For the most part, no one enjoys being compared to an animal. While these comparisons can occasionally be complimentary, more often than not they are downright insulting. Such was the case for Margaret Pye, whose actions regularly left her compared to the loud-voiced and kleptomaniac bird, the magpie.

The DC villain was created by John Byrne and introduced in Batman #401 (November 1986) with one very memorable cover.

As a young child, Margaret Pye loved shiny things and was obsessed with claiming them all for herself. She was much like the magpie, which are well known for their thievery and penchant for “collecting” shiny objects to adorn their nests. Ridiculed by her classmates and nicknamed Magpie, Margeret’s obsession reached new heights when she was hired as a curator for the Gotham City Museum of Antiquities. While she longed to be surrounded by priceless artifacts, this love quickly transformed into compulsive jealousy when she realized she could never possess the antiques around her. With one final snap of her mind, Margeret fully embraced her childhood nickname and started a crime wave as Magpie.

The kleptomaniac turned jewel thief began stealing various artifacts from the museum and replaced them with deadly versions of the things she pilfered. Her museum replicas featured a variety of boobytraps including explosives, airborne poisons, and more. Although she has no superpowers, Magpie is a skilled forger and is adept at weaponry, gadgetry, and hand-to-hand combat.

As her crime syndicate grew, Magpie recruited a small gang of thugs that she commanded with an iron fist. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Magpie was the first villain to face Batman and Superman during their first team-up. Unfortunately, she was also the first villain to be apprehended by this duo and sent to Arkham Asylum.

During her stint at Arkham Asylum, Magpie was unable to quell her desire for shiny objects and still tried to procure them from guards and fellow inmates. Throughout this time, Magpie shared a cell with fellow DC baddie Poison Ivy. The duo later attempted to escape the asylum, but ended up being possessed by demons and transformed into monstrous versions of themselves. Naturally. After being reverted to their normal forms, the criminals eventually escaped the facility.