Origin: Joe Manning married Marika Washington, the girlfriend of his best friend, Tyrone Jefferson, after he died in a car accident. Their relationship was rocky from the start and they had financial difficulties that were only compounded with the arrival of a daugher who they named Gina. When Joe was exposed to hazardous material in his job as a part-time janitor for Rikko Chemicals, he went through a disturbing physical transformation. Unable to deal with their medical expenses and repulsed by his appearance, Marika left her husband, later filing for divorce.
After his condition had stabilized, he was released from the hospital. Rikko Chemicals didn't give insurance to part time employees and he had been forced to sign a release to get the job so that the company wasn't held liable for any resulting job related injuries. Joe was destitute. He became a homeless freak and went to Chicago to live with a group of transient freaks that lived in an underground portion of the city. Assuming the name Rock, Manning became the leader of this homeless band of undesireables.
Rock encountered Officer Dragon of the Chcago Police and the costumed adventurer Star when they came across their undergound lair while searching for the escaped criminal Octopus. Soon afterwards, Rock and some of his fellow freaks Shrew, Beast Boy, and Widow, attempted to stop the Dragon's rampage when he was under the mental control of the villanous Horde and was destroying the city of Chicago. They were unsuccessful. Dragon later regained control of his mind.
A wedge was driven between the undreground freaks and the Chicago Police Department after several officers attempted to "evict" the homeless freaks from the underground, where they were tresspassing. Rock persuaded the officers to give up after the Dragon was abducted by another party. Rock and his allies were later kicked out of the undergound by the Vicious Circle, a criminal organization. The group relocated to an abandoned church. Rock led his allies against the Vicious Circle in the aftermath of the Martian Invasion of Earth, alongside Freak Force and the Chicago Police Department.
When Dragon was recruited by the U.S. Government to head up a superhuman strike force, he invited Rock and several of his friends to become members of the Special Operations Strikeforce. Rock accepted the position and is currently second in command of the S.O.S. with Dragon as his direct superior.