Sleez

Few villains in DC's Copper Age made as immediate and unsettling an impression as Sleez, unleashed by the visionary John Byrne in Action Comics #592 in 1987. A creature of the New Gods mythology, Sleez orbits the dark gravity of Darkseid's cosmos, and the company he keeps — Superman, Big Barda, and Mister Miracle among them — speaks to just how deeply he cuts into DC's grandest mythology. His catalog footprint is small but memorable, concentrated in Action Comics and Superman Annual, the kind of concentrated villainy that leaves a mark far beyond its page count. For fans who love the shadowy corners of the Fourth World, Sleez is an essential, if deeply uncomfortable, piece of the puzzle.