Becoming a professional criminal, van Zante dons a costume and adopts the alias of Water Wizard, and robs a brokerage house.
[5] At this time, van Zante travels to Saudi Arabia, where he discovers he can also affect forms of liquid other than water, including oil, and after a brief criminal venture and battling the Arabian Knight, he is returned to prison by Ghost Rider.
[7] Gary Gilbert invites Water Wizard to attend a meeting at the Bar With No Name to discuss the threat of the Scourge of the Underworld.
The group is employed by Project: Earth to prevent rain forest razing, and battles the superhero team the New Warriors.
[16] A power surge in an experimental cell stimulator while out at sea gave Van Zante the psychokinetic ability to control and shape all forms of liquid (including oil) for virtually any effect, such as rainstorms, floods, tidal waves, water slides, and mobile animated water creatures.