The Size and Color Tug of War Surrounding Amanda Waller
By: Dani Bethea
Tags: Pop Culture, Movies, Colorism, Suicide Squad, Comic Books

Don’t mess with ‘The Wall’!

Amanda Waller is one of my favorite comic book characters and in my opinion its been a travesty that there has been this tug of war over her image for so many years. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to Amanda Waller’s first comic appearance and wade through all of her iterations thereafter (tv and movies included) so we can pinpoint when things started to go awry. Her first comic appearance was in the debut of D.C. Comics Legends #1 in 1986. She was created by a team of white writers that placed Amanda’s origins in the Cabrini-Green housing projects of Chicago. During this time, she had one son, one daughter, and her husband that were murdered in the projects. She was shown to be a formidable and tactical woman even during these tragedies, by finding the murderers of her loved ones and exacting vengeance.

My only movie compromise for Amanda Waller because, you know…Viola Davis.

Fueled by her own internal drive, the state of her community, and the passion for justice she greatly excelled at her University academics, especially in the fields of political science and government; her talents later led to her becoming a congressional aide. Noticed by various persons within the government for her stellar work and unwavering forwardness in the realm of policy, she received, or should I say took greater self agency and became the creator of The Agency, which was a global operations unit that was solely vested in American interests. There is something to be said for the imperialist slant that they wrote Amanda Waller in. Further into her career, she took command of the 3rd iteration of the Suicide Squad, which in various comics was a single or revolving door team of heroes or villains that were used for missions by Amanda Waller or the United States government.

There are a plethora of reasons why people really really adore Amanda Waller in the realm of comics and animation. Firstly, she is one of the few African American women in comics — with dark skin and natural hair I might add — that has had her own storyline for the past thirty plus years; all variations of her story imbue her with a unique beauty, intelligence, agency, power, prestige, and influence. Her foil in the comics more often than not is Batman, so think about that in regards to the best chess match of all time.

Implanted bombs in the neck?! How terrifyingly ingenious.

Furthermore, she is one of the only mainstay visible characters in comics that is fat and perfectly comfortable in her body and is known as ‘The Wall’ for her literal size and impenetrable force of will. The comics have never shied away from her size until the New 52 run of her character in which she was modeled more after your prototypical secret agent type, wherein she’s been drastically slimmed down, visibly muscled up, and given a clearly altered hair texture. Needless to say, the response to the new Amanda Waller was not positive and swiftly in her next comic book series appearances she was returned to the image we all know and love. What’s always been interesting about comics is that they often veer into reality and directly break the fourth wall, with our Presidents’ and political climate at the foreground. Here are a few of my favorite panels from Suicide Squad Rebirth #1 that illustrate that very instance.

{Edited Excerpt — Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1}

President Barack Obama: Finished Director Waller, period. Frankly, I would have made this decision a lot sooner, but it wasn’t until I was already in my second term that I was even made aware of your…program, which is exactly the way you liked it, I’m sure. Task Force X…A squad of costumed felons, thieves, killers, and worse — operating on behalf of American interests around the world, afforded no due process, no civil rights…and answerable only to a Woman whom no one elected, whom I did not appoint, whom no one in Congress even knows about…I don’t know how this whole things got started Director Waller, but the Suicide Squad is not only a betrayal of our ideals…it’s manifestly a bomb waiting to blow up in our faces. I swore an oath to defend this country. We do not do this. Not here.

Amanda Waller: With respect, Mr. President. That is a lie.

President Barack Obama: …I beg your pardon?

Amanda Waller: Ideals belong on flagpoles and in museums and in the movie theaters. This is reality — and reality is ugly. For our loved ones to sleep safely at night, I know that you, sir, have had to make difficult decisions. And this is another one you have to make.

President Barack Obama: Your people are unhinged Waller, and on my watch they have brought terror all over the world. You’ve managed to keep a lid on things by sheer force of will and bloody mindedness, it seems, but can you imagine what would happen if the world discovered your team’s actions were covert missions for the United States?

Amanda Waller: What I imagine, Mr. President, is what happens to America without Task Force X. It’s a sick nasty world, and bad things have to be done to protect the American people from things they can never know about…that the Justice League can never know about…that you can never know about.

President Barack Obama: Someone has to know Director Waller. Someone has to represent the American people. Some must be accountable. And it’s obviously not you.

Amanda Waller: I have just the man.

President Barack Obama: Approved. Good bye Director Waller. I sincerely hope we never meet again. You know, politicians are sadly forced to lie in order to protect innocent people. The real problems start when they lie to themselves, Director Waller.