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Amanda Waller

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Amanda Waller
Amanda Waller as depicted in Suicide Squad vol. 5 #8 (February 2017).
Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouts), Francesco Mattina (finished art), and Hi-Fi Design (colors).
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceLegends #1 (November 1986)
Created byJohn Ostrander
Len Wein
John Byrne
In-story information
Full nameAmanda Belle Waller (née Blake)
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsSuicide Squad
Agency
Checkmate
A.R.G.U.S.
Shadow Fighters
Team 7
United States Army
Justice League of America
Cadmus
Abilities
  • Expert strategist and tactician
  • Skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
  • Expert markswoman

Amanda Belle Waller (née Blake), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional 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.[1] 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 even though she is a supervillian. Waller is commonly associated with the fictional government agencies Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S.

Waller is a former congressional aide and government agent in charge of the Suicide Squad, a quasi-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 later serves in leadership roles in Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S. In 2020s comic books, she heads up more ambitious attacks on the superhero community, serving as the primary antagonist of the Absolute Power event.

The character has been adapted into other media on a number of occasions, notably voiced by CCH Pounder in her animated debut in the DC Animated Universe, with Pam Grier originating the character in live action on the TV show Smallville. She first appears in film played by Academy Award winner Angela Bassett in Green Lantern. Most prominently, she has been portrayed by Academy Award winner Viola Davis in the DC Extended Universe series of films and TV shows, starting in Suicide Squad (2016), acting as one of the franchise's most prominent recurring characters.

Publication history

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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

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Early history

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Amanda Waller in Who's Who in the DC Universe #1 (August 1990). Art by Luke McDonnell and Geof Isherwood.

Amanda Waller was established as a widow who escaped Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing projects with her surviving family after her two eldest children and her husband were murdered.[2] 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, she proposed the development of its third incarnation to the White House and was placed in charge upon its approval.

Federal service years

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Amanda Waller formed the agency to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X.[3] 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 wanted the Bronze Tiger—a martial artist she helped recover after being brainwashed by the League of Assassins—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 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 Waller 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.

One of the field missions is against her will, as many members of the squad, Waller included, are forcibly kidnapped and taken to Apokolips. This is because team member Duchess remembered her past as Lashina of the Female Furies instead of pretending to be amnesiac and wished to return home with suitable sacrifices. The squad suffers fatalities battling Apokolips' forces, with Waller personally confronting Granny Goodness. However, the confrontation ended with the deaths of Dr. Light and one of Waller's nieces, and Count Vertigo was near-fatally wounded.

She eventually found herself serving prison time for her pursuit of an organized crime cartel based in New Orleans called the LOA and killing its leadership, using squad operatives Ravan, Poison Ivy and Deadshot in the process.

The Suicide Squad's rebirth

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Waller is eventually pardoned and released a year later to reorganize the Suicide Squad as a freelance mercenary group at the behest of Sarge Steel to deal with a crisis in Vlatava, Count Vertigo's home country. Afterward, the Suicide Squad performed a variety of missions, often treading dangerous political terrain when dealing with Soviet and Israeli interests. Most notably, the Squad helped destroy the plans of a shadow organization to throw Qurac, Israel, and the US into political disarray.

During her renewed tenure with this team, Amanda became closer to her operatives, even accompanying them on their field missions. This allowed Waller and her team to bond more effectively, although she retained her dominant and threatening personality.

Waller quit after a later field mission, in which she took down the immortal dictator of a minor South American island nation. As it turned out, he was mortal, but had immense psychic power. By tricking him, Waller merely provided a form of assisted suicide.

Soon after, Amanda Waller organized the Shadow Fighters to confront the villain Eclipso. Again, she encountered Sarge Steel. Her first attempt at a team formed with the assistance of Bruce Gordon and his wife, Mona could have gone better. Most of the group was brutally murdered, infiltrating Eclipso's stronghold. Her second attempt with a much larger team had much more success.

During the "Bloodlines" event, the President sent Guy Gardner to fetch Waller from her island 'retirement'. She leads a multi-hero affair that destroys the alien parasites.[4] She rejoined federal service, initially as the Southeastern regional director for the Department of Extranormal Operations. She was then promoted to Secretary of Metahuman Affairs as a member of Lex Luthor's presidential administration.

International service

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Lex Luthor's brief tenure in the office leads to Amanda Waller being jailed for a short time before being released by Luthor's successor, Jonathan Vincent Horne, who orders her to take command of the secret agent organization Checkmate. The organization had been shaken up due to The OMAC Project debacle and the related murderous leadership of Maxwell Lord, with whom Waller has had previous history. Waller takes the rank of Black King until the United States and United Nations decide what to do with that organization. In the latter issue of 52, Waller is shown commissioning the imprisoned Atom Smasher to organize a new Suicide Squad to attack Black Adam and his allies. This ends with the death of Squad member Persuader and the expected public relations turn against the Black Marvel family.

