Ares

In DC Comics, Ares is the ancient Greek god of war who first clashed with Wonder Woman in her very first solo title in 1942, serving as one of her earliest and most enduring adversaries. As the Olympian deity of conflict and strife, he schemes to plunge humanity into endless warfare, placing him in perpetual opposition to the Amazon warrior's mission of peace.

Few villains can claim a Golden Age pedigree stretching all the way back to 1942, but Ares — DC's god of war — has been stirring up trouble since Wonder Woman #2, brought to life by creator Alice Marble in the very earliest days of superhero comics. Over eight decades of publishing history, this Olympian antagonist has proven remarkably enduring, surfacing across Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, and DC Universe: Legacies, and racking up two collector-significant key issues along the way. The company he keeps tells its own story — sharing pages with Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, and Green Lantern places him squarely at the heart of DC's mythology. If you're building a serious DC collection, a character with 80 years of continuous relevance and roots in the Golden Age is absolutely worth your attention.