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 Suicide Squad opening this weekend, let's take a look at the comic book debuts of the full cast of the film!

This one seems a bit silly to do, but what the hey, here is the first appearance of the Joker from 1940's Batman #1, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson...







It will never not be funny to me that Bruce essentially tells Dick to hold off until the Joker kills some more people. "The time isn't ripe, Dick! He hasn't killed enough people yet!"

Harley Quinn made her debut in Batman: The Animated Series in the 1992 episode "Joker's Favor,"



She made her comic book debut in 1993's Batman Adventures #12 by Kelley Puckett, Mike Parobeck and Rich Burchett (which features Puckett's take on Batgirl's debut)...









Harley made her debut in the "real" DC Comics continuity in 1999's Batman: Harley Quinn, which was a one-shot special that came out during the No Man's Land crossover series, by her creator, Paul Dini and artists Yvel Guichet and Araron Sowd...









Deadshot made his debut in 1950's Batman #59 (by David Vern Reed, Bob Kane, Lew Schwartz and Charles Paris), masquerading as a good guy...





Batman and Robin figure out his plan...



but Deadshot vows to shoot Batman. Check out how Batman defeats him...





That's a pretty damned risky plan, no?

Over twenty-five years later, in 1977's Detective Comics #474, Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin depict Deadshot's escape from prison, where we see Rogers' famous re-design of Deadshot's costume...







On the next page, meet the next group of members of the Squad, including the leaders of the Squad!!

Amanda Waller debuted in 1986's Legends #1, by Len Wein, John Ostrander, John Byrne and Karl Kesel...





You might see have noticed who she was talking to in those two pages.

Rick Flag debuted in 1959's The Brave and the Bold #25 by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, as the head of Task Force X, the Suicide Squad...









So fast-forward to 1986's Legends #2, where Flag meets the NEW Task Force X, the Suicide Squad...







And you might wonder how he looks pretty spry for a World War II guy. Obviously, Crisis alone could have explained it, but John Ostrander went one step further in Secret Origins #14 in 1987 by Ostrander, Luke McDonnell and Dave Hunt, where he revealed that the Rick Flag from the original Suicide Squad was the FATHER of the Rick Flag from the modern Suicide Squad...



Digger Harkness, Captain Boomerang, first showed up in Flash #117 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, where a toy company decides to make boomerangs the next big "thing" in the United States, but they need someone to publicize them...







In 1966's Strange Adventures #187, Bob Haney, Howard Purcell and Sheldon Moldoff introduced us to the "Witcheroo Switcheroo," the Enchantress...











Killer Croc made his debut in Batman #358 by Gerry Conway, Curt Swan and Rodin Rodriguez...





On the final page, we meet the rest of the Suicide Squad...

The first El Diablo debuted in 1970's All Star Western #2 by Robert Kanigher and Gray Morrow...





Then Gerry Jones, Mike Parobeck and John Nyberg revived the name in 1989...







And finally, Jai Nitz, Phil Hester and Ande Parks gave us the current El Diablo (the one who is in Suicide Squad) in 2008...









Slipknot debuted in Fury of Firestorm #28 by Gerry Conway, Joey Cavalieri, Rafael Kayanan, Pablo Marcos and Rodin Rodriguez (the new villain strikes when Firestorm and Firehawk are spending some alone time together)...









Slipknot was a fair enough villain in general, but boy, there's something hilarious about some dude with just a lot of rope taking on a guy as powerful as Firestorm.

Katana first showed up in Brave and the Bold #200, in a special preview story of Batman and the Outsiders by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo...







That's it for the team proper, but here are a couple of characters who also showed up in the movie that appeared in the comics.

Incubus made his debut as a villain in Secret Origins #28 by Bob Greenberger, Rob Liefeld and Bob Lewis, when we see how Nightshade lost her brother, Larry...







and in Suicide Squad #14, we learn that Incubus has now officially taken over Nightshade's brother, when she and the Squad traveled to save him...





Deadshot discovered that he had a daughter he didn't know about in Deadshot #1 in 2005 by Christos Gage, Steven Cummings and Jimmy Palmiotti...





The Squad's NSC Liaison, Tolliver, debuted in Firestorm #64 by John Ostrander, Joe Brozowski and Sam De La Rosa...





Finally, Joker's henchmen in the movie, Jonny Frost, debuted in the Joker graphic novel by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo and Mick Gray...







That's it! Unless I missed someone, in which case I'm sure someone will let me know. ;)

If you have a suggestion for a comic book first you're curious about when it first happened, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!