Paul Kirk began life as Rick Nelson, big game hunter turned crime fighter to avenge the death of his friend Inspector Donovan of Empire City of Earth-Two. Unaware that Donovan had himself been recruited into the fraternity of the Manhunters, secretly an armada of android troops originally created on the planet Oa in a parallel universe, Rick quickly assumed to new alter egos. Borrowing the identity of a former manhunter in civilian clothes named Paul Kirk, the adventurous Nelson also assumed the costumed career of those who recruited him. Given a special uniform modeled after the androids by the Grand Master who had originated in that other universe, Kirk as the Manhunter had a short lived yet prominent career, even joining the All-Star Squadron during the war time years in the 1940s. And then, Kirk hung up the red and blue and returned to his first love hunting in Africa, after he along with other heroes were exiled to Earth-One* when they confronted Per Degaton, these men becoming reacquainted with their long lost All-Star teammate Hank "Steel" Heywood".
However, while stalking one prey, Kirk let down his guard and was stampede. Fortunately, Heywood had set up an organization known as the Council to enforce order on this world as his Squadron had on Earth-Two, although without the moral factor in the equation. Kept in a coma for decades while his body was repaired, the Council scientists cloned Kirk's body to make duplicates of the hero to be their personal army. When revived, Kirk was trained further in combat skills with the intent of leading these clones for the Council, and Heywood's, personal agenda. Instead, Kirk rebelled and joined Interpol agent Christine St. Clair and a man named Nitobe in defeating the Council, and destroy all the clones. All, that is, save one who would infiltrate and lead the Secret Society of Super-Villains in a battle to stem the tide of Darkseid's invasion of Earth-One. He perished trying to end the threat bend the Society in Darkseid.
* Paul Kirk and his eleven All-Star Squadron compatriots who migrated to Earth-One on or after 1945 had their places taken in Earth-Two’s universe by the Justice Society of post-Crisis Earth-0, who protected that realm from the incursion of forces in an adjacent notional dimension which manufactured a faux-Asgard. In time, the Society themselves were then replaced by the dozen Daemen of their home reality, so that they may return to Earth-0.
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