Mini Marvels - Blue Marvel

Adam Brashear was a former marine and a veteran of the Korean War who went on to become a scientist and led a project to generate unlimited energy for manking by tapping into the Negative Zone. Unfortunately the energy was too much and the experiment was overloaded. Brashear and his best friend Connor Sims were caught in the resulting explosion and Sims was seemingly obliterated by the anti-matter energy. Brashear survived the experience however, and the exposure had transformed him into an incredibly powerful superhuman. Donning a helmet and costume to fully conceal his identity, he became the world's premier superhero as the Blue Marvel. During one of his battles his helmet was damaged however, and his race was revealed to the public. Fearing the backlash of the people against the idea of a black man possessing so much power, American President John F. Kennedy asked Brashear to step down from his role as the Blue Marvel and go into hiding.

Decades later, Connor Sims would make a surprise return, having finally pulled himself back together after he was consumed by their experiment. Driven insane by the experience, he began to launch a series of attacks on the world. When the Avengers proved incapable of stopping him, they tracked down Brashear and tried to convince him to help them. Bitter from his experiences, Brashear was reluctant to fight his friend, but after his wife was killed during one of Sims' attacks he decided to help the Avengers defeat his old friend. After these events Brashear decided to reclaim the mantle of Blue Marvel, taking on a new costume now that he no longer had to hide his race or identity from the more tolerant public of the modern age.