Spirit King murdered women in Washington to absorb their spirits and command the dead, and was eventually trapped in Hell by the Spectre.
Now trapped in Hell, Romaine made a deal with the demon Shaitan, gaining the power to possess and use the bodies of others in exchange for giving Shaitan the chance to confront the Spectre. Back in the original Golden Age of heroes, Roger Romaine began to kill women in the city of Portsmouth, Washington, believing that he would thus absorb their spirits and gain command of the dead to use against the living world. Although he was hunted by Mister Terrific, he was eventually banished to Hell by the Spectre, despite Terrific's insistence that the families of Romaine's victims deserved to see him stand trial. 
