Dr. Maria Verdugo

A figure born in the fertile anthology era of DC's late 1980s, Dr. Maria Verdugo made her debut in Action Comics Weekly #601 in 1988, crafted by the sharp crime-comics sensibilities of Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. That landmark weekly series was a bold experiment in serialized storytelling, and Verdugo earned her place in its pages alongside a compelling cast that includes Green Lantern himself — Hal Jordan — as well as Vic Sommers, Tony Mantegna, and Ladonna Jameal. With 23 catalog appearances rooted in that Copper Age anthology tradition, she's a rewarding discovery for collectors who dig into the rich, underexplored corners of DC's weekly experiment — a character whose very existence speaks to an ambitious moment when the publisher was pushing the format to its limits.