Suicide Squad in Comic Books!
Jondee here at Midway City,
The Suicide Squad has hit movie screens, but this covers their comic book appearances. The original Suicide Squad was set in World War II led by Colonel Rick Flag. The original character was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, first appearing in Brave and the Bold #25 (1959). It was retconned that his son, Rick Flag, Jr., formed Task Force X. Flag is played in the film by Joel Kinnaman. Amanda Waller was heavy set, but Viola Davis perfectly captures her power even over metahumans. She first appeared in Legends #1 (1986) created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne. John Ostrander’s name shows up in the film on the federal building. The Belle Reve Penitentiary which holds the Suicide Squad first appeared in Suicide Squad #1 (1987) from John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell. It was also on screen in Smallville with their version of the squad. In the comics, Rick Flag was romantically connected to one of the team members, Nightshade, but this was shifted to another character. June Moone, the Enchantress, first appeared in Strange Adventures #187 (1966) by creators Bob Haney and Howard Purcell. The film added, nicely, that she was archeologist. Cara Delevingne portrays the Enchantress. Her demonic brother, Incubus, played by Alain Chanoine first appeared in Suicide Squad #14 (1988) from John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell. Though the character was again connected to Nightshade.
Deadshot, Will Smith’s character, first appeared in Batman #59 (1950) by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed, and Lew Schwartz. He was on screen in both Smallville and Arrow and was one of the original members of the squad in the comics. Another original member was Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). In the comics, John Broome and Carmine Infantino created Digger Harkness in Flash #117 (1960). He was portrayed by Nick Tarabay in Arrow. The character in the film does not have multiple boomerangs or trick ones. He was also part of the squad in the Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) animated film along with Harley Quinn and Deadshot. Harley was added to the squad with the New52 incarnation of Suicide Squad. She first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode, “Joker’s Favor” (1992) and in comics form with Batman Adventures #12 (1993). Paul Dini and Bruce Timm created the character and gave her an origin in the Mad Love (1994) one-shot. She of course is played by Margot Robbie. The New52 squad also had Deadshot and El Diablo. The character of El Diablo, he was created by Jai Nitz, Phil Hester, and Ande Parks in El Diablo #1 (2008). In the film, Jay Hernandez plays El Diablo.
Another Batman villain was Killer Croc, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in the film, he first appeared in Detective Comics #523 (1983) by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan. Slipknot is not just a band, but a villain created by Joey Cavalieri, Gerry Conway, and Rafael Kayanan in Fury of Firestorm #28 (1984). The hero that is not villain on the team is Katana (Karen Fukuhara), she first appeared with the rest of the Outsiders in Brave and Bold #200 (1983) by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo. She was played by Rila Fukushima in Arrow though without her Soultaker sword. One of the original members of the Suicide Squad was Bronze Tiger, he was played by Michael Jai White on Arrow, but is missing from the film. Midway City, the setting of the incident in the film, is known as the city of Hawkman and Hawkgirl as well as the Doom Patrol. It first appeared in Brave and the Bold #34 (1961). Suicide Squad relaunched in DC Rebirth which has the movie’s group.
