Suicide Squad: Who Were the Comic Book Creators In the Credits?
If you're an American comic book creator, you're used to getting very little credit when things [...]
If you're an American comic book creator, you're used to getting very little credit when things you created come to the screen.
It took until just recently for Marvel to consistently credit Jack Kirby for his monumental work with the publisher, without which the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn't exist. It took until very recently for Batman co-creator Bill Finger to get credited on anything, with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice being the first time his name has appeared as creator in the credits of a live-action Batman movie.
And while the last few DC Extended Universe movies haven't featured a whole bevy of "created by" credits like you might see in the comics, they've still had a surprisingly large number of comic book creators represented.
Typically, you'll get a few comic book creators in the credits for these films. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and a few others have contracts that specifically allow for it, or a particularly comics-savvy filmmaker like James Gunn will include some names in the special thanks who don't otherwise get any love.
In Batman v Superman, though, there were a ton of comic creators in the Special Thanks section -- it was a whole section of the credits unto itself -- and a number of them took to social media to express gratitude for being recognized. When Suicide Squad came around, we knew to wait around and see what that section looked like.
Just who were all those names you may or may not have recognized? Well, we've got a high-speed rundown.
John Ostrander
John Ostrander was the primary architect of the Suicide Squad as it exists in the film.
Ostrander, who worked on the Legends crossover event with Len Wein and John Byrne, went on to write the entire '80s/'90s volume of Suicide Squad, and shaped many of the characters into what you see in the movie. He didn't technically create the property itself -- Suicide Squad was a recurring feature in DC war comics -- but using supervillains, the bombs in the neck, all that stuff? All Ostrander.
His contributions were so significant that they named the Federal Building where one of the major set pieces goes down after him -- the John F. Ostrander Federal Building.
Luke McDonnell
Luke McDonnell was the artist on the first two years of Ostrander's Suicide Squad run, and then would return periodically for special issues. It's he who created the visual language of the Squad, and many of the non-character art elements of the comic were his ideas.
Murphy Anderson
Anderson inked the first appearance of Captain Boomerang.
Anderson, co-creator of Zatanna and Phantom Stranger, among others, was one of the most influential artists in DC history. Along with Curt Swan, he shaped the visual style of Superman for decades -- and he also did long, esteemed runs on Batman and The Flash.
Ross Andru
Ross Andru was the artist on the "Classic" Suicide Squadron stories in The Brave and the Bold and Star-Spangled War Stories in the '50s and '60s. A legendary artist, Andru is best known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Metal Men.
Along with his Suicide Squadron collaborator, writer Robert Kanigher, Andru created Rick Flag, the grandfather of the version that we see here but materially the same guy in many ways.
Their version of the Suicide Squad headed to Dinosaur Island -- an idea played with in DC: The New Frontier.
Jim Aparo
Jim Aparo was a beloved and award-winning artist best known for his DC Comics work, including on Batman and Aquaman.
His Batman work is so revered that it has been collected into hardcovers, and he continued to work on the character all the way up through No Man's Land in the '90s.
Many fans likely recognize his work on the Knightfall story, elements of which were adapted for The Dark Knight Rises.
Most significant for the purposes of this film, though? Aparo co-created the character of Katana, alongside writer Mike W. Barr, in the pages of 1983's The Brave and the Bold #200.
Brian Azzarello
Currently working on Dark Knight III: The Master Race, Brian Azzarello has become one of the most accomplished Joker writers in recent history.
In addition to penning the recent (and controversial) screen adaptation of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Batman: The Killing Joke, Azzarello wrote Joker, an original graphic novel featuring art by Lee Bermejo, which was name-checked as a major influence on the Suicide Squad movie's interpretation of The Joker.
Mike Barr
Barr co-created Katana and has written numerous stories featuring her over the years, most notably during his time on The Outsiders. Recently, Barr co-wrote a Katana and Deadshot Suicide Squad's Most Wanted miniseries for DC Comics.
Lee Bermejo
Bermejo partnered with Brian Azzarello on Joker, an original graphic novel, which was name-checked as a major influence on the Suicide Squad movie's interpretation of The Joker.
