It is confirmed that episode 16 of the Arrow Season two will be titled “Suicide Squad”. It is not a surprise as we can see the team coming together from the individual characters that has been introduced. The interesting question is whether the same team will be the one that will go on to star in the Warner Bros low budget comic movie. If it is, it will be worth paying attention to which character will appear in this version of Suicide Squad.

Below are some of the key issues to look out for if you think Suicide Squad comic books will gather steam in the coming years.  Beyond the team’s first appearance, you can also look out for the individual member’s first appearance as potential books to pick up.

DC legends #3 – Modern Suicide Squad first appearance

There has been different versions of Suicide Squad appearing in DC’s continuity. The first team appeared in Brave and the Bold #25. However that team looks nothing like the one featured in the TV show, which is based around the second version. This 2nd version made its first appearance in Legends #3, a copper age comic book. I am not sure about its print run but being a copper book, there might be more out there although the numbers will definitely be smaller than any Marvel titles.  I suggest getting the newsstand version of this if you can since they are rarer in very fine and above condition.

Check Ebay listings

Detective Comics #474 – Silver age/Modern  Deadshot  first appearance

Deadshot is one of most stable characters in Suicide Squad as he appeared in nearly all the different versions of the team. He is also one of the most popular as evidence by his own limited series.

Most comic collectors who are not familiar with this character will easily mistaken Deadshot’s first appearance to be in the hard-to-obtain Batman #59 as this comic is what was stated in Wikipedia. However, if you dig deeper, that version of Deadshot is nothing similar to what is being currently portrayed. See the image below for how he looked like in that issue.

The whole character undergo a major overhaul and appeared as what we know him today in Detective Comics #474.This is also his second appearance in the whole of DC’ continuity. So, this book is truly an undervalued gem since there are different ways to interpret its ‘keyness’

– 2nd appearance of Deadshot in whole of DC’s continuity

– Silver age first appearance of Deadshot

– First appearance of modern Deadshot

No matter which way you look, this is an important issue to own.

See Ebay listing

Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1

Another character that will likely become part of Suicide Squad will be Bronze Tiger. He has already appeared in the Arrow TV show so this is a no brainer. However, I am not sure how popular this character will become so I don’t recommend buying this now. Watch for the show to see how this character is portrayed before putting down your dollars. If it is just the typical run of the mill fighter, this book probably wouldn’t see much increase.

Green Arrow Year One 3: First appearance of China White

Another character that has already made an appearance in the TV show. They will probably bring her back to be in the team. Again, this is a relatively unknown character so I am not sure how much appreciate this book will see. Relative to Bronze Tiger, I would say China White has a higher chance of becoming popular. However, her first appearance is a modern book so plentiful supplies might hold the price down.

There should be other characters such as Clock King or Vixen appearing but I will save those for a later article once there is more news coming through.