Darkwing

Darkwing swooped into the DC Universe in 1987, courtesy of creators Tony Isabella and Richard Howell, making a memorable Copper Age entrance in the pages of Hawkman #7. This is a character whose story unfolds amid some seriously elevated company — sharing adventures with Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Shayera Thal, and even Green Lantern — which tells you right away that their world operates at a cosmic scale. With only a handful of catalogued appearances, Darkwing carries that rare, tantalizing mystique of a deep-cut DC find, the kind of character that rewards the dedicated back-issue hunter who loves discovering what the broader universe was quietly building during one of comics' most creatively restless eras.