Mercedes Knight

Born into the Modern Age of Marvel Comics, Mercedes Knight made her debut in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2 (2014), brought to life by writer Mike Benson and artist Tan Eng Huat. She moves in formidable company — sharing pages with martial arts legends like Shang-Chi, Colleen Wing, and Leiko Wu Reston, as well as the menacing Skull-Crusher — which tells you something about the high-octane world she inhabits. Her appearances span across Deadly Hands of Kung Fu and its follow-up Out of the Past, a compact but compelling footprint in Marvel's martial arts corner. A relatively rare find with only five catalog appearances, she's exactly the kind of discovery that makes digging through Modern Age Marvel so rewarding.