At the end of his first appearance, it was revealed that Mr. Q was actually Operative 17 of the FBI. In addition, he was also chief of a squad of investigators. After getting a desk job, Operative 17 grew bored with his work and longed to be a field agent. So, using his extensive training in criminology, athletics, and chemistry, he developed the costumed persona of Mr. Q, which corresponded to his code name since the 17th letter of the alphabet is Q. He used gadgets such as smoke pellets and a gun that shoots knockout darts to help fight fifth columnists and other enemies of America.