Karl Richter was the assistant of Dr. Devlin, a noted biochemist.
Devlin was working on a formula to speed up human metabolism. When Devlin finished his work, Richter stole the fruit of his experiments, a serum capable of granting superhuman speed and reflexes. This wonderful compound only had one small drawback: by accelerating the subject's metabolism, the subject's body ran the risk of burning, consuming all its energy, turning into a dry, lifeless shell. Richter was not stupid and never used the serum on himself.
What he did do was recruit a handful of evildoers, scum of the lowest order, to those he injected with the accelerator formula. When they realized that their new abilities could kill them, it was too late.
FIRST APPEARANCE: Feature Comics #40 (January 1941)
