DCU Comic Book Reviews

CHECKMATE #24

Castling, Part Two

May 2008

Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann

Pencils by Joe Bennett

Inks by Jack Jadson

Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky

Synopsis

With Superman leading the way, Checkmate conducts an assault on Kobra headquarters.  Elsewhere, Mr. Terrific and The Thinker infiltrate Kobra’s computer mainframe and download it to the Castellan, who determines Kobra has developed a weapon mass destruction by reprogramming people at the genetic level.  With the help of the JLA and the JSA, Checkmate begins the steps to neutralize the transmission signal so the weapons cannot be activated.  However, Checkmate finds a location in the Hamptons that seems immune to the signal.  Despite the fact all agents in the field, White Queen orders a mission to learn more.  The mission goes horribly wrong.  Still without reinforcements, in the nearby vicinity, the royals decide to send in the rooks.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Damn good stuff.  Well, okay, one little nitpick.  I cannot imagine that with all of the meta-human around the world helping out Checkmate that at least one here (say, the Flash) could not get the Hamptons in time to help out the mission.  There are plenty of fliers and speedsters on Earth who could reach the Hamptons within mere minutes.  But, I think that is just a little nitpick and doesn’t really take away from goodness that defines this issue.  As usual, Rucka leads the reader down one path, thinking that Checkmate is getting closer to stopping Kobra when he suddenly pulls the rug out and let’s us know that there is something else, something more sinister, going on.  To top it off, the final scenes in the Hamptons were disturbing, not only for what was being created, but the proud moment from the one new mother.  As Sasha says, can you really defeat a bad religion? 

The final page left me with a strange feeling because, frankly, none of those characters mean anything to me at all.  It is difficult to tell if these are new characters or older ones that Rucka is dusting off for this title.  As such the ending was a little anticlimactic because I should feel something (fear or awe or excitement), but instead I felt apathy because I don’t know these characters.  It is a moment that should be BIG, but instead falls flat. 

Maybe it is because I have been reading this book since the beginning or maybe it is because Rucka has done a good job of establishing his characters up to this point (and probably a little bit of both), but I have to say that the large cast of characters worked well in issue.  I had no trouble following the action and understanding the roles of everyone involved.  Well, except for the rooks.  But Rucka’s got one more issue to explain that. 

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