Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a character featured in some American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Legends #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne. Amanda Waller serves intermittently as both an antagonist and an ally to the superheroes of the DC Universe; she is occasionally described as a supervillain.
Though lacking superpowers, Amanda Waller is often portrayed as a ruthless, high-ranking government official who uses guile, political connections, and intimidation to achieve her goals, often in the name of national security. Waller is commonly associated with the fictional government agencies Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S.
She is a former congressional aide and government agent in charge of the Suicide Squad, a semi-secret government-run group of former supervillains working in return for amnesty. She later serves as Secretary of Metahuman Affairs under President Lex Luthor before being arrested because of Luthor's public fall from grace. She is reassigned to the leadership of Checkmate as White Queen but is forced to resign because of her involvement in Operation Salvation Run.
Publication history
Amanda Waller's earliest appearances were shaped by writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale in 1987, during the first volume of Suicide Squad and shortly after being introduced in the Legends crossover storyline.
Fictional character biography
Early history
Amanda Waller was established as a widow who escaped Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing projects with her surviving family after one of her sons, daughters and husband were murdered. Waller excelled in political science and became a congressional aide. During that time, she discovered the existence of the first two incarnations of the Squad. Taking elements from both of these, she proposed the development of its third incarnation to the White House and was placed in charge upon its approval.
Federal service years
Amanda Waller formed the Agency to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X. Valentina Vostok brought former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein into the Agency as an operative. Amanda Waller later promoted Stein to the command position and demoted Vostok. Harry Stein would later reorganize the Agency and name it Checkmate.
Waller's tenure as the official of the third Suicide Squad was tumultuous and controversial. Despite many successes, she developed a habit of defying her superiors in Washington to achieve legitimate and personal goals on more than one occasion. The earliest conflict between her and her superiors revolved around the leadership of the Suicide Squad. Although she proposed the Bronze Tiger, the man she had helped out of his brainwashing lead the team, he was instead relegated to second-in-command, and Rick Flag Jr. was made the leader. Waller resentfully presumed the situation to be racially charged, related to her status as a black woman and Bronze Tiger's skin tone. However, the Tiger himself did not believe this was a factor, considering this resulted from mistrust due to the brainwashing imposed upon him by the League of Assassins.
Her relationship with the Squad itself was one of mutual dislike. Most of the team's criminal members did not take to Waller's methods (most notably Captain Boomerang), and even the team's heroes were often at odds with Waller. Waller's inability to deal and compromise with her troops led to Nemesis's departure from the team and the death of a US senator, which indirectly caused the death of Rick Flag Jr. These types of conflicts, however, were not only limited to her superiors and her team but also extended to Batman, who opposed the forming of the Suicide Squad (although he would later help to reform it). Nonetheless, the team remained loyal to her, often choosing to side with her instead of the government.
It was ultimately revealed that Amanda Waller kept heroes such as Nightshade around for them to act as her conscience. Throughout her first run with the Suicide Squad, her actions became increasingly erratic as she fought to retain control of the Squad. This was heightened by the public revelation of the Suicide Squad and her being officially replaced, although her 'replacement' was, in fact, an actor, and Waller remained the team's director.
Even that secret would eventually be revealed, and Amanda Waller would be imprisoned. During this time, the Squad also became involved in an interagency conflict in a crossover between the Checkmate and Suicide Squad titles called the Janus Directive.