Amanda Blake-Waller is a woman who has suffered great tragedy throughout her life. She was met with many obstacles at every turn and still found a way to overcome them. Her nickname is "The Wall," and it's followed her throughout her entire life. The name doesn't come from her size as many people erroneously assume, instead it comes from her indomitable will and refusal to ever back down. But, before Amanda became the woman who would stand face to face with the US Government and The Justice League telling them "move out of my way," she came from a rough beginning.
Amanda was born in Chicago. For whatever reason, Amanda's parents just weren't around. Her grandmother was forced to user her pension to raise Amanda and her sister Mary in the dangerous Cabrini-Green area of Chicago. Amanda's grandmother believed in making the Blake girls into perfect God fearing young ladies but it didn't always work that way.
At the age of 18 Amanda left home and married a 20 year old man named Joseph Waller. Joseph was good to her but beyond his normal work he hustled on the side. This kept them in the street no matter how much Amanda wanted out. Together they quickly built a family. First was their son Joe Jr, followed by their oldest daughter Damita. Next were the twins Martin and Jessie followed lastly by their youngest daughter Coretta. The three youngest children were named after Martin Luther King Jr, Coretta Scott King and Jesse Jackson. Despite the violence in Chicago Amanda started believe they could make it.
Joe Jr. was a standout basketball prospect and received several offers for full ride scholarships across the country. One day he was robbed and murdered when he attempted to fight back before he could finish high school, the killer was never found. Amanda would hardly have time to mourn. Usually Joe Jr. would walk home with Damita when she was out late at Bible study. But with Joe Jr dead Damita was beaten, raped and murdered in alley on her way home one night. Again, there would be no time for Amanda to mourn. Damita's rapist was a man known as Candyman who was a serial rapists that bragged about his actions but evaded prosecution no matter how many times he was arrested. Joe Sr. took his gun and murdered Candyman in revenge, but he also died that night. This is when Amanda swore that she would never lose another family member to the streets.
Amanda worked three jobs to put her remaining children through college. When she was done with that she didn't rest. Instead, she earned a degree in political science for herself. When she entered the world of politics it was as a campaign director for a democratic congressional candidate named Marvin Collins. Initially he said no, but nobody says no to The Wall. Marvin would go on to win and Amanda went to Washing DC as his top Aide.
Snooping through files one day Amanda discovered files on Task Force X. A secret government agency created to replace the Justice Society of America. It secretly handled any superhuman issues before they became a major problem. Their main group was called Argent made up of people with super human powers. They also had a failed group known as The Suicide Squad. Amanda asked to revive The Suicide Squad and become their leader. Nobody says no to The Wall and so it was done with The Suicide Squad once again being activated.
Amanda initially worked with a small squad of government trained agents. She brought Valentina Vostok and former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein to work for her as well. Eventually they would named their group Checkmate with the three of them pulling all the strings. Meanwhile the Suicide Squad was renamed Task Force X. During this time Rick Flag had forced his way in as her field commander. The two didn't get along and she wanted Bronze Tiger as the field leader but nobody would back her on it.
Flag and Amanda don't get along with him preferring to use non lethal methods whenever possible. Instead she tells him that she doesn't give a damn about his morals, only if he can follow commands. Next she recruits Nightshade to work undercover and begins planning to take out Brimstone, a techno monster created by Darkseid who could control fire and kill people on contact as well as generate plasma blasts.
She recruits Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Enchantress and Captain Boomerang to work for her. They're giving bracelets that will explode if they disobey her or Rick Flag, although Flag swears he won't use it. They're offered a full pardon upon completion and she fully expects them all to die anyway. The group destroys Brimston with only Blockbuster dying. When they attempt to go free Amanda says no but Rick Flag has already removed their bracelets. This further created tension between the two.
Captain Boomerang is soon caught committing a crime and is arrested. He starts making deals to talk about the Suicide Squad if he's let go and Amanda wants to shut that down. Rick Flag continues to get under her skin and deals with it peacefully before she can have Boomerang murdered. She moves the team to Louisiana's Belle Reve prison where they bring John Economis, Simon LaGrieve and Marnie Herrs into the fold to care for the team physically and mentally.
The team shuts down a terrorist group in Qurac and learns that Platique is a trader. Amanda has Doctor Moon and Karin Grace to wipe her mind. Again angering Rick Flag. The groups next target is a racist vigilante named William Hell. He'd arrest minority criminals but would drop white villains off at strongholds created by The Aryan Brotherhood. Amanda didn't want him dead, she felt that was too good for him and refused to make him a "martyr for the ridiculously misguided white power movement." Instead they captured and beat William Hell. She then placed Deadshot in Hell's White Dragon armor and sent him to a white power rally. There she gave Deadshot a speech to recite about overcoming racism, working together and moving forward in a peaceful future. William Hell was no longer welcome at any racists protest again. She then made him join the Suicide Squad but he called her a "black bitch" and tried to kill her. Trying to kill Amanda Waller doesn't go well and William Hell's entire suit blew up killing him.
