Xina

Emerging from the landmark 1986 Marvel series Squadron Supreme — one of the Copper Age's most ambitious superhero epics — Xina made her debut in issue #5, brought to life by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Bob Hall. She inhabits a rich alternate universe alongside compelling figures like Hyperion, Stanley Stewart, and Joe Ledger, the kind of layered company that signals a world worth exploring. Though her catalog appearances are select, her presence across nearly a quarter century of Marvel publishing, from that celebrated original run through the Mark Gruenwald Omnibus and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005, speaks to a character who left a genuine mark on one of comics' most thoughtfully constructed alternate realities. For fans of Gruenwald's meticulous world-building, Xina is one of those quietly rewarding discoveries that reminds you just how deep the Squadron Supreme universe truly runs.