John Broome
John Broome, probably best known as the co-creator of the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern, was a longtime The Flash writer who co-created Captain Boomerang.
John Byrne
Byrne rebooted Superman in 1986's The Man of Steel, redefining the superhero as someone with few real ties to Krypton and a somewhat more limited power set.
He worked on most of DC's biggest events around that time, including the Legends storyline which introduced the Suicide Squad, and so he was the first artist to draw Amanda Waller.
Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway was a longtime writer and editor at DC Comics. Among many other accomplishments, he's the one who created Firestorm (and Felicity Smoak).
He's one of the longest-running and best-loved JLA writers of all time, but what landed him in the credits here is likely being the credited co-creator of Slipknot and Killer Croc.
Currently, Conway is working for DC on the Legends of Tomorrow comic, providing Firestorm stories.
Federico Dallocchio
As the artist on The New 52's Suicide Squad relaunch, Dallocchio was responsible for creating much of the visual language of the film, most notably the Arkham games-inspired Harley Quinn reboot.
Paul Dini
Paul Dini, legendary Batman: The Animated Series executive producer and animation icon, is credited with co-creating Harley Quinn with Bruce Timm.
Mike Esposito
While collaborating with his longtime friend Ross Andru, Esposito was the inker on most of the early Suicide Squad stories.
Bill Finger
Bill Finger co-created Batman and helped to shape much of his early years, including making major contributions to the creation of The Joker, Robin, and more. He also co-created the Alan Scott Green Lantern.
Adam Glass
The writer of The New 52 relaunch of Suicide Squad, Glass helped shape the tone of the Suicide Squad as it exists in the movie.
Bob Haney
The creator of the Teen Titans, Bob Haney was one of DC's most popular writers for years. The thing that gets him a Suicide Squad special thanks? He created The Enchantress.
Phil Hester
Jai Nitz and Hester introduced the Chato Santana version of El Diablo, who rose to prominence in The New 52 and is a major player in Suicide Squad.
Carmine Infantino
Infantino was a major force in the creation of the Silver Age of comic books. His work in the '50s and '60s included the co-creation of numerous characters, most notably the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, and some of his foes, including Captain Boomerang.
Infantino is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best comics artists of all time. He was also key in reimagining Batman for DC, and co-created Human Target, which became a short-lived FOX television series.
He was also distinguished as an editor and, later in his career, worked on projects like Star Wars for Marvel Comics. It was under his editorial direction that DC wooed Jack Kirby, resulting in the creation of the New Gods, among many other enduring properties, for the publisher.
Bob Kane
Bob Kane is credited with creating Batman and most of his early friends and foes.
Robert Kanigher
Kanigher was a prolific writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for over twenty years, taking over the scripting from the character's creator William Moulton Marston. He's also credited with writing the first story of the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, with Infantino.
Kanigher was the writer on the "Classic" Suicide Squadron stories in The Brave and the Bold and Star-Spangled War Stories in the '50s and '60s.
Along with his Suicide Squadron collaborator, artist Ross Andru, Kanigher created Rick Flag, the grandfather of the version that we see here but materially the same guy in many ways.
He also created the original El Diablo, although that character has little to do with the one who appeared in this film.
Rafael Kayanan
Rafael Kayanan is credited as the co-creator of Slipknot.
Don Newton
Newton is credited as the co-creator of Killer Croc.
Jai Nitz
Nitz and Phil Hester introduced the Chato Santana version of El Diablo, who rose to prominence in The New 52 and is a major player in Suicide Squad.
Jerry Robinson
Robinson is best known for his work on early Batman, including the co-creation of The Joker and Robin.
Lew Schwartz
Lew Schwartz was one of a number of artists who worked in comics' early years who is rumored to have worked on early Batman, allowing his work to be credited to Batman co-creator Bob Kane.
He's credited with co-creating Deadshot.
Bruce Timm
Bruce Timm, legendary Batman: The Animated Series executive producer and animation icon, is credited with co-creating Harley Quinn with Paul Dini.
It feels good to be bad…Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?
Suicide Squad is in theaters now.
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