Valerie Beaudry was the second Silver Swan, an insecure woman manipulated and augmented to fight Wonder Woman.
History
Valerie Beaudry's parents were both exposed to harmful levels of radiation following a series of nuclear tests. As a result, Valerie was born with severe physical deformities. Valerie grew up a recluse with little to no outside exposure. While still a teenager, she began placing ads in the classifieds seeking a pen-pal. Valerie longed for nothing more than to have a friend, but she refused to ever let anyone look upon her true face. Fifteen-year-old Maxine Sterenbuch answered Valerie's classifieds and the two exchanged letters with one another for more than three years. The bond between the two became so great that Sterenbuch felt as if they were sisters. Maxine always included photographs of herself in her correspondence, but Valerie never provided any pictures in return.
At age eighteen, Maxine told Valerie that she wanted to meet her face to face, and arranged to fly to her home town of Woodworth, North Dakota. When she arrived however, she discovered that Valerie had left Woodworth with no forwarding address.
Valerie Beaudry before the treatments
During this time, Valerie met a man named Henry Cobb Armbruster, the CEO of Armbruster International. Henry promised that he could make Valerie beautiful and so she volunteered to undergo treatments in a program called Project: Silver Swan. The project leader, Benjamin Buchman, experimented on Valerie, transforming her from the proverbial ugly duckling into a vivacious, beautiful woman. The experiment also gave her the ability to harness and generate intense sonic vibrations. The birth of Valerie's new abilities was a violent, explosion of power that devastated the laboratory, killing Doctor Buchman in the process.[1]
Armbruster manipulated Beaudry's state of mind, and she became emotionally dependent upon him. She easily fell in love, and was willing to do anything that Armbruster asked, no matter how amoral it may have seemed. Despite the physical and mental abuse that she suffered at Armbruster's hands, she was still very much in love with him.
Some seven years after they had last corresponded, Valerie met her pen pal Maxine Sterenbuch for the first time. Maxine could not understand why someone so obviously beautiful would be shy about her appearance. Maxine learned of Armbruster's abusive behavior towards Valerie, but was powerless to do anything about it.
Despite her beauty however, Valerie was still jealous of other women—particularly the neophyte super-hero known as Wonder Woman. Armbruster encouraged Valerie's jealousy, intent on using her as a weapon to defeat the Amazon princess.
Armbruster got his chance when Wonder Woman made a personal appearance at the Wonder Woman charity fair in Boston Commons. Using the name, the Silver Swan, Beaudry attacked Wonder Woman at the fairgrounds. Her true purpose was to steal a supply of microchips that one of Armbruster's inside men had hidden inside the fairground receipts. Wonder Woman flew up to face her, and the Silver Swan unleashed an intense wave of sonic energy. Though equipped with devastating power, she had little control over it, and even less experience. Wonder Woman grabbed hold of Valerie and flew her out over the sea where no innocents would be harmed. As the two fought in the water, Wonder Woman used her soaked cape as a weapon and ensnared the Silver Swan. Panicking, Valerie released the full range of her powers, but succeeded in only draining herself, thus enabling Wonder Woman to defeat her.[2]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Sound Manipulation: The Silver Swan's most devastating power is the ability to generate an intense blast of hypersonic energy from her mouth. The intensity level of the blast ranges depending upon the Silver Swan's willpower. At its highest intensity, it is strong enough to rupture solid steel. In her first battle with Wonder Woman, she emitted a sonic blast that sheared a Ferris Wheel in half.
- Flight: The Silver Swan possesses the ability to fly; a power that is augmented by the sonic field that her body produces. She wears a winged harness, which helps her to control the direction and velocity of her flight.
- Force Field: By emitting a low-level hum, the Silver Swan can use her powers to generate a sonic shield around her body that protects her from most forms of conventional attack, including energy attacks. The sonic shield can also generate a power surge, feeding energy backwards upon an attacker. Valerie first learned of this when Wonder Woman attempted to bind her with the Lasso of Truth. The shield sent an energy backlash along the length of the lasso, briefly stunning Wonder Woman.
Abilities
- Aerial Combat: As she grew more experienced, the Silver Swan became adept at aerial combat and maneuvering.
Weaknesses
- Power Loss: Whenever Valerie uses her powers at full potential, she temporarily loses her ability to manipulate sound, momentarily leaving her vulnerable to attack.
Related
- 22 Appearances of Valerie Beaudry (New Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Valerie Beaudry (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Valerie Beaudry (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Valerie Beaudry (New Earth)
Footnotes
  This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons in any of her various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category." |
 Suicide Squad member |