Born in approximately 1913, William Asmodeus Zard grew up living a life of crime. As a gun man for various crime bosses, he ultimately ended up in jail. With the passage of time, he formulated a strategy to become a specialized kingpin. To accomplish this task, he moved to Tibet and trained under a proficient
lama in the mystic arts of illusion and deception. Upon completion of his training, he proceeded to slay his master. Returning to the United States, he embarked on a career as a criminal
magician. Believing that the
Justice Society of America was merely a cover for a criminal organization, he first offered a reward of $1,000,000 to them in the paper under the alias W. I. Zard, later asking to join them. To prove to himself that they were not really criminals, Wizard attempted several criminal acts which were thwarted one by one by members of the Society. Realizing his misconception, he tried to destroy them with his illusions, but was stopped by
Doctor Mid-Nite's blackout bomb. Wizard helped to form the
Injustice Society with
Per Degaton,
Vandal Savage,
Thinker,
Gambler, and
Brain Wave, which engineered five jailbreaks. Each member proceeded to steal some key item from the U.S. government while leading an army of prison escapees, taking control of a portion of the American midwest, and collectively they captured their heroic counterparts, with Wizard capturing
Wonder Woman and
Johnny Thunder. However,
Green Lantern was able to outwit Brainwave who believed him to be dead after he fell into a ravine, though his
power ring saved him at the last moment, and free the rest by impersonating the Thinker who he had captured, who was acting as a judge in the 'trial' of the JSA, where Wizard was acting as prosecutor. Wizard's escape was circumvented by some junior fans of the JSA. Wizard proceeded to escape prison once more and reformed his gang with new members
Icicle,
Fiddler,
Sportsmaster,
Huntress, and
Harlequin. Each member would try and commit a 'patriotic crime', steal a historical item, and the leader would be voted for by the American people. The Harlequin, as it turned out, was actually not a criminal at heart; she merely kept up the pretense to attract the attention of
Green Lantern. The JSA were captured after being knocked out by the Sportsmaster's bomb and having their memories removed. Along with aspiring Justice Society member the
Black Canary, the Harlequin soon freed the heroes and restored their memories with her hypnotic glasses. However, a subliminal message had been left to restore the members to their mindless state when they heard fingers snapping, allowing the Injustice Society to recapture them when they attempted to stop the crimes. Wizard, during the crimes, stole the
Freedom Train. The JSA were placed in a chamber in which they would soon be killed. However, their memories were restored again, by the Black Canary, and they captured their foes. In the late 1940s, Wizard was contacted by
Colonel Future to help get revenge on Earth-Two's
Superman by removing him from existence and given the Glastonbury Wand, which had once belonged to
Merlin and had been stolen by Future's henchmen. Wizard accidentally eliminated only his memory of being Superman, but his Clark Kent identity remained. In 1950, Clark married
Lois Lane; Lois realized he was Superman after seeing evidence of his invulnerability. Lois found Wizard, who was now homeless and unable to perform acts of magic due to his shattered confidence at not being believed that he was responsible for Superman's disappearance. She convinced him to restore Superman's memory, after which Wizard was happy to be sent to jail because he was now publicly known to have successfully removed Superman for a "couple of years". Wizard soon escaped and visited the Black Canary, exacting revenge on her for interfering with his second Injustice Society by granting the powers of a sonic scream to their baby daughter also named Dinah Lance. This girl eventually grew up to become the second
Black Canary. Wizard proceeded to form a new villainous organization known as the Crime Champions, which teamed up with their counterparts on
Earth-1 to battle the Society and
Justice League of America. The villains used a vibration device accidentally discovered by the Fiddler to escape to the other Earth after committing robberies. Wizard escaped
Green Lantern and Black Canary during a million-dollar robbery. He disguised himself as
Doctor Alchemy using his magic and the rest of the Earth-2 criminals disguised themselves as the Earth-1 Crime Champions. He battled
Superman and
Green Arrow, and helped trap the J.L.A. in their headquarters with magic. On Earth-1 he battled
Hawkman and Black Canary and was beaten again, before being finally defeated by
Aquaman,
Wonder Woman, and the Earth-2 Flash. Years later, he again reformed the Injustice Society which were temporarily victorious, enlisting the aid of extra-dimensional writer
Cary Bates in killing several members of the J.S.A prior to their being revived. On Earth-1, Wizard joins
Darkseid's
Secret Society of Super Villains, which he later took over with other villains who revolted. Wizard was later apprehended and sent to jail, where his powers largely faded. After escaping from prison, Wizard reformed the Secret Society and tricked them into obtaining four magical relics: the Cloak of Invisibility, the Power Glove, the Power Stone, and the Dragon Box. Unable to control the Dragon Box, the members of the Society were captured, but Wizard incorporated the remaining three items into his new costume. Wizard led the Secret Society back to Earth-2 in a plot to capture the JSA, which was a success when they captured the
Atom,
Doctor Mid-Nite, and
Mr. Terrific. The JSA were alerted and defeated them. In
Justice League of America #166–168 (1979), Wizard,
Professor Zoom,
Floronic Man,
Blockbuster, and
Star Sapphire switch bodies with members of the JLA and learn their secret identities.
Identity Crisis reveals that
Zatanna erased the villains' knowledge after their defeat. Shortly after
Identity Crisis,
Despero gave the surviving Secret Society members their memories back. In the
JLA story, "Crisis of Conscience", Wizard appeared as part of a reformed Secret Society of Super Villains looking to avenge themselves against the forced erasure of their memories. Aided by
Felix Faust, they attacked the
Daily Planet, and were stopped once again by the Justice League. After defeating Despero at Wayne Manor, the League was disbanded and Zatanna re-wiped the memories of all six Society members. He has since appeared in
JSA: Classified as part of a new Injustice Society that includes the
Icicle, the
Tigress,
Solomon Grundy, the
Gentleman Ghost, the
Rag Doll, and
Johnny Sorrow and gained possession of the key to the Ghost Zone. In
Infinite Crisis, Wizard was again seen in the
Secret Society of Super Villains. In the DC Universe following the end of the "
DC Rebirth" brand, Wizard was seen as a member of the Injustice Society in the 1940s. ==Powers and abilities==