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Heroes fight villains but sometimes people who are more villainous can also fight villains. Amanda Waller has more in common with the criminals she employs to fight for good than she does with the heroes she begrudgingly works with. This doesn’t stop Amanda “The Wall” Waller from getting results. Who is Amanda Waller and how did she come to lead a team of villains turned heroes? Let’s find out!

Born Amanda Blake, she would grow up in Chicago and eventually marry Joseph Waller at eighteen. They would go on to have five children and live a modest but happy life until their eldest son was killed in a mugging and their eldest daughter was murdered. Amanda’s husband would seek revenge on their children’s killers and while he would succeed, he’d also die in the process. Left to raise their other children alone, Amanda would work hard to get her children, then herself, through college.

Now with a degree in political science, Amanda would get involved with politics and become a campaign director and successfully get her candidate into office. She would join him as a political adviser and discover the existence of Task Force X, the supervisor organization to the Suicide Squad. Intrigued, Amanda would get herself placed in charge of the Suicide Squad, a team of super prisoners brought in to perform missions in exchange for their freedom.

Overlooking the team, Amanda would get to form the team and the leader for it. Or so she thought, she wanted villain Bronze Tiger to lead but was given government liaison, Rick Flag. Amanda would wonder if this was due to racism but could never get solid evidence to prove it. After the team performs their mission successfully, Amanda would attempt to keep them and break their deal. Thankfully, this didn’t work but Amanda would get a new team of Squad members who would be a bit more long term.

Relocating to Belle Reve prison in Lousianna, Amanda would direct the team. She would sometimes allow for dubious acts due to her “by any means necessary” mindset such as mind wiping team members. As the team began to take more political missions, Amanda would voice her displeasure with her higher ups.

Batman finds the location of the Suicide Squad headquarters and out of a room full of super powered people, it’s Amanda who confronts Batman face to face. When he threatens the organization Amanda retaliates with explaining she knows his secret identity due to her own investigative work. While Batman could not intimidate Amanda, a senator was able to do so to the president and forces Amanda and her team to work for this Senator or be fired. She eventually got to have full control of the team again but Rick Flag would die in the process.

Her team know her as being uncompromising but they all remained loyal to her. She had heroes on the team so they could be there to make sure she stayed in line with her own beliefs when she may have gotten lost from them. The Suicide Squad was made public but with Amanda being replaced. This turned out to be part of Amanda’s plan, she hired an actor to take on the role of the new director while she was really in command in secret. When the government found out what was going on, she was put on trial. During this time, it was revealed that Amanda had used the team to kill the leader of a crime cartel without permission from the government. Amanda would spend a year in prison for this.

Eventually pardoned, Amanda would take the Suicide Squad to be a mercenary order. During this time, Amanda was more of a field team leader than ever before. When Lex Luthor was elected president of the United States, Amanda was hired on as the head of the Department of Extranormal Operations then promoted to the Secretary of Metahuman Affairs. After the Luthor Administration, she would become the White Queen of Checkmate.

It’s here that she gets at her most dubious acts to keep the world safe. She’d command forces to take on Black Adam in Khandaq, fight off the terrorist organization of Kobra, and capture many villains then leave them on a prison planet. This last act, when it was discovered to be involved with Apokalips, would cause her to have to step down as White Queen. Amanda was still able to direct the Suicide Squad.

In the New 52, Amanda Waller is much younger and looks much different from her usual self. She is the leader of the Suicide Squad and sometimes joins them in the field. Here she is responsible for helping create the Justice League International. There is possibly an impostor Amanda Waller running around.

There you have it! Amanda “The Wall” Waller, is one of the toughest people in the DC universe and she doesn’t have any superpowers. She can have a car thrown at her and probably wouldn’t even blink as it misses her. If anything, she’d be mad you didn’t succeed because she has no use for someone who can’t hit their target.

Suggested Reading
Legends #1
Suicide Squad
Justice League International

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net