Anti-hero Tom Noir had felt that the human five senses were simply not enough. He and his genius friends co-founded The Seven Guns which used science to create enhancements. Once he received his enhancements, his plan to fight crime was less global than what the United States soon expected of the team. Tom wanted to take down corrupt cops, bust gangs and drug wars and put an end to illegal surveillance. The American government however expected them to address national and global crimes first.

Tom's girlfriend Laura Torch was a member of The Seven Guns but readers are told she was killed in combat in January 2005 in Oakland, CA. In that same incident Tom lost part of his left leg below the knee and quit being a superhero. His enhancements haven't been used in a year by the timeline of Issue #0 of Black Summer.

Tom's power's include a supercortex, allowing him perception and manipulation of electronic signals, access to the internet and other databases (as shown in issue 3, where he apparently takes control of a nearby tank, and blocks John Horus from the Seven Guns database) and extra-sensory perception. Tom's powers also include sonar imaging on "a sliding level", allowing him to see through outer layers of clothing with deilicacy, or walls and bodies if neccessary. This power is extremely useful and deadly if used in conjunction with his Gun, the pistol "Inquiry". Using surgical precision tungsten penetrator rounds, Inquiry will, apparently, shoot through a tank.

Tom's costume appears synonymous to John Horus', and remarkable similar to Midnighter's, from Ellis' previous work The Authority. Black all over, and a helmet with what appears to be a glass top, Tom's costume is the darkest of the group.