Charles Palentine

A minor but memorable figure from the mid-'90s Marvel universe, Charles Palentine steps onto the page in the 1994 limited series Venom: The Enemy Within, crafted by Bruce Jones and Bob McLeod. His brief corner of the Marvel cosmos is a genuinely wild one — sharing those issues with Venom, Eddie Brock, Morbius, and the demonic Demogoblin makes for some seriously intense company. With only three catalog appearances to his name, Palentine is the kind of deep-cut supporting character that rewards readers who dive into the darker, more gothic corners of the Copper/Modern Age — a small piece of a story that swings for the shadows.