Davis Lawfers was born in Rochester, New York. He was a civil servant before becoming an agent of the Viper and a professional criminal. Copperhead was the leader of the fourth Serpent Squad, consisting also of Fer-de-lance, Black Racer, and Puff Adder. The quartet robbed a Las Vegas casino and battled Captain America, Falcon, Nomad, and D-Man in order to attract the attention of Sidewinder, then the leader of the Serpent Society. The Serpent Squad was freed from jail by the Sidewinder, and were inducted into the Serpent Society. In truth, they were sent by the Viper so she could infiltrate the organization and take over as its new leader. After the coup was staged, Copperhead was assigned by the Viper, along with the Cobra and Boomslang to put a mutagenic agent into the water supply of Washington D.C. During that mission, he and Cobra had personality conflicts and did not get along, and battled Captain America and Diamondback. After the Viper's plot was foiled, the Society re-organized with Cobra as the new leader. Copperhead did not stay long and quietly disappeared from the ranks of the Society.