The story of Adam was read in the Book of Oa by K'ryssma and a group of Mosaic Childern. It was a tale of rebirth which K'ryssma took to heart.

The Green Lantern known as Adam is an example of one of the more unusual species to wield a power ring. Adam's entire race consists of one individual: himself.

Eons ago, the Guardians of the Universe came upon a species composed of only one soul, potentially sentient, but hobbled by lack of communication from one generation to the next... For, in order for a son to live, his father had to die. So instinctive was the will for the race to live on, a father always died. But any accumulated knowledge was lost.

Ergo, the Guardians bestowed upon one newly reborn a ring of power devised to chronicle the experiences of each member... so successive generations could experience growth from one to the next. This brought to the race a kind of civilization... a greater will. And each descendent inherited the battery and ring of power. For, by bestowing upon one they bestowed it upon all members of this cyclic race. The ring and battery guarded Adam's death and rebirth. Each time, Adam would die and be reborn in a volcano on his homeworld.

Little else is known of the previous Adams. The 4696th Adam had seen the Anzarat Photons, a race of sentient light wave patterns, in his sector. The photons had crossed his sector searching for foodstuffs. Unfortunately, they found none, and died.

Eighteen generations later, the 4714th Adam was mistakenly believed a threat by the Photons, and was killed by them.

The power ring preserved Adam's memories for the next generation, his son.

The power ring and battery had a systematic "teaching" for each successive Adam:

You are something called alive in a place called the universe. You are the latest descendant of a race nearly as old as life itself. You are called Adam. Your father was called Adam.

It is not known how long each Adam lives, whether it is based on chronological means, seasonal to his home planet, or cellular decay.

Adam was one of the scores of Green Lanterns freed by Guy Gardner from an interstellar slave ring. What will happen with the next Adam, and his race's memories, now that the power rings are destroyed is unknown.