In this feature we spotlight the various characters, phrases, objects or events that eventually became notable parts of comic lore, like "the first time someone said, 'Avengers Assemble!'" or "the first appearance of Batman's giant penny" or "the first appearance of Alfred Pennyworth" or "the first time Spider-Man's face was shown half-Spidey/half-Peter." Stuff like that. Here is an archive of all the When We First Met features so far! Check 'em out!

With the debut of Gotham tonight, I thought it'd be nice to spotlight the first comic book appearances of the various cast members on the show...

We begin with the good guys...

Bruce Wayne and James Gordon debuted not only in the same issue but on the same PAGE in Detective Comics #27 (by Bill Finger and Bob Kane)...



Gordon and Bruce have a funny moment at the end, where we see Gordon isn't exactly a big fan of his...



Alfred the Butler showed up in Batman #16 by Don Cameron, Jerry Robinson, Goerge Roussos and Bob Kane...







Alfred does, indeed, learn their identities later in the issue (by mistake, of course).

Alfred lost weight over the years and eventually gained the name Pennyworth in Batman #216 by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano...



Next we see the debut of Harvey Bullock, who was a Lieutenant when he debuted in Detective Comics #441 by Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin...





Renee Montoya was invented for the Batman Animated Series but actually debuted many months before she showed up in the cartoon. She first showed up in Batman #475 by Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle and Steve Mitchell...



And no, you are not imagining things, they did, indeed, have her say "Madre De Dios!" Oh boy.

Next we have Lieutenant Sarah Essen, who debuted in Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli...





Next up is Cripus Allen, who debuted in Detective Comics #742 by Greg Rucka, Shawn Martinbrough and Steve Mitchell (Gordon had JUST returned to work after his wife was killed, so his reaction to another Gotham cop being killed made him more than a little edgy and sent him actually on to the street to investigate things)...







Oddly enough, James Gordon's wife, Barbara Kean Gordon didn't get a name until an alternate reality storyline in the main story in Detective Comics #500 by Alan Brennert and Dick Giordano (thanks to Graeme Burk for the head's up - I was looking at just the normal continuity and I should have thought to look to other universes)...



Like some other Alan Brennert innovations, Frank Miller adopted Barbara into the official DC continuity in Batman #405 (Gordon had an unnamed wife Pre-Crisis, which is kind of nuts considering Gordon's daughter was also a superhero and yet her mom never came up)...





On the next page, we'll take a look at the bad guys...

Salvatore "Boss" Moroni debuted in Detective Comics #66 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos, as he throws acid in Harvey Dent's face...



Carmine Falcone debuted in Batman #405 by Frank Miller and David Muzzcchelli...





Catwoman first debuted in Batman #1 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson as a traditional thief right out of the pulps...





The next issue was the first to begin calling her Cat-Woman.



The name "Selina Kyle" did not show up until much later, in Batman #62 (by Finger, Kane and Charles Paris), where we learn that Catwoman became a bad guy after gaining amnesia...



Detective Comics #58 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson saw the debut of the Penguin...





I love that the Penguin's debut is Batman and Robin laughing at him in their secret identities.

Penguin's mother is going to be on the show (played by the great Carol Kane). We didn't get to see her until the Penguin had been around for nearly FORTY years, as Michael Fleisher, Romeo Tanghal and Tex Blaisdell gave him his very first origin story in Best of DC Blue Ribben Digest #10 in 1981...







The Riddler is a rarity for Bat-villains, as his whole history is detailed in the first two pages of his first appearance in Detective Comics #140 by Bill Finger, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris...





Finally, Poison Ivy debuted in Batman #181 by Robert Kanigher, Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella. She first appeared as a normal crook, just one with a great deal more flair than most...







That's about it for the Cast of Gotham!

If you have a suggestion for another When We First Met you'd like to see, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com