In the revamped Checkmate series set in the One Year Later continuity, Waller is shown to have been assigned by the UN to serve as Checkmate's White Queen, a member of its senior policy-making executive. Due to her previous activities, her appointment is contingent on having no direct control over operations.[5] Regardless, she continues to pursue her agenda, secretly using the Suicide Squad to perform missions in favour of American interests[6] and blackmailing Fire.[7] It is also implied that she may have betrayed a mission team in an attempt to protect her secrets[8] and facilitated an attack on Checkmate headquarters for her gain.[9]

Amanda Waller as the White Queen in promotional art for Checkmate. Art by Jesus Saiz.

She is then in charge of Operation Salvation Run, an initiative involving the mass deportation of supervillains to an alien world. When the rest of Checkmate discovered this, she was forced into resigning as White Queen in exchange for their delay in revealing what the US government was doing.[9] She continues to run the Suicide Squad and has been implanted with nanotechnology to allow her to control Chemo during missions directly.[9]

During the Superman/Batman storyline "K", it is revealed that Waller has hoarded Kryptonite and used it to power an anti-Superman group called the Last Line and a Doomsday-like creature codenamed "All-American Boy", who has Kryptonite shards growing out of his body. All-American Boy (real name: Josh Walker) was deceived into an experiment using Kryptonite to bond cell scrapings taken from Doomsday to a human host, battles Superman, and devastates Smallville. With the help of Brannon, the Last Line's leader, Batman locates Josh's parents, who convince him to stop. Waller is forced to pay towards repairing Smallville in return for her dealings in the AAB project to remain secret. 'Last Line' itself rebels against Waller because of her deceptions.[10]

In the eight-issue series of Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag, she is again seen leading the Suicide Squad at some point when the General returns to Earth after his exile and is promptly drafted into the Squad with unique explosive implants grafted into his arm and brain to make him compliant with Waller's demands. Here, she uses technology devised by Cliff Carmichael to gain a measure of control over Chemo, allowing her to use the toxic behemoth for the Squad's benefit. Rick Flag is revealed to have survived the events at Jotunheim and was returned to Waller, who admitted to him Rick Flag Jr. was never anything but an alias, and that he was a brainwashed soldier remade into Flag to serve Eiling's ends.

She leads, as Chemo, an attack on a Dubai supercorp intending to release a deadly virus. However, Carmichael, with Eiling and part of her team, betrays her as part of Eiling's plan to benefit from the release of the virus, and she is nearly killed when Eiling orders a compliant Flag to use her pen, a transmitter, to detonate her explosive implant. Instead, Flag, tricking him, detonates Eiling's own, releasing her and rejoining the Squad, refusing the chance of everyday life.

She later attempted to forcibly return several members of the Secret Six (Bane and Deadshot) to the Suicide Squad. When her plan backfired due to the events of Blackest Night and the defiance of the Six, she was shot by Deadshot and privately revealed to King Faraday to be their new secret leader, Mockingbird. When Faraday questioned the need to be informed of the situation and even the need to bring the Six under the banner of the Squad when she already controlled them, Amanda merely shrugged it off. Faraday then questions Amanda, "does your right hand even know what your left hand is doing" Waller responds with, "Only on a need-to-know basis", heavily implying that even Faraday himself is also on a "need-to-know basis."

The New 52

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In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Amanda Waller is shown to be in direct command of the Suicide Squad, choosing its members and having the final say over when and if their implanted explosives are detonated. It is revealed she requested command of a unit she could send to their deaths without regret after an operation she was involved in resulted in the deaths of all other squad members, including several she had personally recruited. She was also involved with Team 7 in some capacity while serving in the United States Army as a Captain, which led to her temporarily leaving the spy business. Also, this version of Amanda Waller is re-imagined as a young, thin woman in contrast with her original design.

Amanda Waller later formed the Justice League of America, which is separate from the main Justice League, where she is shown as the Director of A.R.G.U.S.[11] She recruited James Gordon Jr., who was alive despite his apparent death at the hands of his sister Barbara while saving their mother. However, it is shown that James Jr. only agrees to join as he is in love with Waller.

