His "Black Goliath" persona was created by Tony Isabella and George Tuska in Luke Cage, Power Man #24 (April 1975).

After earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Dr. Foster worked in the Plans and Research Division for Tony Stark's Baltimore factory.

At a time when the original Giant-Man was stuck at the height of 10 feet (3.0 m), Dr. Foster helps at Stark's behest to find a cure to revert Pym's size back to normal.

[6] Dr. Foster moves to the West Coast and acquires the formula to "Pym particles" which give him the ability to grow in size like his former employer.

[2] Black Goliath later assists the Champions of Los Angeles in battling Stilt-Man, then joins the group part-time as their technical advisor.

In the process of answering an emergency alarm, Foster decides to change his alias to the name "Giant-Man" at Ben Grimm's suggestion.

Alongside the Thing, Quasar, and the Aquarian, Giant-Man defends Project: Pegasus against Nuklo, the Grapplers, Klaw, Solarr, and the Nth Man.

After working at Project: Pegasus for a short time, Foster reveals that he is dying from radiation poisoning he contracted in his earlier fight with Atom-Smasher.

[15] After discovering the High Evolutionary's plans for a genetic bomb, Foster sends a distress message to the West Coast Avengers.

He retakes an improved growth serum, which adds clean (cancer-free) mass to his body, so he remains at giant-size until he can receive further treatment.

Under his Black Goliath identity, he appears very briefly as part of an ad-hoc team of "urban" superheroes (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Brother Voodoo and the Falcon).

[23] When the Civil War breaks out, Bill Foster as Goliath is seen as a member of Captain America's anti-registration Secret Avengers, adopting the alias Rockwell Dodsworth.

Foster is buried as a giant, with Iron Man paying for the thirty-eight burial plots required to accommodate his body.

student Tom Foster, informs the Black Panther of intending to follow in his uncle's footsteps by cracking the Pym Particle formula and being a hero.

Foster's clavicle is later broken in half by Osborn in a fit of rage after hearing Pym's team being declared "the real Avengers" on national television.

[29] When Hercules ventures into the Underworld, Bill Foster is one of numerous deceased characters seen in Erebus: the place in between life and death where those who feel they still have business in the mortal world gamble and linger for their resurrection.

During the adventure's course, O'Grady (disguised as Pym in the virtual world) converses briefly with Foster who says to stop pushing loved ones away.

[33] He has the ability to increase his size into gigantic levels by psionically drawing mass from an extra-dimensional source, while gaining immense strength and durability in this height.

[34] The 2015 Contest of Champions series featured an unidentified alternate reality's version of Civil War that had everything go in Tony Stark's favor.

He had been decapitated and his still 'living' zombie head is used as part of a makeshift computer to allow the zombified Hank Pym to create dimensional travel.

In "What If Iron Man Lost the Civil War", Bill Foster is among the heroes on both sides that fight an out-of-control Ragnarok.