Colorful Crime Crusaders: Blackrock and Black Condor

Samuel Tanner was the president of United Broadcasting Corporation on Earth-One. Thomas Wright was a senator for the United State on Earth-Two. Each were also secretly superheroes that soared the skies and projected mysterious dark energy from weaponry during their short lived careers. 

For Tanner, it was due to his lust for the stories which his competitor Galaxy Broadcasting / Daily Planet seemed to always have available on their city Metropolis' greatest protector, Superman. Samuel enlisted the aid of his chief technician on staff, Peter Silverstone, in order to use his genius to create a new superhero from scratch. Using initially a specialized antenna and later on a black powerstone to tap into television and radio waves into energy that can be manipulated, Silverstone hypnotized Tanner into become Blackrock. After a series of misguided attempts at heroics with the subconscious intent of subverting Superman, the Man of Steel was finally able to defeat Tanner and return him to normal.

But soon afterward, when an energy duplicate of Blackrock also failed to usurp Superman's heroic dominance in the public's eye, Silverstone employed Tanner's nephew television host Les Vegas into becoming the new Blackrock. When he too failed, this led to Silverstone losing his job and becoming Blackrock himself, wherein he became a supervillain with no pretense of good. 

For Wright, his colorful career path began as the orphan Richard Grey Junior who was raised in the  Mongolian desert by intelligent condors, which helped to awaken his mutant abilities of telekinesis. As an adult under the alias of Black Condor, Grey journeyed to America wherein he encountered a senator named Thomas Wright whom he perfectly resembled.

This senator perished when he encountered a rival senator in Jasper Crow who tried to sway his vote on a key bill, which led Grey into adopting the alter ego of Thomas Wright and carry on the man's righteous crusade. Crow's greed would lead to several confrontations with Wright, even leading to Jasper using a Black Condor imposter on occasion. 

The former Richard Grey developed a black light ray gun which could discharge disabling or destructive energy, allowing Thomas' alter ego to be armed well. Thomas had a surrogate family in his predecessor's fiancee Wendy Foster, and her father Doctor Foster... paralleled by those of Bruce "Eclipso" Gordon on Earth-One in fiancee Mona Bennett and her father Professor Bennett.

Black Condoe soon came to the attention of the All-Star Squadron... of whom Superman was a member. During his first meeting with that team, he and other heroes were recruited by Uncle Sam to travel from their native Earth-Two to the island hero-less Earth-X wherein they became known as the Freedom Fighters. Remaining there for decades, this team fought against Nazi oppression for decades before finally scoring victory when Superman and the Justice Society of his home world along with the Justice League of Earth-One aided them in their victory.