During this time Suicide Squad separates from Checkmate because of President Ronald Reagan. He also starts sending the Squad on political missions and this starts to become a problem for Amanda. Additionally he added Derek Tolliver as their liaison. They're sent on missions such as rescuing Zoya Trigorin, an author who spoke out against Russia. Zoya was murdered before the team got their because they had been sent on an impossible mission. When she returns she argues with Tolliver who tells her the team is called Suicide Squad and they're all expendable. She tells him that doesn't mean they're garbage meant to be thrown away. Meanwhile LaGrieve subjects Amanda to psychological evaluation and states Amanda is suppressing anger over the deaths of her family members and is trying to use the Squad as a way to be productive and replace her family. Rick Flag also has a mental breakdown after this mission and despite hating him, Amanda tells him to just go home.
During Millennium there's a political summit Amanda sends a team to destroy a Manhunter temple. When they return Belle Reeve is infiltrated Batman who wants to put a stop to the team and threatens to expose the team. Amanda laughs in his face and tells her that she'll reveal that he's not only Bruce Wayne but Matches Malone as well, proving that she has and will continue to do her homework. Rick Flag appears and almost takes out Batman. Amanda makes him field leader again.
Their joy doesn't last and Rick is sent on a mission by Regan to rescue the hero Hawk in Nicaragua. Meanwhile she sends the rest of the team to kill drug lord Xavier Cujo. Nighshade tells her that she just committed an illegal assassination and Roy Harper tells her she just created a power vacuum. Reagan then renames the team Task Force X and makes them part of Checkmate again.
Amanda sends Rick to rescue Nemesis who was stranded in the Soviet Union. Rick however disobeys her and she has Regan send in the Justice League International. Max Lord threatens to reveal the team's existence and Amanda threatens to murder him right now, so they reach an agreement that Max will keep his mouth shut and not question Amanda again. She's once again forced to work for Derek Tolliver or she'd be fired.
During this time she displays an emotion beyond rage for the first time in years. She sits and drinks with Bronze Tiger. She tells him everything that's gone wrong with her plans since the day she found the files. She says she wanted Bronze Tiger to be leader but nobody backed her up and instead chose Rick Flag, she thought it was racism from her white colleagues but didn't want to speak up so early in the plan. She hates working for Ronald Reagan. She also felt she had crossed lines she couldn't come back from and only allowed superheroes on the team to keep her in contact with her conscience. After she's spilled out everything on her chest she gets a good night's sleep and is back in peak form the next day.
From that day forward she refused to back down. She sends the team to murder Doctor ZZ when he attempted to take control of the world. The terrorist group from Qurac returns and attacks Manhattan. This is when she learns that Rick had spared some of them during the original mission. The terrorist group demands Waller and her team be handed over. Waller tells Rick Flag to shut the fuck up when grown people are talking and sends her team to murder them all in cold blood making sure they never return again.
When the team was revealed to the public she replaced herself with an actor who pretended to be a new leader. But, behind the scenes Amanda still called all the shots. Soon Suicide Squad would come into a fight with Checkmate called the Janice Directives. During this time she was arrested and sentenced to prison for using the Suicide Squad beyond political missions to do things like taking out crime cartels throughout the United States.
She was pardoned by Sarge Steel to create a new Suicide Squad to take care of a war in Vlatava. The team was made up of mercenaries and completed a few other missions. However, Amanda broke them up because she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to do with her life anymore as prison gave her time to think.
When Eclipso was on the verge of taking over the world Amanda came out of retirement with a small team of superheroes and the team was all brutally murdered. She didn't like that so she put together a large team of heroes and villains. This time they were successful in saving the world.
When Lex Luthor became president, he named her Southeastern Regional Director For The Department of Extranormal Operations. She was so good at the job she moved up to Secretary of Metahuman Affairs. When Lex was impeached Amanda went to prison as well because they assumed she had something to do with his illegal activities. She was completely innocent this time but chose to go to prison anyway. She felt prison was one of the few places she could clear her mind and reflect on what had happened in her life.
She was released in less than a year and given the role of Black King for the Checkmate organization after the OMAC incident. Eventually she moved to the role of White Queen and the senior policy executive. She still maintained her own plans behind the scenes. She blackmailed some operatives into committing unsanctioned murders for her.
During a raid on a Kobra base she said take no prisoners. This lead to the death of 50 Kobra members and one Checkmate agent. Later she reactivates and uses the Suicide Squad to catch metahuman criminals on the run. She calls it Operation: Salvation Run. She then exiled them to a remote planet where they formed different camps and tried to kill each other for power. When they found out she was forced to resign as White Queen but kept the Suicide Squad and was back where she felt at home.
Then New 52 happened and they completely reworked her design and history. Now she never had a family, went to the army straight out of high school and is a spy and CIA agent. It was stupid and Rebirth fixed it.
Abilities
- Knowledge of Political Science
- Advanced hand to hand combat
- Extensive firearm training with hundreds of weapons
- Master of tactical analysis
Tags:
Black Superheroes
