Viper

Jordan Stryke was the brother of Leopold Stryke, who became the notorious costumed criminal known as the original Eel. When Jordan Stryke went into the advertising business, he legally changed his last name to Dixon so as to avoid association with his brother's criminal reputation. Dixon spent years in planning advertising campaigns for children's toys and other products, and eventually he and a man named Quentin Harderman became partners in an advertising agency.

Dixon believed that through his marketing abilities he was making fortunes for his clients, while he himself labored in relative obscurity for far less financial gain. Moreover, Dixon believed that through his advertising projects he was perpetrating lies on behalf of his clients and subverting the nation's moral values. Dixon even took a perverse pleasure in such activities. He prided himself on selling products he regarded as worthless so successfully to the public, and he regarded the American public with contempt, believing them willing to believe any lie spread through the mass media, if it was crafted convincingly enough.

Quentin Harderman and Dixon were apparently both involved in corrupt activities over the years. It is not known when Dixon decided to emulate his brother in becoming a costumed criminal, but he spent years in developing the venoms he intended to use as his weapons while he continued his advertising work.

Finally, Dixon assumed the costumed identity of the original Viper.