During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Amanda Waller is shown at Belle Reve trying to get Black Manta to join the Suicide Squad at the time when Deathstorm and Power Ring infiltrate the prison.[12] Waller later contacts Deadshot to get the Suicide Squad back together.[13] Later clues point to an imposter Waller causing trouble behind the scenes.[14]

DC Rebirth

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Amanda Waller returns to her original design with the DC Rebirth initiative. When Barack Obama confronts her about Task Force X, she convinces him the Suicide Squad needs to exist to deal with threats neither the President nor the Justice League can be aware of while conceding to nominate a non-criminal field leader to carry out her directives during missions and keep the convicts in line. She visits Rick Flag in Guantanamo Bay, where he had been imprisoned for disobeying direct instructions to save his teammates, and tries to convince him to work alongside supervillains for the greater good; she succeeds, releases him, and makes him the field leader of Task Force X.[15]

In issue #11 of Suicide Squad (2016), as a part of DC Rebirth, Amanda Waller is shot and killed. Her death is confirmed in issue #12. However, issue #15 revealed that she faked her death with the help of Deadshot, who fired a bullet at her heart, and Enchantress, who magically moved the bullet to the most reparable part of the human heart. Because of this, she can use Deadshot against the villain Rustam and the international shadow organization known only as the People. During Infinite Frontier, she went to Earth 3 after her Suicide Squad fought against the Crime Syndicate of America in order to rule that world.

Dawn of DC

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After the events of Dark Crisis, where the Justice League is resurrected, Amanda Waller approaches the Council of Light with a proposal to target metahumans for the danger they pose to humanity.[16][17] After the events of Knight Terrors, the world fears superheroes and Amanda Waller gains more power. She steals the Nightmare Stone and Doctor Fate's helmet to create Doctor Hate.[18]

During Titans: Beast World, Doctor Hate erases Beast Boy's memory and turns him into a huge alien, which Waller kills him by using a teleported. Amanda Waller realizes that Beast Boy sent out multiple spores, and plans to kill all of them, but the Titans stop her. In the aftermath, Amanda Waller takes control of Hall of Justice and frames the Titans for Beast Boy's spores.[19]

It is revealed that Amanda Waller started to develop hatred for metahumans because a metahuman named Candyman killed her daughter and husband. The Crisis events as well as her experience in Earth 3 made her jaded and cruel. During the Absolute Power event, Waller uses the Brainiac Queen's technology and the assistance of Failsafe to build an army of Amazos known as Task Force VII and drain the powers of metahumans worldwide, simultaneously making false news broadcasts of the heroes seemingly going rogue and aided by the apparent betrayal of Green Arrow.[20][21][22] However, she is ultimately defeated when Green Arrow is revealed to have been a double agent (temporarily given a false personality so that he could fool even Waller's telepaths) who provides the heroes with the means to restore their powers, while Nightwing and Air Wave trick Waller into confessing the truth about her recent actions during a public broadcast. Sentenced to life in solitary confinement by the World Court for her crimes, Waller is then imprisoned in Belle Reve, where Nia Nal manipulates her memories to prevent her from accessing crucial information that can be used against the Justice League.[23]

Other versions

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Flashpoint

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Amanda Waller appears in Flashpoint as an advisor to the President of the United States.[24]

DC Comics Bombshells

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Amanda Waller appears in DC Comics Bombshells as the commander of the eponymous "Bombshells" project and Superintendent of the United States Military Academy during World War II.[25][26]

DC Comics Secret Hero Society

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Amanda Waller appears in DC Comics Secret Hero Society as the guidance counselor, truancy officer, and head of detention of the Justice Preparatory Academy.[27]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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DC Extended Universe and DC Universe

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Davis at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Main article: Amanda Waller (DC Extended Universe)

Amanda Waller appears in media set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and DC Universe, portrayed by Viola Davis.

Video games

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Batman: Arkham

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Amanda Waller appears in the Batman: Arkham franchise:

Web series

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Miscellaneous

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Further reading

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  • The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History by Hope Nicholson, Quirk Books (2017)

