Wizard

A world-famous escape artist and self-proclaimed genius, Bentley Wittman grew obsessed with surpassing Reed Richards and turned to supervillainy, arming himself with self-invented anti-gravity discs and power-gauntlets. He founded the Frightful Four as his personal answer to the Fantastic Four.

Few villains have the staying power of the Wizard, a Silver Age schemer who first slithered onto the scene in Strange Tales #110 back in 1963, conjured up by Stan Lee, H. E. Huntley, and Dick Ayers. Over six-plus decades and 147 catalog appearances — eight of them collector-recognized key issues — this Marvel menace has made the Fantastic Four corner of the universe his personal stomping ground, tangling repeatedly with Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and the rest of Marvel's First Family across Fantastic Four, FF, and Fantastic Four Annual. Notably, he carries the rare distinction of team affiliations on both sides of the conflict, listed among the Fantastic Four and as a cornerstone of their sinister counterpart, the Frightful Four. If you want to understand the grand tradition of Marvel villainy that grew up alongside the Silver Age itself, the Wizard is essential reading.