Born in Detroit, Michigan, most of John's life was marked by poverty and clashes with police. His mother was a community organizer, who tried to make things better, and inspired John to try and make the world a better place. Once he finished high school, John felt it was time to leave home and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. His mother didn't like it, fearing John would be contributing to the american military industrial complex, but John felt it was the only way to pay his way to college and that protest without action is not enough. As a member of the USMC John excelled in full combat training and proved to be an exceptionally talented marksman. He did one tour of duty in the middle east and soon rose to Sergeant, before being deployed to a storm-stricken Gotham City to help evacuate civilian's taking refuge in Seaside Coliseum. The Coliseum's structural supports weren't built to withstand the storm's strong winds and the team found themselves in a tense confrontation with Anarky, who had been stirring up civil unrest among the evacuees. With the brash actions of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Tasker, who was willing to kill american citizens, escalating the the situation, John was forced to break rank and was able to defuse the conflict and swayed the crowd. He eventually took back control from Anarky and managed to save the day by keeping the peace. Tasker confronted John for insubordination, which disillusioned him to the Corps and resulted in a physical altercation. For laying hands on a superior officer John was court-martialed, but due to his heroics at the Coliseum he was given an honorable discharge.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, most of John's life was marked by poverty and clashes with police. His mother was a community organizer, who tried to make things better, and inspired John to try and make the world a better place. Once he finished high school, John felt it was time to leave home and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. His mother didn't like it, fearing John would be contributing to the american military industrial complex, but John felt it was the only way to pay his way to college and that protest without action is not enough. As a member of the USMC John excelled in full combat training and proved to be an exceptionally talented marksman. He did one tour of duty in the middle east and soon rose to Sergeant, before being deployed to a storm-stricken Gotham City to help evacuate civilian's taking refuge in Seaside Coliseum. The Coliseum's structural supports weren't built to withstand the storm's strong winds and the team found themselves in a tense confrontation with Anarky, who had been stirring up civil unrest among the evacuees. With the brash actions of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Tasker, who was willing to kill american citizens, escalating the the situation, John was forced to break rank and was able to defuse the conflict and swayed the crowd. He eventually took back control from Anarky and managed to save the day by keeping the peace. Tasker confronted John for insubordination, which disillusioned him to the Corps and resulted in a physical altercation. For laying hands on a superior officer John was court-martialed, but due to his heroics at the Coliseum he was given an honorable discharge.