Pharmacist Bob Benton, formulated a chemical he called "formic ethers", which gave him various superpowers. It is then that he became the nemesis of evil, The Black Terror. Believing that Bob may need help to wage his war on crime, his assistant Tim took it upon himself to take the Formic Ethers and develop the same powers as the Black Terror. Together they were known as the "Terror Twins". The Black Terror was originally published by Standard Comics also called Pines, Nedor, Better and other names as well. He first appeared in Exciting Comics #9 (February 18, 1941). By the 1980's other comic companies utilized Black Terror as the character fell into the public domain. Every company put their own spin on the Golden Age Superhero, some choosing to give him a brand new origin, while others retained his origin and furthering his stories and adventures.
A successful musician and hopeless romantic, Jack dreams of a record deal, but until then is happy to realize that a beautiful woman named Lydia has been coming to the bar every night to watch him play. That night they leave the bar together. They go to her residence, where Jack consumes a drugged drink and falls unconscious, believing this is his last moment on Earth. In the morning he wakes to find Lydia gone, and a strange mark on his neck. Later that night, Jack stalks the streets, compelled by an urge to hunt Lydia down and take revenge. Jack hears the cries of a woman being assaulted in a back alley. He confronts the attacker, and finds that he has superhuman strength and speed, with which he is able to frighten the attacker into fleeing. Jack’s housekeeper Nettie, a voodoo practitioner, senses the change in Jack. She explains that something evil in the night ripped open the doorway to his soul. Now, whenever shadows fall, his soul comes out, takes over, and goes hunting. She tells him, "In voodoo talk, ‘shadow’ means soul. You the Shadowman." He first appears in Shadowman #1 (February 18, 1992).
