new and powerful Purple Magicks. They also learned (or already knew) of an ancient mirror that had been crafted from one of the Gems of Aggamon and would, during a certain planetary conjunction that occurred once every few centuries, become a magical door between the Purple Dimension and Earth. Doctor Strange anticipated that the trio might take that opportunity to escape and tried to take the mirror to his Sanctum for safety but his watch was four minutes slow and the mirror was still in a room in the Institute for the Study of Ancient History when the doorway opened and the trio finally escaped, with Adria vowing that they would all seek vengeance on he who had banished them. However, they were immediately opposed by the Valkyrie, who had coincidentally been there in her mortal form of Jane Foster when Strange had attempted to take possession of the mirror and had secretly changed into her godly form as a precaution. When Demonicus fumbled the lines that they had rehearsed, the Valkyrie struck him with her All-Weapon, rendering him unconscious. When Adria then announced that the whispers that Strange had made an ally among the Choosers of the Slain were true, Strange had no idea who this Valkyrie was and was soon trapped by the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak that Kaecilius had cast upon him. Adria tried to use her new purple magicks to destroy Strange's ally and was able to hurt her but not enough to prevent the Valkyrie from using the All-Weapon to bind her hands. Now unable to cast her enchantments, Adria was knocked out by a single blow. Strange had released his astral form and was preparing to depower them when the room was suddenly attacked by the Grim Reaper who used the mirror to absorb Strange's soul into it.[6] Adria remained unconscious on the floor during a brief battle that ended with the Grim Reaper leaving with the prize for which he had come and the Valkyrie going after him to save the soul of Stephen Strange.[7]Attributes
Powers
- Magic
Weaknesses
- Adria is very dependent on using her arms and hands to cast her spells, and becomes almost helpless once they are bound.
Notes
- During her initial storyline, Adria was not given either a name or an alias. For some reason, George Olshevsky, the writer of Marvel Comics Index #6, which covered the Heroes from Strange Tales, chose to call her "The Witch." This is odd because, although the Omniscient Narrative in Strange Tales #143 called her a "sorceress" (three times) and a "wizardess" (once), the word "witch" was never used. Her name (assuming it's not an alias) was revealed to be Adria in Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #56 but how Strange had learned that fact has never been established.
- During the fIrst issue in which she appeared and part of the second, this character was drawn wearing a suit, a hat and a featureless black mask that completely hid the fact that she was a woman from the readers. It is unclear if this apparent intent to disguise her gender was meant to be effective in-universe as well, since both the Demon and Mordo's Disciple were clearly aware of her true appearance. There's also the matter of how (or if) this disguise would have prevented her voice from revealing that she was a woman.
- Adria's appearance in Girl Comics (Vol. 2) #2 presents a continuity problem for three reasons:
- First, she is wearing a sleeveless red and black knee-length dress with a plunging neckline that is very different from the much less revealing long purple dress with wide sleeves that she has been shown wearing in all her other appearances.
- Second, since this encounter with Strange must have taken place during the long years that she and her two allies were trapped in the Purple Dimension, how could she have been on Earth?
- Third, since Strange ended that encounter by apparently destroying her, how could she still be alive years later?
- Of course, the truth is that writers Al Ewing and Jason Aaron overlooked her appearance and death in that story when they wrote about how Mordo's long-banished minions finally escaped from the Purple Dimension. So, either that Girl Comics Adria is a different character from this Adria, or it's something that the writer of some future story will have to explain, when (or if) this Adria ever appears again.
See Also
- 6 appearance(s) of Adria (Earth-616)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Adria (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Adria (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Adria (Earth-616)
- 2 image(s) of Adria (Earth-616)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Adria (Earth-616)