Little is known of the life of Jake Simmons prior to 1942 when on the U.S. Most Wanted List for murder. In the spring of that year, he was fleeing the police in northern Arizona when the plane he was flying was caught in a storm.  Struck by multiple bolts of lightning, the plane's engine failed and crashed into the side of a volcanic crater.  Believing their quarry dead and fearful of the storm, the police broke off the pursuit. Unknown to them, the crater was service as a base of operations for the Ultra-Humanite, who has carved out the depths with the help of a heretofore race of Sub-Men.  Seeking to build herself a team of ruthless henchmen, the Ultra-Humanite heard the crash and pulled Simmons from the wreckage, barely alive.  Using advanced scientific techniques, Simmon's body was charged like a battery, likely preconditioned by the lightning strikes that crashed his plane.  Equipped with a new uniform, Simmons assumed the identity of Deathbolt.

Deathbolt's first encounter with superman law enforcement occurred when he and the Ultra-Humanite invaded Superman's Fortress of Solitude, hidden in the mountains outside of Metropolis.  There he held his own against the combined power of Superman and Green Lantern until the reason that invaded - The Powerstone - was found and given to the Ultra-Humanite.  With the arrival of Cyclotron bearing the Hammer of Thor shortly thereafter, the three staged a strategic retreat taking Firebrand as a hostage, Superman for purposes of vengeance and Robotman as a possible vessel for the Ultra-Humanite with them. 

Deathbolt was an eager ally of the Ultra-Humanite.  While his partners Cyclotron and later arrived Amazing Man were men of conscience, Deathbolt eagerly engaged in any level of sociopathic behavior required, up to electrocuting the entire race of Sub-Men once the Ultra-Humanite felt they had outlived their usefulness.   Their plans became more complicated when the Ultra-Humanite was contacted by his future self, sending the Secret Society of Super-Villains into the past with Earth-Two's second generation team, Infinity Inc., in hot pursuit.  In the final confrontation, Deathbolt struggled with Infinitor Fury until they were both unconscious.  Cyclotron seemingly destroyed himself and the Ultra-Humanite and Deathbolt was presumably taken to prison (All-Star Squadron #21-26, Annual #2).

The activities of Deathbolt beyond  these events are incompletely understood.  He was seen participating in a mission from Harbinger during the Crisis on Infinite Earths (All-Star-Star Squadron #53, Crisis on Infinite Earths #6), the nature of which is not clear.  Whether he survived the Crisis on in the latter half of the 20th Century on Earth-Two is unrevealed.