Veronica Cale was a founding partner of Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals with her friend Doctor Leslie Anderson. Cale worked hard to get to her position of power in “man’s world” but she resents Wonder Woman for finding acceptance in a patriarchal society so easily. Dr. Cale also views Diana’s message for peace as simplistic reasoning which is easy to proclaim when someone like Diana is a super strong demi-goddess that can end her conflicts with a few hard hitting punches. However, Cale’s resentment toward Diana runs further than just petty envy. Cale's hatred of Wonder Woman seems to be founded on competition because she believes that if there is a Wonder Woman then it can only be her. Cale's tragic childhood also plays a factor in Cale’s way of thinking. Her father left before she was born, her mother died early of cancer but Cale was able to gain a number of doctorate degrees and became a self-made female millionaire as well as a philanthropist. Cale believes that her accomplishments should have made her more worthy of the people’s reverence than being born into fame and fortune like Diana was.
When Diana wrote Reflections, a study of Amazon philosophy, Dr. Cale sought to discredit Wonder Woman by using Diana's controversial new book. Dr. Cale uses selected quotations from the book to spin the media against Diana. Cale became the book's most outspoken critic and she loses the debate with Diana no less. Afterwards, Cale arranges to have the book's proponents killed at a demonstration which was being held in an embassy. By this time, Cale had allied herself with some of Wonder Woman’s deadliest foes like Doctor Psycho. Dr. Psycho used is manipulative skills to draw the crowds into an uproar thus creating a riot outside the embassy. Eventually, Dr. Psycho captures Cale by binding, gagging, and locking her in a closet. Dr. Psycho then took this opportunity to impersonate Dr. Cale but this only lasted for a short while. Dr. Psycho was defeated and Dr. Cale was rescued by none other than Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, this does not change Cale’s perception of Wonder Woman since Diana’s influence has touched Dr. Anderson which Cale finds infuriating.
Dr. Cale is later coerced by Circe into becoming the legal guardian of Circe's daughter Lyta as a way of removing Lyta from Themyscira, the Amazon Island in exchange for Circe’s involvement in Cale’s revenge plot against Wonder Woman. Circe and Cale work together in upgrading Silver Swan’s (Vanessa Kapatelis) weaponry after purchasing Swan from Sebastian Ballesteros. Dr. Cale also helped Circe with resurrecting Medusa in order to unleash the gorgon on "man's world." However, this arrangement between these two witches is dissolved when Ares arrives and kidnaps Lyta from the island which angers Circe. Circe abandons Cale’s scheme until Cale manages to return Lyta to her mother with Wonder Woman’s help.
When Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord for murdering Ted Kord, Dr. Cale was momentarily satisfied by the media’s scrutiny towards the Amazon Princess until she was kidnapped by Chang Tzu aka Egg Fu. During Week 26 of 52, Dr. Cale appears alongside other abducted scientists on Oolong Island. She was the only female among the unscrupulous group of mad scientists. Eventually, Cale suffers from a mental breakdown after releasing Egg Fu’s pet project from Apokolips: the Four Horsemen. Sobek, who represented the Famine Horseman, devoured Osiris while the other Horsemen defeated the Black Marvel family. In retaliation, Black Adam starts his world-wide crusade for vengeance starting with Oolong Island.
Meanwhile, Cale’s mental breakdown causes her feelings to conflict with one another. Will Magnus was the only creditable doctor amongst the other scientists. Magnus’ handsome demeanor drove Cale to seducing Magnus and eventually fall in love with him. When Black Adam arrived on Oolong Island, Adam threatened to kill Magnus first for creating the Horsemen but Cale proclaims that she is to blame. Her attempt to confess and confront Shazam’s fallen hero was ignored as Adam continued to destroy the island. Cale managed to help Magnus as well as the other mad scientists get off the island. Magnus left Cale and Cale formed an independent collective with the remaining scientists called the Science Squad.
The collective’s first problem was the return of the Four Horsemen of Apokilips. Feeling responsible, Cale ingests a semi-organic containment unit and uses it to absorb the Horsemen's essence. She later undergoes an operation to remove the unit thereby sending the Horsemen back to Apokolips. Cale then becomes the President of Oolong Island after she had attained sovereignty. With Ira Quimby by her side, Cale also becomes a reluctant ally with the Doom Patrol because she needed the Doom Patrol as the island's pre-emptive strike force in case of an emergency.
Eventually, Cale betrays the Doom Patrol when she joins forces with the Front Men who used to work for Thayer Jost when he was possessed by Mr. Somebody.
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