Golden Age
A natural athlete and tracker, Paul Kirk became a famous hunter of large and dangerous wildlife. Concluding there are no more challenges left in the jungle, Kirk returns home to Empire City (later retconned to be New York City). Concluding that criminals are the most challenging prey to track and capture, Kirk becomes an amateur detective, aiding the police in several cases. Eventually, costumed super-villains become more common and one named the Buzzard kills Police Inspector Donovan, a friend of Kirk's. Following Donovan's death, Kirk is contacted by the secret cult of the Manhunters, who claim that they are an organization dedicated to helping the cause of justice. The Manhunters reveal they are impressed with Kirk's abilities and want him to avenge not only Donovan, who was an agent of their organization, but to also fight against the rising threat of criminals. Kirk agrees and is given a red and blue costume by the Manhunters to keep his identity secret and "subtly" enhance his tracking abilities. Unbeknownst to Kirk, the Manhunters are actually corrupt robots who have been manipulating human agents and allies for centuries, biding their time until they are ready to attempt planetary and then universal conquest.[19]
As the Manhunter, Kirk begins a double life as a costumed vigilante. With his tracking and athletic abilities, he fights a variety of gangsters and super-criminals such as "twerpy crime lord" Mr. Meek (who has a petrifying ray), the Rajah (armed with the hypnotic Burma Emerald), and a gang leader known as the Tiger.[20] During his early adventures, Kirk learns there is another masked man operating under the name Manhunter. He is unaware this man, a police officer named Donald "Dan" Richards, was also encouraged to fight crime by the secret Manhunter organization.
Following the United States entering World War II, then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt uses Article X as a "superhero draft", asking all costumed champions to pool their resources as the All-Star Squadron and help protect the country. At an early meeting, both Dan Richards and Paul Kirk attend, meeting for the first time. Annoyed at first that they are both using the same alias, and unaware they were both inspired to do so by the same clandestine organization, the two heroes eventually make peace.[7]
As WWII continues, the US government contacts Paul Kirk. Aware of his double identity, the government suggests that Kirk's talents would be more useful if he operated as a spy overseas rather than a non-powered vigilante. Kirk agrees and leaves crime-fighting behind to become a covert operative in the European Theater until the end of World War II. In 1946, Kirk returns to Africa to resume his old life as a tracker and hunter but finds he no longer has a taste for killing animals. Rather than kill his target, Kirk fires his gun into the air, only to accidentally startle an elephant that then kills him.[21] Some years later, another man (whose name is not revealed) is recruited by the Manhunter organization and given the same red and blue costume worn by Paul Kirk. He continues fighting evil for decades.
The Resurrection of Paul Kirk
Paul Kirk's body is recovered by the Council, a group of ten individuals who concluded the invention of the atomic bomb is proof humanity will soon destroy itself unless stopped and properly guided. Impressed with Kirk's talent for fighting, athletics, and tracking, Council leader Mykros orders his chief scientist Dr. Oka to place him in suspended animation. Oka creates several clones of Kirk to act as the Council's elite soldiers before reawakening him decades later. Oka dies of a heart attack before Paul Kirk awakens, decades after his own death in 1946. Surprised to learn all that has transpired, Kirk initially accepts the Council at their word and agrees to become the leader of the clones. They give him new weapons and a new costume.
To become an even better combatant, Kirk undergoes intensive martial arts training by the Council's agent Asano Nitobe, said to be the last true master of ninjitsu. Nitobe, who was saved from the bombing of Nagasaki by Dr. Oka and afterward promised to serve him and the Council, trains Kirk for months not only in martial arts but in how to use his new healing abilities, which require mental concentration to be effective. Eventually, Kirk learns the Council uses nefarious methods such as assassination to carry out their goals and that it believes it must control humanity to save it. Leaving the organization, Kirk spends months opposing their operations, killing many of his own clones in the process.[21]
Kirk's activities attract the attention of Interpol agent Christine St. Clair, who is shocked to learn her own superior and her father are Council operatives. Kirk and St. Claire then prove to Nitobe that Dr. Oka did not die of a heart attack but was instead murdered on order of the Council. To avenge the man who saved his life, Nitobe agrees to join Kirk and fight the Council as well. Soon afterward in Gotham City, police detective Dan Kingdom (a friend of Bruce Wayne) is murdered and the Prime Minister of Congola is assassinated on the grounds of
