Reed is the result of an experiment conducted by Olympugz Corp, which merged his cells with the four elementary qualities (earth, water, air, fire). To do this, the Doctor, a colossus with an impressive beard and soul-piercing eyes, in charge of the therapy, replaced all of Reed’s blood with a mixture of blood, weed stolen from the Spliff brothers, water of a swamp cursed by an ancient civilization now extinct and exposure to gamma rays. A few test subjects were needed before a conclusive result was obtained. This explains why Reed shares most of the properties of water, which is both very strong if hit hard but also very flexible. He seems to be aging very slowly. He cannot swim or stay in the rain otherwise his cells will disperse and he will eventually die. Reed escaped from the lab which was holding him prisoner after a fire causing the locking systems to blow up.