References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 322. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 465–466. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  3. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 365–366. ISBN 9780345501066.
  4. ^ Bloodbath #1–2 (December 1993)
  5. ^ Checkmate vol. 2 #6
  6. ^ Checkmate vol. 2 #7
  7. ^ Checkmate vol. 2 #5
  8. ^ Checkmate vol. 2 #18
  9. ^ a b c Checkmate vol. 2 #20
  10. ^ Superman/Batman #44–49 (2008)
  11. ^ Justice League of America vol. 3 #1
  12. ^ Forever Evil #1
  13. ^ Justice League of America vol. 3 #7.1
  14. ^ Suicide Squad vol. 4 #27 (Jan. 2014)
  15. ^ Suicide Squad: Rebirth (August 2016)
  16. ^ Sawan, Amer (September 7, 2023). "Knight Terrors Introduced the Next Major Threat to the DC Universe - But Who is He?". CBR. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  17. ^ "KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT'S END #1". DC. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  18. ^ Dodge, John (2023-09-10). "Why the True Villain of DC's Knight Terrors is Amanda Waller". CBR. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  19. ^ Epps, Justin (2024-01-22). ""Her Days in the Shadows Are Over": Amanda Waller Officially Becomes DC's Worst Threat, As Beast World Escalates". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  20. ^ Titans: Beast World #6 (DC Comics). DC Comics.
  21. ^ Fang, Sam (February 28, 2024). "DC's Titans Battle Amanda Waller's Misinformation in Preview of New Issue". CBR. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  22. ^ Fang, Sam (May 16, 2024). "Amanda Waller Endangers All of DC's Metahumans in Absolute Power Event". CBR. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  23. ^ Salmon, Will (October 2, 2024). "Is Green Arrow really a traitor? What happens to Amanda Waller? And which hero makes a surprise return? All your Absolute Power #4 questions answered". gamesradar. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  24. ^ Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #2 (July 2011)
  25. ^ DC Comics Bombshells #8
  26. ^ DC Comics Bombshells Annual 1
  27. ^ "Review: 'DC Comics: Secret Hero Society #1: Study Hall of Justice' GN".
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Amanda Waller Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 31, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  29. ^ Ausiello, Michael (November 9, 2009). "Exclusive: 'Smallville' lands Pam Grier!". Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  30. ^ Narcisse, Evan (February 21, 2014). "EXCLUSIVE: Amanda Waller Unleashes the Suicide Squad on "Arrow"". Comic Book Resource.
  31. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (February 8, 2024). "Suicide Squad Isekai Anime Reveals More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  32. ^ Iverson, Dan; Pirrello, Phil (September 24, 2009). "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  33. ^ Roush, George (March 24, 2010). "News: How Stella Got Her Green Lantern Back". Latino Review. Archived from the original on 2010-03-27. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  34. ^ "Warner Bros. Brings "Batman: Assault on Arkham" to DVD/Blu-ray August 14". CBR. May 7, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-07. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  35. ^ Kroll, Justin (December 2, 2014). "'Suicide Squad' Cast Revealed: Jared Leto to Play the Joker, Will Smith is Deadshot". Variety. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  36. ^ Rl Mayimbe (December 14, 2014). "EXCLUSIVE: Viola Davis Bags Amanda Waller Role In 'Suicide Squad'". Latino Review. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014.
  37. ^ Gonzalez, Umberto (April 5, 2019). "Viola Davis to Return as Amanda Waller in James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  38. ^ Webb Mitovich, Matt (January 13, 2022). "Peacemaker: Grade the First Episode of HBO Max's The Suicide Squad Offshoot". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  39. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 11, 2020). "'Orange Is The New Black' Star Danielle Brooks Joins HBO Max 'Suicide Squad' Spinoff Series 'Peacemaker'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  40. ^ Hood, Cooper (July 23, 2022). "Black Adam Brings Back The Suicide Squad's Amanda Waller". ScreenRant. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  41. ^ Massoto, Erick (January 31, 2023). "Creature Commandos: Meet the Cast of the New DC Animated Series". Collider. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  42. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  43. ^ Boccher, Mike (December 23, 2014). "Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham Interview With TT Games' Arthur Parsons". 1080 players. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  44. ^ Totilo, Stephen (October 25, 2013). "Today's New Batman Games Tease A Very Cool Possible Sequel". Kotaku. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  45. ^ "SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE Cinematic Trailer".
  46. ^ yvette nicole brown [@YNB] (October 23, 2015). ""Just heard that #DCSuperHeroGirls got a pick up for more episodes! And there are DOLLS! I voice #PrincipalWaller! 😊 https://t.co/p/gDBKPqacHR"" (Tweet). Retrieved November 11, 2015 – via Twitter.
  47. ^ Green Lantern online tie-in lets fans do real, useful astronomy research; at BoingBoing; by Cory Doctorow; published June 1, 2011; retrieved June 9, 2013
  48. ^ Green Lantern: "This is my angry swan. There are many like it, but this one is mine." Archived 2013-07-20 at the Wayback Machine at HideAndSeek.net; by Tom Armitage; published August 30, 2011; retrieved June 9, 2013
  49. ^ Batman Beyond #1–6 (July–November 2010)
  50. ^ Injustice 2 #1
  51. ^ Injustice 2 #2
  52. ^ Injustice 2 #46
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