Tracy Simmons was a physicist employed at S.T.A.R. Labs. Partnered with Dr. Daniel Brown, Simmons was researching an alternative energy source. When Metropolis was attacked by the sorcerer Mordru, his magic opened a chasm in the ground that damaged the laboratory and started a fire that ruptured the source's containment field. Dr. Brown was caught in the subsequent explosion, and became a walking black hole.