Richard Swift

In 19th-century London, Richard Swift was caught in a mysterious mystical event that bonded him to the Shadowlands, a dimension of living darkness, granting him immortality and mastery over shadows. He has since wandered the centuries as the Shade, drifting between villainy and an enigmatic, self-serving neutrality.

Richard Swift stepped out of the Silver Age in 1961, introduced by the legendary team of Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino in The Flash #123 — already a collector's landmark — and has been winding through the DC Universe ever since, accumulating nearly six and a half decades of appearances. He's most deeply associated with Starman, where he keeps remarkable company alongside the likes of Ted Knight, Jack Knight, and Hope O'Dare, and his reach extends to Justice League of America and even a featured entry in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, cementing his place as a figure DC has long considered worth defining. With 59 catalog appearances spanning 1961 to 2025, Swift is one of those quietly enduring characters whose longevity speaks for itself — a Silver Age original who never quite left the stage.