DCU Comic Book Reviews

CHECKMATE #26

Chimera, Part One:  Opening Move

July 2008

Written by Bruce Jones

Pencils by Manuel Garcia

Inks by Travis Lanham

Cover by Manuel Garcia

Synopsis

In Iraqi, a small group of American soldiers are shot and presumably killed.  The next morning, one of the soldiers, Adam, is found still alive.  In Venezuela, a hunter is attacked.  At Checkmate headquarters, Adam is considered to be a candidate for a soldier prototype.  Elsewhere, Adam’s mother and girlfriend, Chloe, attend his funeral.  In Antarctica, fishermen are attacked.  Meanwhile, an accident occurs during surgery for the soldier prototype.  Later, the results of the surgery, with the accident leading to unexpected benefits, are shown to the royals:  the soldier can transform into whatever animal he opposes.  In China, a giant creature roams the streets.  Elsewhere, Chloe has a dream and believes Adam is still alive. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This...is...different.  Anytime a new writer jumps on board, there will always be differences when compared to previous writer.  This is to be expected.  Every writer approaches characters in a different way; it is the nature of being human.  So, I am not surprised that Jones’ book would be different that what Rucka (and Trautmann) had been writing, but I certainly did not expect this.  This is not Checkmate.  Gone from this book is any of the political intrigue, any of the bickering amongst Checkmate, or any of the espionage.  Hell, except for August General in Iron and a brief mention of the Black King, this book can barely be called Checkmate.  This feels like a horror book, which (again) is not that surprising given Jones’ work on the anthology books Creepy and Eerie.  And I can’t fault what Jones produces here; it is an interesting idea with some definite possibilities in the story, even if the plot points are extremely predictable (raise your hands if you knew the girlfriend knew Adam wasn’t dead).  Where I can fault Jones is the seemingly stupid and inane idea of taking a perfectly acceptable set-up with built-in conflicts and story possibilities and tossing it out of the window.  This book has a clear, unique, and defined vision of what it is and how the characters interact and given the vast number of characters available, there should be no shortage of storytelling possibilities.  None of that is one display here and it is disheartening.  Granted, one could assume Jones will get around to it in future issues, but with this is the first Jones issue and if readers expect more of this rather than what has gone before, there may not be enough readers to stick around or the next issue.     

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