As a young boy, James Powell was often left by himself, usually for extended periods of time, as his father died when shortly before he was born, causing his mother to have to work several part-time jobs in order to provide for her son. One day, wandering aimlessly around town, James stumbled upon a decrepid Blockbuster video store. Breaking in through the back entrance, he found box upon box of abandoned videos. James began to watch movies, taking as many as he could home at a time. He watched them sytematically, box by box, until none were left. Saddened by what seemed to be the end of his free movie-watching days, He punched the video store's drywall in anger. Peering into the drywall, he found another box. James had inadvertently stumbled upon the clerks secret, long-forgotten cache of old Bruce Willis action movies! Heavily influenced by these movies, James visited a backstreet dojo, where he became a pupil of the presiding sensei, Hiroki Mo. It was under his harsh tutelage that James learnt and eventually perfected a number of martial arts, most significantly kung fu, but also tae kwon do, jujutsu, kenjutsu, sojutsu and aikido. While his tutelage was physically and mentally challenging, James' determination to become an action hero kept him focused. He and Hiroki Mo forged a strong friendship and mutual respect for each other over this period. One day, at school, James became the target of a gang of bullies after standing up for a socially inept friend, who they were picking on. After art class, walking home, James found them waiting in an alley outside the apartment complex he lived in. With his newfound anti-hero complex, he challenged them to a fight, even though he was greatly outnumbered. Despite his training, he was badly beaten by the mob, even though he inflicted some grievious pain upon several members of the gang. Lying broken and bleeding on the ground in the alley, James nearly lost faith in himself and his beliefs. But as the leader of the gang approached with a knife, James remembered Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

"Yippe-ki-ay, motherfker." James whispered as he threw his art class pencil at the lead gang member in a seemingly futile attempt to inflict some last minute damage. The pencil impaled him through the eye.

Realising what he had done, James fled the city and his old life, telling only Hiroki Mo what had happened and where he was going. While living on the streets, James came to realise his newfound talent could provide him with a decent income. From that day onward he became the mercenary Sketchtor, the artist of doom!

Sketchtor has an allegiance with the Iron Gut, founded when the two fought off a small scale zombie invasion in an estuary. This grew into a strong friendship when they were forced to work together again to defeat a pair of time-travelling beatniks who planned on shooting Buzz Aldrin and give the Viet-Minh access to weapons grade plutonium during the Vietnam war. The two have since founded the Black Panther Mercenary Squad and gone on to become some of the most respected (if unorthodox) mercenaries alive at the current time.

Sketchtor created the Popsicle diet and is marketing it to celebrities.

At some point, Sketchtor spent a significant amount of time travellling across Asia.

Having a crisis of conscience, James threw in his career as a professional assasin for Don Carlito. As a consequence he was then targeted by his former employers because of what he knew about their operations. Sketchtor now works to prevent crime wherever he is, since he can support himself for the rest of his life on the money he has earnt. Although he had essentially become a hero, due to his past he does not consider himself one, as he is trying to redeem himself.

Hearing word of the Iron Gut's battle against a large communist organisation, Sketchtor raced to Russia to aid his friend. However, upon arrival, Sketchtor found only his friend's helmet and dismembered jaw at the scene of a large battle. Sketchtor has not seen the Iron Gut since this incident, but still believes him alive.