In his first appearance as a hero, he encountered the Human Torch. He later invaded Latveria, intending to kill Doctor Doom for his crimes against humanity. Shroud recounted his origin to Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the two secretly entered Latveria disguised as members of the Ringmaster's Circus of Crime. Shroud joined Prince Rudolfo's revolution against Doctor Doom, and came close to his revenge. However, the Shroud shifted gears in order to help Doctor Doom and Captain America oppose someone else with a longer track record of crimes against humanity: the Red Skull. In outer space, Shroud was shot by a ray built by Red Skull while Doctor Doom battled Red Skull on the moon. Shroud was rescued by Captain America, while Red Skull was left defeated on the moon (he was later rescued by Hitler himself as the Hate Monger). Captain America brought Shroud back to Earth, but because of his time in space, Shroud became insane and it took him quite a while to recover. After this recovery, Shroud discovered that he was able to tap into the Darkforce dimension.