Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1!TheSuicide Squad’sleader has never been one for family, but she’s just taken in an unexpected powerhouse as her ‘daughter’.Amanda Waller is determinedto control the DC Universe’s metahuman population by any means necessary and fortunately, the answer has landed at her feet.
No one knows manipulation better than Waller. She’s conscripted dozens, if not hundreds of costumed criminals and heroes to serve as her pawns. But when the most powerful weapon she’s ever seen arrives, Waller tries a shockingly different approach. Instead of threatening or blackmailing, Waller extends an offer to become a family with an incredibly destructive alien.
Amanda Waller ‘Adopts’ the Brainiac Queen as Her Daughter
InAbsolute Power: Ground Zero #1’sstory “Stage Three” by Joshua Williamson, Gleb Melnikov, and Steve Wands, the action picks up right at theconclusion of “House of Brainiac"when the titular villain is forced to send his beloved creation, the Brainiac Queen, away to save her. The Queen crash lands in the Arctic. She’s not alone, though, as Amanda Waller is already on the scene with a cache of agents and her partner, Failsafe. Failsafe confirms that the Brainiac Queen’s drives are blank andWaller orders her agents to get the Brainiac Queen to their lab.
Failsafe recommends a bit more testing, but Waller insists that Brainiac Queen is ready.
Waller uses the stolen Sanctuary files and programming designed by Failsafe to create a false reality. In this world, the Brainiac Queen is a little girl and Waller becomes her custodian. However, to manipulate the Brainiac Queen, Waller also has an evil Superman programmed into this reality. Waller protects Brainiac Queen from the false Man of Steel and spends twenty virtual years with Brainiac’s creation. From educating her to teaching her how to fight,Waller successfully programs Brainiac Queen to become the hero-hunting weapon Waller needs.
With the training complete, Waller unplugs herself from the simulation and confirms with Failsafe that Brainiac Queen’s data drives are full. Failsafe recommends a bit more testing, but Waller insists that Brainiac Queen is ready. Waller beckons the automaton from her slumber and before long, the Brainiac Queen awakens. Calling Amanda ‘Mother’,the Brainiac Queen tells Waller that she’s ready to do whatever she mustin order to take power away from those who do not deserve it.
Who is the Brainiac Queen and How Powerful is She?
Superman’s alien nemesis Brainiac has long been pilfering information from all across the DC Universe. However, after absorbing all possible information, he discovered holes in his knowledge that were driving him insane. To fill the void, Brainiac embarked on a quest to create a perfect being, one that would hopefully fill the longing Brainiac that was tormenting Brainiac. However, to bring his creation to life, he needed power. So after months of planning, Brainiac and an army of Czarnians descended onto Metropolis and kidnapped its metahuman population.
After catching all but Superman, Brainiac took his trove of hostages into deep space, where he began studying their power levels. The Man of Steel eventually made his way into space and had Lobo by his side. Unfortunately, the two ran afoul of Brainiac’s Czarnians. Lobo betrayed Superman and had him brought straight to Brainiac. With the final piece in place,Brainiac used the Super-Family to give life to his ultimate creation, the Brainiac Queen. Brainiac also revealed that his creation consumed powers to thrive and she consumed every Czarnian except Lobo.
The “House of Brainiac” crossover takes place inAction Comics #1064-1066 (2024)andSuperman #13-15 (2024)!
Brainiac sicced his creation onto the Super-Family, but between Superboy using his tactile telekinesis to separate her from Brainiac’s ship and Lex Luthor erasing Brainiac’s hive mind, the Queen’s powers were diminished and Brainiac lost control of everything. As his ship began to implode, Brainiac had no choice but to send his creation away in the hopes that she would continue his legacy long after he’s gone. However, she wouldn’t get far as she only made it to Earth,where Amanda Waller was intently monitoring all metahuman activity across the planet.
Amanda Waller Has Made the Ultimate Loyal Soldier
Waller’s never had a problem finding ways to motivate people. Generally, when she wants a villain to do something, she just loads them up with a bomb in the back of their neck and conscripts them into the Suicide Squad. Waller’s even had to start getting creative with her bombs, such as linking them to her own heartbeat (which is how she blackmailed the hero Dreamer into working for her). ButWaller has eschewed those methods for a new way to get the Brainiac Queen on her side.
…Waller chose a fantasy to make the alien android see Amanda as a mother figure.
With the Brainiac Queen, Waller got something she rarely gets in a recruit she likes: A blank slate. The Brainiac Queen remembered nothing from her time on Brainiac’s ship and was in the perfect shape to be molded by Waller. Could she have just as easily told her the situation and ensured the Queen’s compliance with a neck bomb? Sure.But Waller knew that the Brainiac Queen had untold potentialand it wasn’t worth itputting that tech at risk with an explosive.
What’s really creepy about this situation is that Waller could have conjured up any kind of scenario to retrain the Brainiac Queen. Yet Waller chose a fantasy to make the alien android see Amanda as a mother figure. Waller doesn’t just want a powerhouse to help her take down the DC Universe’s superhumans, she wants absolute loyalty. And what better way to keep the Brainiac Queen loyal than bymaking Waller seem like the most important person in the Queen’s life?
The DC Universe’s Greatest Weapon is at Waller’s Control
Brainiac created the Brainiac Queen to go from planet to planet, consuming everything in her path until there was nothing left. It was a terrifying prospect when she was with Brainiac, and she’s just as scary working with Waller. From her perspective Brainiac Queen spent 20 years with her ‘mother’ and she’s going to do whatever she can to serve theSuicide Squad’sleader, including making sure that the DC Universe’s metahumans are brought down once and for all.
