DCU Comic Book Reviews

CHECKMATE #3

The Game of Kings, Part #3

August 2006

Written by Greg Rucka

Pencils by Cliff Richards

Inks by Steve Bird & Bob Wiacek

Cover by Lee Bermejo & Patricia Mulvhill

Synopsis

In China, Black Queen Sasha Bordeaux and her team intercept a truck in route to infiltrating the Chinese that stores the cyclosarin stolen by Kobra.  At Checkmate headquarters, the White and Black Bishops are monitoring the mission as they try and determine the exact location of the cyclosarin within the facility.  In France, White King Alan Scott (aka Green Lantern) gets reassurance from France they will vote yes if the resolution comes before the UN Council again.  Afterwards, a Kobra agent tries to assassinate him, but Scott is able to take him into custody.  He then calls White Queen Amanda Waller to tell her what happened.  Waller does not tell him that she was also attacked.  However, Waller kills her assailant.  Back at headquarters, White King’s Bishop Michael Holt (aka Mr. Terrific) deduces that the it is not the stolen cyclosarin China is worried about.  It is not the fact the facility really hides China's meta program.  It is the fact that Kobra infiltrated China’s facility and Kobra may now have meta-humans in its ranks.  At the facility, Sasha and her team are inside the compound when an explosion rocks the entire to facility and a member of the Great Ten is coming right for them....

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Things are starting to get good.  Checkmate is partly a spy series with emphasis on missions and political shenanigans, but it also focuses on the characters and how they interact with each other.  One thing I have noticed about Rucka’s other spy series Queen & Country is that there really are two obstacles to overcome in each story arc:  the mission itself, but also the internal conflicts.  Checkmate is no different.  All of these characters have either something to hide or an hidden agenda or something to prove to themselves or others.  And now that we are three issues into the series, we can see how these interactions are beginning to shape up.  The good thing is that things will not resolve quickly.  Anyone who has read either of Rucka’s extended runs on Wonder Woman or Adventures of Superman should realize that he always takes his time to slowly develop some of the characters and some of the plots and stories that will eventually emerge after a year or two of writing.  For Checkmate, we can see the beginnings slowly starting to get fleshed out more and man, is it getting good. 

I do have two complaints.  First is that I find the characters referring to each other based on their title (Black King's Bishop, etc.) is plain confusing.  I like the little box that tells us who they are, but I think they then need to refer to each other by name.  The second, and this may just be me, but I find Mr. Terrific wearing his costume inside Checkmate headquarters to be extremely funny and not in a good way.  If he needs to wear it for his t-spheres to become active, then fine, but c’mon, what use is a mask at a location where everyone knows who he is?

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