Amanda Waller and the Phoenix Gambit
Partly for halfamoon, partly since it's Black History Month, partly just because I love her, I present to you the story of Amanda Waller's arrest and her glorious rise from the ashes, smacking Batman around along the way.
Lots of images, most of them old scans, which makes reading some of the text difficult.
This is Amanda Waller. She runs the Suicide Squad, which makes deals with supervillains that they work tie off their sentences by going on covert missions for the United States.
Her older sister is one of the doctors for the prison they work out of. She talks about Amanda's backstory here.
Although she is a master planner, everyone runs into problems eventually. In issue 39, the government is planning to shut the squad down, right in the middle of them busting up a drug ring in town. Needless to say, Amanda decides to not take this sitting down.
Being a sensible woman, she decides to address the problem as directly as possible, by rounding up the most bloodthirsty agents she has and going after the drug lords herself.
Let it never be said that she made other people do her dirty work.
And that's how the issue ends. How ever will she make her jail break?
Answer: She doesn't.
She's Amanda Waller. She's sneakier, tougher, meaner, and smarter than just about everyone. She doesn't need to weasel her way out of jail, sooner or later the people will come begging.
One of my favorite things about Suicide Squad is Batman's repeated attempts to shut them down and defame Waller in the public eye. Spoiler alert: He always fails.
She's been dragged out of jail to deal with a former operative.
Basically, Vertigo's backstory is that he's an inbreed, crazy Eastern European monarch who can control people's sense of balance. Also he has an awesome costume. Anyway, back to the Phoenix plotline.
Remember, she's been out of jail for less than a day. She had this whole idea planned out already, just to pass the time.
She has Batman and a million dollars, next she has to go recruit team members. She starts with Vixen, who was getting bored just modeling again, and uses her to help track down Bronze Tiger.
One of the greatest things about this comic is the details put into everyone's relationships. Especially with Amanda, Mari, and Ben and how their different backgrounds shaped how they deal with the racism they face.
Bronze Tiger is awesome, btw. Later I should do an entry entitled "Why having Catman treat him like an animal and defeat him is totally bullshit and racist."
Everyone has snuck into Vlatlava when they run into a slight problem, Waller hadn't been able to find and rehured Deadshot for the team. And.... cliffhanger!
Luckily, she can overcome little things like assassins on the fly because she's just that good.
Anyway, as the story progresses Captain Boomerang has to pretend to be Batman and get captured, forcing them to negotiate with Waller, who along with the real Batman are orchestrating an attack on many fronts from the shadows. It's equal parts amazing and hilarious.
The Russians who were financing Vertigo's failed attempt to free the ccountry were keeping him drugged so he wouldn't crash back into a depressive, suicidal state. This made him easy pickings for Poison Ivy, who decided that maybe it would be easier to keep the sexy royal in her thrall and take over the country herself.
Waller sets her straight without much effort.
Having successfully prevented a Russian takeover, dragged Vertigo away from their clutches, and punched people in the face, they return home to celebrate.
Batman, always one to spoil a party, prevents Deadshot from killing the racist asshole who hired him to kill Waller.
Now content that she's stomped on Batman's ego, she sets off to work fixing the world with her new, improved version of the Squad.
Lots of images, most of them old scans, which makes reading some of the text difficult.
This is Amanda Waller. She runs the Suicide Squad, which makes deals with supervillains that they work tie off their sentences by going on covert missions for the United States.
Her older sister is one of the doctors for the prison they work out of. She talks about Amanda's backstory here.
Although she is a master planner, everyone runs into problems eventually. In issue 39, the government is planning to shut the squad down, right in the middle of them busting up a drug ring in town. Needless to say, Amanda decides to not take this sitting down.
Being a sensible woman, she decides to address the problem as directly as possible, by rounding up the most bloodthirsty agents she has and going after the drug lords herself.
Let it never be said that she made other people do her dirty work.
And that's how the issue ends. How ever will she make her jail break?
Answer: She doesn't.
She's Amanda Waller. She's sneakier, tougher, meaner, and smarter than just about everyone. She doesn't need to weasel her way out of jail, sooner or later the people will come begging.
One of my favorite things about Suicide Squad is Batman's repeated attempts to shut them down and defame Waller in the public eye. Spoiler alert: He always fails.
She's been dragged out of jail to deal with a former operative.
Basically, Vertigo's backstory is that he's an inbreed, crazy Eastern European monarch who can control people's sense of balance. Also he has an awesome costume. Anyway, back to the Phoenix plotline.
Remember, she's been out of jail for less than a day. She had this whole idea planned out already, just to pass the time.
She has Batman and a million dollars, next she has to go recruit team members. She starts with Vixen, who was getting bored just modeling again, and uses her to help track down Bronze Tiger.
One of the greatest things about this comic is the details put into everyone's relationships. Especially with Amanda, Mari, and Ben and how their different backgrounds shaped how they deal with the racism they face.
Bronze Tiger is awesome, btw. Later I should do an entry entitled "Why having Catman treat him like an animal and defeat him is totally bullshit and racist."
Everyone has snuck into Vlatlava when they run into a slight problem, Waller hadn't been able to find and rehured Deadshot for the team. And.... cliffhanger!
Luckily, she can overcome little things like assassins on the fly because she's just that good.
Anyway, as the story progresses Captain Boomerang has to pretend to be Batman and get captured, forcing them to negotiate with Waller, who along with the real Batman are orchestrating an attack on many fronts from the shadows. It's equal parts amazing and hilarious.
The Russians who were financing Vertigo's failed attempt to free the ccountry were keeping him drugged so he wouldn't crash back into a depressive, suicidal state. This made him easy pickings for Poison Ivy, who decided that maybe it would be easier to keep the sexy royal in her thrall and take over the country herself.
Waller sets her straight without much effort.
Having successfully prevented a Russian takeover, dragged Vertigo away from their clutches, and punched people in the face, they return home to celebrate.
Batman, always one to spoil a party, prevents Deadshot from killing the racist asshole who hired him to kill Waller.
Now content that she's stomped on Batman's ego, she sets off to work fixing the world with her new, improved version of the Squad.