Dr. Karl Malus was fascinated by the subject of superhuman powers since the first time he read a newspaper account of the superhero team Fantastic Four. Upon graduating with a degree in biology from the University of California at Los Angeles, he applied to various institutions for a grant to study supernormal capacities in depth. Unable to get any funding through legal means, Malus contacted certain wealthy investors active in the Los Angeles underworld. They set him up with a laboratory facility he immodestly called the Institute for Supranormality Research, despite the fact that he comprised its entire staff. The underworld provided him with human test subjects to experiment upon, usually individuals the mob sought to liquidate. Malus hoped eventually to find an individual who already h