General Zahl

Few villains carry the weight of history quite like General Zahl, who made his menacing entrance in The New Teen Titans #13 in 1981 — right in the heart of the Bronze Age, during one of DC's most celebrated creative runs, brought to life by the legendary team of Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, and Romeo Tanghal. His footprint in the catalog stretches across three decades to 2012, touching titles as sweeping as DC Universe: Legacies, which speaks to a character whose shadow falls long across DC history. He's kept genuinely rarefied company over the years, sharing pages with the likes of Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, and The Flash. Seven appearances may be a select count, but in comics, it's often the figures who loom large in pivotal moments — not the ones with the longest run lists — who leave the deepest marks.