Mayor Ed Koch

Few characters blur the line between Marvel's fictional New York and the real one quite like Mayor Ed Koch, the actual 79th mayor of New York City who stepped right into the Bronze Age Marvel Universe in 1983. Debuting in The Incredible Hulk #279 under the watch of Bill Mantlo, Mark Gruenwald, and Greg LaRocque, Koch brings an irresistible dose of real-world civic flavor to a publisher whose heart has always beaten in the five boroughs. His handful of appearances — spanning The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor, and Damage Control — put him in remarkable company, sharing pages with the likes of Thor, She-Hulk, and Colossus. A genuine curiosity for any Marvel historian or New York nostalgia buff, Mayor Koch is a delightful reminder of an era when Marvel loved nothing more than planting its universe firmly on the streets of the city it called home.