Ultra, the Multi-Alien

Ace Arn was an ordinary space pilot who flew into a trap set by four different aliens; each accidentally zapped him with a ray intended to transform him into their own species, leaving him with a body split into four alien sections — each granting a different superpower.

Few characters capture the wild, imaginative spirit of Silver Age DC quite like Ultra, the Multi-Alien, who burst onto the scene in 1965's World's Finest Comics #154 under the masterful hands of writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Curt Swan. A genuine product of that era's boundless creativity, Ultra is the kind of gloriously strange concept that only the Silver Age could have dreamed up and made feel completely earnest. Though his catalog footprint is modest, he's kept remarkable company over the decades — sharing pages with Batman, Robin, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Supergirl — and his appearances stretching into 2012 speak to a staying power that collectors and DC devotees quietly appreciate. With a key issue to his name and a place in the tapestry of DC Universe: Legacies, Ultra is exactly the sort of deep-cut discovery that reminds you why digging through DC's history is always worth the trip.