ADAM CASIM

Real Name: Adam Casim

Identity/Class: Human mutate/magic user

Occupation: Slayer of those who used the occult;
    formerly unknown

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Punisher (role model)

Enemies: Nightstalkers (Blade, Frank Drake, Hannibal King), Punisher (Castle), Shiv;
    Verna Mae (psychic), J. T. and Bobby (orderlies), Aleister (owner of Magickal Brew), occultists everywhere (well, ok, in Boston, anyway)

Known Relatives: Beth (wife, deceased), Benny (son, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: currently unknown
    formerly Boston, Massachusetts;
    formerly unknown

First Appearance: Nightstalkers#5 (March, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Casim can generate and project flames.

History:
(Nightstalkers#5) - Adam Casim took his wife and kids on a vacation to Boston, Massachusetts. While there, a man ran in front of his car and Casim was unable to stop in time. Casim ran out to help the man, who turned out to be the occultist Shiv. Casim fell under Shiv's slashing attack, and Shiv proceeded to attack and kill Beth and Benny, who could not get away as Shiv had slashed the fuel line while passing beneath the car. Recovering too late, Casim grabbed a flare from the car and attacked Shiv. The sparks ignited the fuel from the car and it exploded, but Casim continued to fight Shiv in the heart of the flames. Only after the Nightstalkers had incapacitated Shiv did Casim then collapse. However, the occult energies from Shiv had already had their effect on Adam.
    Casim was badly burnt and taken to a Massachusetts General hospital, where reports of his family's deaths attracted the attention of the Punisher, who had been in the area investigating a crime syndicate. Sympathetic to Casim's loss, Castle paid his hospital bills and visited Adam as he lay in a nearly comatose state. Castle told him that he knew what he was going through and that while he'd never get back what he'd lost, he'd live with himself by making the thing that wronged you pay.
    Unbeknownst to Castle, Casim heard his words and was inspired. And what had wronged him was the occult.

(Nightstalkers#6) - Escaping from the hospital, Casim heard a group of orderlies talking, and heard two of them mentioning the superstition of not taking the third light from a match. Punishing the men for their mystical beliefs, Casim attacked and killed them, leaving behind only the man who had scoffed at their fears. He then confronted Verna Mae, a psychic reader, and incinerated her as well. Continuing his mission, Casim next headed to "Magickal Brew." This brought him into contact with Shiv, who had come to Magickal Brew in search of a black market baby for his rituals.
    Both Shiv and Casim had been being tracked by the Nightstalkers and the Punisher, who found them at Magickal Brew. Casim slew Aleister and in the alley outside the store and then confronted Shiv, who had lost his powers as a result of an energy blast from Frank Drake's gun Linda ("The Exorcist"). Casim attacked the helpless Shiv, but Castle told him to stand down b/c Shiv was a killer, and that made him the Punisher's to kill. Meanwhile, the Nightstalkers had vowed to destroy anything supernatural and threatened to slay Casim. Casim slew Shiv and then Drake and Castle fired on Casim. The power of "The Exorcist" slew Casim, as well.

Comments: Created by D. G. Chichester and Ron Garney.

Not the best story (Nightstalkers wasn't that strong overall). Castle's reasoning for killing Casim after he took Shiv's life was stupid, though, to be honest, Castle kills most others who try to emulate him.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

images: (without ads)
Nightstalkers#6, p5-6, pan2 (main image)