Blackbird

A creature of the shadowy early '90s Marvel underworld, Blackbird burst onto the scene in Captain America #389 in 1991, the creation of legendary Cap scribe Mark Gruenwald and artist Larry Alexander. This is a character who runs in genuinely dangerous company — affiliated with both A.I.M. and the notorious Batroc's Brigade, and sharing pages with the likes of Melina Vostokoff, Diamondback, and Iron Maiden, a rogues' gallery that signals Blackbird operates firmly on the wrong side of the law. With only a handful of appearances concentrated in a brief but memorable window of the early '90s, Blackbird is the kind of rare, deep-cut Copper Age find that makes longtime Captain America collectors feel like true insiders — a small footprint, but one planted in some seriously compelling Marvel real estate.