After escaping from prison with fellow convict, Johnny Anvil, Leroy "Hammer" Jackson came upon Chleee, a member of the alien race the Glx. Chleee was dying, and Hammer sought to hasten his death, shooting him with a stolen handgun. The lead bullets saved the alien's life instead of ending it, and both men were rewarded. Chleee transformed their shackles into an Energy Synthecon; a golden manacle which gave them tremendous power when it absorbed kinetic energy from the area around it. Hammer and Anvil were of the same mind and returned to the penitentiary they just escaped to enact their revenge. The Hulk arrived soon after, accompanied by Hammer's father, "Crackajack" Jackson, and Hulk was initially surprised by Hammer's strength coupled with the unfamiliar sensation of pain whenever his emerald skin touched the Energy Synthecon. However, with Crackajack's accidental death when he came into contact with the Synthecon, Hulk tore the manacle in two, causing Hammer and Anvil to lose their power and shatter their psyches.
Nearly going insane from that encounter, Hammer eventually recovered and was hired by the Deterrence Research Corporation (DRC); a weapons manufacturing company at odds with many in the hero community. DRC repaired and retooled the Energy Synthecon, claiming Hammer would regain his power without having to be permanently bonded to his partner or the possibility of suffering the same psychic backlash as before. While in the employ of DRC he sparred with Spider-Man, members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Woman. Sometime later, Hammer was lured to New Mexico where the Hulk was waiting. Hammer and Anvil wanted payback for their first defeat at his hands, but they discovered the person responsible for bringing the villains out in the open was Scourge of the Underworld, who then shot Hammer in the face with an exploding bullet, killing him.
