Christopher Pike was born in the United States in the 1950's and grew up a normal American kid, idolizing the Justice Society and dreaming of being an astronaut. After entering the Air Force, he seized on that dream and joined the Vulcan Probe-One program after completing early astronaut training.  Designed to be a 200-day expedition near the Sun, the mission went awry when PIke suddenly becomes insane, killing the other crew members as the command module plunges toward the sun.  As the Space Program watched, the module collapsed around Pike and reversed course toward Earth.  They lost track of him but determined that wherever he emerged would be a threat.

Vulcan made his presence known to the Justice Society by launching a direct attack on their headquarters in Gotham City. initially defeating Power Girl, Wildcat, Flash and the Star-Spangled Kid.  After trashing their brownstone, he moved to the roof in time for the arrival of the more powerful members of the JSA - Green Lantern and The Flash.  The ensuing battle is fraught with collateral damage and as Green Lantern tries to minimize casualties, Vulcan engages directly with Doctor Fate, mortally injuring him before fleeing the scene.

Piercing the clouds of the overcast day, Vulcan is exposed to direct sunlight and suddenly weakens and falls to the earth,  With the arrival of other members of the Justice Society, the battle is re-joined.  The sudden arrival of a space craft distract Power Girl, who engages its occupant, an alien named Xlk-jnn.  After an initial misunderstanding, Xlk-jnn reveals that it was he that had witness the Vulcan Probe's imminent destruction and rescued Pike but transforming into Vulcan.

As the JSA battles Vulcan to a stand-still, Power Girl arrives with Xlk-jnn and explains that's Vulcan's creation was flawed, leaving him vulnerable to sunlight.  Enraged, Vulcan blames the alien for his monstrous form and slays him but the Star-Spangled Kid uses the alien's revelation to focus sunlight on Vulcan via the cosmic rod, seemingly obliterating him (All-Star Comics #60-61).

In reality, Vulcan was simply blown into LImbo where he is discovered later by the Secret Society of Super-Villains when they are summoned into the past by the Ultra-Humanite.   There Vulcan becomes an enthusiastic and murderous lackey for Dolores Winters but is defeated alongside the rest of Society by the combined forces of Infinity Inc. and the All-Star Squadron (All-Star Squadron #26, Annual #2).

That last witness of Vulcan was during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and his later activities on Earth-Two are unrecorded.