Pinball

Bouncing onto the scene in 1986's Squadron Supreme #6 — one of Marvel's most celebrated Copper Age limited series — Pinball is a curiosity worth tracking down for any serious collector of that era's more ambitious storytelling. Created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan, this character inhabits a corner of the Marvel Universe where heavyweights like Hyperion and Nighthawk hold court, lending even a modest presence real weight by association. With appearances stretching across 24 years and turning up in titles as varied as Captain America and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005, Pinball has quietly accumulated a footprint that rewards the dedicated reader willing to dig. A rare find with a small but genuine legacy — exactly the kind of deep-cut character that makes Marvel's alternate-universe tapestry so endlessly fascinating to explore.