Werner was a witchbreed who had a pair of wings that made him resemble an angel. His mother feared for her son’s safety so she sewed him a set of clothes that enabled him to hide his wing so cunningly that nobody would be able to tell if he had them. Somehow, however, the Inquisition learned that he was a witchbreed and attempted to take him prisoner. When he attempted to flee, the Inquisition told him that if he did not come back they would kill his mother. When he did come back they killed her anyway and took him prisoner. They locked him up in the High Tower in the Palace of the Inquisition located in Spain. On the day he was to be burned at the stake he was rescued by Scotius Summerisle and Robert Trefusis, fellow witchbreed like himself. They escaped on a boat been psychically sailed by John Grey, another member of his group of rescuers. John was secretly a woman and using a the identity of John as a disguise. However Werner did not know that and thought that she was actually a male. Scotius told Werner that they were taken him to a schoolhouse owned by Carlos Javier as a place of sanctuary for their kind.
While there Werner was also introduced to Henry McCoy. While at the sanctuary, Werner struck up a friendship with John Grey, much to Scotius’ discomfort. As a result their friendship suffered as a result. After the death of Queen Elizabeth the First, King James of Scotland took over as King of England. He ordered Sir Nicholas Fury to capture all the witchbreed at Carlos Javier’s school. Fury ordered Peter Parquagh to warn Javier and his students to simply surrender. That way he could spare each of their lives. His students opposed the idea but Javier managed to make them see that this was their best option. At dawn Fury arrived at the school with an army waiting and took Javier and his students prisoner. That evening in the Tower of London, Javier, Fury and Stephen Strange discussed a way to rescue the Fantastick Four from the clutches of Count Otto von Doom of Latveria. Javier agreed to help and Fury managed to help them escape aboard the ship, The Eagle’s Shadow. John Grey, with the help of Javier, managed to psychically steer the ship overland.
Arriving in Latveria, Werner and the rest of the heroes aboard the flying ship fought Count Otto von Doom and his army. They managed to free the Fantastick Four from their prisons and defeat Doom. However John died from the stress of over-using her powers. Shortly after her death, Scotius, in a fit of jealously, revealed to Werner that John was actually a woman. Werner was surprised by this announcement and Scotius realized his mistake. However Werner was embarrassed and ashamed and refused an offer to participate in Grey’s funeral pyre. After arriving in Roanoke, Scotius apologized to Werner about his jealously but Werner told him he had nothing to apologize for. Although he thought that John was really a man, Werner believed that he was actually in love with this man. After the world had been saved, Werner stayed in Roanoke along with the rest of his teammates.
