Little is known of the life of Zobar Zodiak prior to his appearance in the late 1940’s.  He was known to be a prominent scientist, nominated for a cabinet position in the Truman Administration when he was accused of murdering a prominent faculty member at Gotham University. At his trial, he unraveled his path to a life of crime.

Having mastered normal disciplines of chemistry and engineering, he began the study of arcane sciences such as alchemy.  His goal was to develop advanced alchemical weaponry and his work drew the alarm of other prominent scientists who in turn contacted the Justice Society.  As luck would have it, Zodiak rented a room in a flat next to an elderly man named Galio.  One evening, he happened to overhear Galio visiting with the Justice Society who had come to hear the old man reveal an incredible tale, that he was over 500 years old and had secreted away four alchemical artifacts of incredible power.   Just as he was to reveal their location to the Society and the eavesdropping Zodiak, he expired.   Listening further, Zodiak heard Dr. Mid-Nite suggest that they prioritize a lead on a criminal scientist, startling Zodiak when he heard his own name.  He fled but left his cane behind, alerting the JSA that he too now knew of the alchemist treasurer.

A mad hunt the ensued with the JSA following leads only to discover the Zodiak, using an alchemist’s machine to scan dozens of newspaper at once, was one step ahead.  He recovered the Philosopher’s Stone ahead of the Flash and Hawkman, using it to turn a building’s steel girders to collapsible gold.  When an arrogant millionaire accidently kills himself by drinking the Universal Solvent, Zodiak again got to it first, outpacing Dr. Mid-Nite and the Atom.  Finally Zodiak deduced that a spinning top contest in fact was being won by someone possessing the secret of perpetual motion.    There he was almost captured by Wonder Woman and the Black Canary before he reduced them to children with an Alchemo-bomb.   The final treasure was found with a Professor Michaels of Gotham University who had flowers in his garden that never ceased to bloom.  Visiting Michaels, Zodiak recovered the reason – the Elixir of Youth – and stole it.  When Michaels intervened he seemingly killed him with a bomb but was intercepted by Green Lantern before he could escape.  After a brief struggle, the hero also fell was taken to Zodiak’s hideaway where, along with the other male JSAers, was placed in a fan-like perpetual motion to remain forever. Zodiak then surrendered to the police to gain the publicity of a trial.

Having accomplished his purpose in revealing his tale, he fended off the police and took to the air waves blackmailing the nation with his alchemical weapons.  Meanwhile, the JSA had freed themselves, using the Elixir of Youth to shrink out of their bonds.  The side effect is that they were now children and not taken seriously when approaching the police.  Eventually convincing one, they tricked Zodaik into throwing an alchemical bomb, restoring their adulthood and leading to the defeat of Zodialk and his men’s defeat.   As Zodiak attempting to flee in a plane of alchemical design, he was consumed in an explosion which the JSA interpreted as a testament to the fallacy of alchemical science (All-Star Comics #42).

In reality, the bomb was a cover effect from Per Degaton to pull Zodiak through time to 1942.  There he joined several other time-displaced villains in attacking the Justice Society, using the Elixir of Youth and a kryptonite-covered Philosopher’s Stone to capture Superman, Batman and Robin (Justice League of America #193).  Degaton’s efforts were thwarted by the arrival of a group of heroes soon to be named the All-Star Squadron.  Degaton had booby-trapped the mechanism of pulling the villains back in time and imminent defeat sent them back largely to where they came from (All-Star Squadron #3). The later activities of Professor Zodiak are unrevealed.