He was working as a laboratory assistant to Dr. Abner Croit, a physicist hoping to build a device capable of tapping into energies from other dimensions.

Before Nova could catch up with him, Blackout returned to the labs, killing Croit and his new assistant by letting them “merge with the color spectrum” (actually, by shunting them to the Darkforce dimension).

An attack by the Lava Men and the presence of Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) managed to activate the device, which transported Blackout back to Earth.

Blackout was coerced by another Project captive, Moonstone, into freeing herself and other superhuman criminals Electro and Rhino in order to gain revenge on their captors.

The villains were confronted by the Avengers, but Blackout and Moonstone escaped to the Darkforce Dimension by nearly causing the nuclear core of the complex to melt down as a distraction.

She hoped to find another stone similar to that which gave her powers, but they encountered the Inhumans and their ally, Dazzler, who defeated the villains and returned them to Project: Pegasus on Earth.

[4] Moonstone next appeared recruited by Baron Helmut Zemo to form his version of the Masters of Evil, and she brought Blackout in tow.

Blackout was instrumental in Zemo's takeover of the Avengers' headquarters by sending the entire mansion into the Darkforce dimension in one of the team's darkest hours.

[8] During the "Opening Salvo" part of the "Secret Empire" storyline, Blackout in the alias of "Bob Hofstedder" is later seen living as a married family man until he is found by Baron Zemo, who persuades him to join the Army of Evil.

[9] Blackout helps Baron Zemo trap some of the heroes in Manhattan by surrounding it in Darkforce shadows in order to further HYDRA's plot.

and Hawkeye infiltrated Hydra's prison that is run by Crossbones and Sin, Maria Hill located "Bob" and shoots him in the head enough to drop the Darkforce dome around Manhattan.

[12] Blackout appears with Hood's gang in their fight against Iron Man, Victor von Doom, a rebooted War Machine, and a battalion of Doombots.

[14] The first Blackout was exposed to cosmic radiation, giving him the power to tap into the Darkforce, a source of infinite dark energy, and to manipulate it in various ways.