Who's This? A pilot hit by lightning.
The facts: Despite his Golden Age look, Deathbolt was created in May of 1983 for All-Star Squadron #21, specifically as a henchman for the Ultra-Humanite. That first story would last half a year, with more to come, again Ultra-related, in Young All-Stars. A surprise appearance in Starman #1,000,000, where he (or another Deathbolt) tries to assassinate Ted Knight, came in 1998.
How you could have heard of him: Jake Simmons DOES appear in the Arrowverse, notably as the first metahuman villain to appear in the shows, and more notably still, being played by Doug Jones. He is killed by Captain Cold in his second appearance.
Example story: All-Star Squadron Annual #2 (1983) "The Ultra War!" by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway
End of that first story arc, which is as good a Deathbolt showcase as any. He's presented as a back-talking whiner who gets into fights with allies and needs to be slapped back AND saved from what he himself instigated.
And then he has the nerve to slap Cyclotron's hand away because he "could'a taken" Brainwave. He's THAT guy. In another era, he could have been in politics. The only person he seems to be loyal to is the Ultra-Humanite - who still needs to reign him in every couple seconds lest he kill a valuable asset or destroy her equipment. He almost balks at killing Ultra's Sub-Men when asked to, though, but I think it's just because he's been told no so often, he scarcely believes it.
No word on whether he's piloting the Ultra-copter, but it would make sense given his origin story. Oh, and before you go thinking that he only follows Ultra because they are currently in a hot screen star's body, the Young All-Stars story has him ferrying a loose brain around and eventually putting it in a T-Rex. So, it's not all physical. Even in this one, Ultra wants Robotman's body. Now, all this while, Amazing-Man has more or less infiltrated Ultra's crew (he's not an All-Star yet) and taken Deathbolt's shit, but once all plans are revealed, 'Maze decides enough is enough. He's smart enough to turn into rubber so he can fight his bully.
And once again, Cyclotron bails him out of trouble. Later, Infinity Inc. gets in on the action and Deathbolt can't even hit Northwind. NORTHWIND!
It's really not his day/life. His best showing is against "we haven't decided she's blond yet" Fury, but she defeats him anyway:
Sometimes, a guy with a fin on his head can't catch a break. I'm surprised Deathbolt appeared any more than this, but I get the feeling Roy Thomas was a little starved for proper Golden Age supervillains, which is why he kept importing them from other Earths or the future, or creating his own. It just wasn't a big thing in the Golden Age. All-Star Squadron couldn't really just do with mob bosses and foreign tyrants, could it? But truly, that's the only reason. Even looking at what was available in the mid-80s, Deadshot deserved a whole page, and Deathbolt none.
Who's Next? Apokolips' underwater force. (Where do they train?!)
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