He conducted his first known criminal activities under the alias of the Exterminator. In this role, Sterling was the costumed mastermind behind a series of crimes committed by the original criminals known as the Unholy Three (Ape-Man, Cat-Man, and Bird-Man.) During a clash with the costumed crime fighter Daredevil, Ape-Man succeeded in exiling Daredevil to the void with his T-ray gun. Daredevil was able to use his powers and skills to escape through a dimension warp, and tracked the Exterminator and the Unholy Three to their lair. After defeating the four, Daredevil intentionally triggered the explosion of the Exterminator's main displacement machine, hoping to end his superhero career by feigning his own death with the explosion. Unbeknownst to him, however, the same explosion irradiated