Ioz

Few characters make their debut with the salt-spray swagger of Ioz, who first washed ashore in Marvel's The Pirates of Dark Water #1 in 1991, bringing a roguish energy to one of the Copper Age's most distinctive adventure series. Adapted from the beloved animated property, this short-lived but memorable run places Ioz alongside a vivid cast — Ren, Tula, Niddler, the menacing Bloth, and the scheming Konk — in a world of high-seas fantasy unlike anything else on the Marvel shelf at the time. With only nine catalog appearances across a brief 1991–1992 run, Ioz is a genuine rarity, the kind of find that makes a collector's pulse quicken. If you have a soft spot for swashbuckling adventure comics with a cult following, this is one worth tracking down.