Origin

Bedlam was a felon, convicted of murder and placed inside a provincial prison in Nova Scotia. James Hudson of Department H had created a device that could locate the latent powers of individuals that were not fully realized or developed which led him to Bedlam. Hudson had plans to create heroes for Canada and Bedlam agreed to be experimented upon in exchange for a pardon. Hudson had shared his idea to his friend Logan aka Wolverine but wasn't sure if a former felon should be super-powered. The experiment was a success and Bedlam had incredible mind powers but still had the mindset of a criminal. Bedlam came into conflict with Wolverine and Guardian where he was eventually defeated and placed inside a life-support cocoon hidden in a secret lab. Years would pass and one of Hudson's friends named Gary Cody was spying into Department H's files and attempted to repeat Hudson's experiments. Cody had discovered the hidden cocoon and inadvertantly set Bedlam free.  

Creation

Bedlam was created by Bill Mantlo and June Brigman in 1987 and first appeared in shadow in Alpha Flight # 52. His first full appearance was in Alpha Flight # 53 which was penciled by Jim Lee.