Archie Masters was a timid, cautious astronomy professor who taught at a university somewhere in the eastern United States. A colleague created a device called an atom smasher, but the initial test went awry and he was bathed in atomic radiation. But instead of killing him, the accident endowed him with various superhuman abilities. With his confidence boosted, he used these powers to fight crime as the American Crusader. In his civilian identity, he pretended to be a meek pushover he once was, to the endless frustration of his fiance.