Quicksilver

Pietro Maximoff was born a mutant alongside his twin sister Wanda, gifted with superhuman speed that allows him to move and think at incredible velocities. He first appeared as a reluctant villain in Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants before later joining the Avengers.

Few characters in Marvel history have maintained such a relentless, electric presence across six-plus decades as Quicksilver, who first blazed onto the scene in The X-Men #4 in 1964, conjured by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at the very height of the Silver Age. With 675 catalogued appearances — 44 of them recognized as key collector issues — he's woven into the fabric of Marvel storytelling in a way few characters can claim, showing up most prominently across The Avengers, X-Factor, and Avengers runs that span generations of readers. As a card-carrying Avenger, he's kept remarkable company over the years, sharing countless adventures with titans like Captain America, Iron Man, and Scarlet Witch. If you're building a serious Marvel collection or simply want to trace one of the publisher's most enduring and complex figures from his Silver Age origins all the way to the present day, Quicksilver is absolutely essential reading.