Extraño

Extraño is a flamboyant, openly gay Peruvian sorcerer and one of mainstream comics' earliest LGBTQ+ superhero figures. Chosen to join the New Guardians — humanity's next evolutionary champions — he wields magic as the team's mystic specialist.

Bursting onto the DC scene in 1988 courtesy of creators Barbara Randall and Colleen Doran, Extraño is a genuinely groundbreaking Copper Age figure whose debut in Teen Titans Spotlight #19 marked the arrival of a character unlike almost anyone else in mainstream superhero comics at the time. His longest home is The New Guardians, where he shares adventures with a vivid cast including Jet, RAM, and Celia Windward, a roster that speaks to the ambitious, globe-spanning spirit of late-'80s DC storytelling. What makes Extraño worth seeking out goes beyond curiosity value — he's a piece of comics history, a character whose very existence pushed boundaries in an era when that took real courage from his creators. With appearances stretching all the way to 2022 across titles as varied as Justice League of America and Forever People, his staying power in the DC universe is quiet but genuine.