At first Mitchell Shelley was a lawyer who was unwillingly tested on. He was a subject for nanotechnology experimentation, the nanomachines known as 'tektites' to be exact. The company who experimented on him was only known as 'The Lab'. At first, the experiments rendered Mitch amnesiac. The tektites caused Mitch's deaths to only last a few seconds, then he would come back with a new super power.

After he left 'The Lab' he fought an incarnation of Amazo. Resurrection Man defeated Amazo and it caught the attention of the JLA. Mitch has been chased by 'The Body Doubles', two female asassins who work for 'The Lab'.

It was later revealed that 'The Lab' only gave Mitchell the abiltiy of instant resurrection. His past reaches far back to the time of cavemen. Through all the time he has lived, he has always encountered Vandal Savage. Resurrection Man has always foiled Savage's schemes before dying. Mitchell Shelley is the counter-agent of Vandal Savage.

Phantom Stranger considers Resurrection Man to be a friend of his even though Mitchell does not recall ever meeting him before. The Forgotten Heroes recruited Resurrection Man thinking he was the latest incarnation of Immortal Man. Shelley revealed to the group that he was not Immortal Man, but something completely different.

By the end of the Resurrection Man series, he helped face down a threat to the multiverse that the JLA, JSA, Young Justice, the Forgotten Heroes, other heroes, could not face. The threat had to do with Mitch's origins, Vandal Savage, and Immortal Man. The threat was stopped when Immortal Man sacrificed himself to save the multiverse. Since then, Resurrection Man wanders the DC universe helping others and fighting crime outside the Mainstream DC universe.