Origin
The man who would become known as ‘Kasta’ was a hunter and thrill seeker on Thanagar. He was known for killing a Kasta Bird, which can paralyze with a single strike, with his barehands. Since then he has taken to wearing it’s skin as a fearsome cloak. Sometime later he began to prey on Thanagarian police. He was finally captured by a squad including Katar Hol, but not before killing many of them.
Major Story Arc
Years later, during the ‘Shadow War’ on Earth his life sentence was apparently suspended or otherwise overturned, and he came to be in command of a Hyperspace Cruiser, whose crew feared and distrusted him. On a mission to gather energy from the event horizon of a black hole, he was able to absorb the energy into himself by donning a special suit. As it happened, this was the same black hole that Mongul had been dropped in after the events of ‘For the man who has everything.’
Alerted by the massive energy spike, and fearing Mongul’s escape, Superman investigated. The Thanagarians were able to successfully cloak themselves before the Man of Steel noticed them. Seeing a worthy quarry for his new found powers, Kasta ordered the crew to set course for Earth, murdering one crewman who protested. Hawkman was also alerted by the Gentleman Ghost, who had infiltrated the Thanagarians in disguise. A battle ensued between Kasta and the Superman/Hawkman team, ending when Hawkman threw Kasta into low orbit, and he was tractor beamed back to his ship, defeated.
Kasta drove his crew to destruction, ending up as the only survivor, once again using his suit to gain more power from the black hole. Stuck there, he was content to charge up until opportunity struck.