The build up to the Absolute Power event has seen Amanda Waller do things that were previously unthinkable. However, the action of Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 shows how far the woman called “The Wall” will go in pursuit of an asset. In this case, she became a mother.
Written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Gleb Melnikov, Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 builds upon the end of the House of Brainiac event. The Superman storyline ended with Brainiac, in an ironic mirror of Superman’s origin, sending away the child he dubbed the Brainiac Queen. The rocket carrying his child away from his doomed spaceship came to Earth. It was here that the Brainiac Queen was recovered by Amanda Waller and her Bureau of Sovereignty.
Amanda Waller uses VR to raise the Brainiac Queen
The Wall takes it upon herself to raise the Brainiac Queen. In between attacks from the Justice League, Waller read to the Queen, and talked her through the usual childhood fears and foibles. All the while she was also grooming her into the perfect weapon to fight Earth’s heroes.
This training was apparently facilitated through the same virtual reality technology that empowered the Justice League’s Sanctuary. With 20 hours of virtual time, Amanda Waller simulated 20 years within the mind of the Brainiac Queen. This made her fiercely loyal to Waller, viewing her as her mother. However, this manipulation apparently had a negative effect on Waller, which has yet to be explored.
There is an irony in Amanda Waller empowering an alien artificial intelligence because of her paranoid regarding metahumans and aliens. The Brainiac Queen could be a greater danger to Earth and Waller’s dreams of Absolute Power than Earth’s superheroes. It is also possible that virtual motherhood might prompt The Wall to reconsider her schemes.
Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 is now available in comic shops everywhere.
