Critical Mass

Few characters make their mark in such explosive company — Critical Mass burst onto the Marvel scene in 1990, debuting in Marvel Comics Presents #49 courtesy of creators John Figueroa and Ron Wilson, right in the thick of the Copper Age's appetite for hard-edged new faces. With a catalog footprint that includes Wolverine vs. Spider-Man, this villain shares panels with some of Marvel's most iconic and dangerous figures — Wolverine, Spider-Man, and the ferocious Bloodlust among them. Rare and concentrated, Critical Mass is exactly the kind of deep-cut antagonist that rewards the curious collector willing to dig into those anthology-era back issues.