DCU Comic Book Reviews

CHECKMATE #31

Chimera:  Prophet Of Death

December 2008

Written by Bruce Jones

Pencils by Manuel Garcia

Inks by Travis Lanham

Cover by Manuel Garcia

Synopsis

Elemental creatures have been wrecking havoc on Earth.  Checkmate operative Adam Sharp (aka Chimera) has defeated them all.  However, now he must face a giant three-headed monster, who has just kidnapped Chloe, Adam’s girlfriend.  Meanwhile, Checkmate has brought in the Global Guardians to deal with the monster.  Meanwhile, around the seven plagues of the bible have become reality.  The Global Guardians are able to save Chloe before Chimera gets there, but they can’t defeat the monster.  Chimera arrives and deduces the monster is Lucifer.  Chimera then turns into the one thing Lucifer fears:  the arch-angel Gabriel.  Lucifer is sent back to hell.  Afterwards, Adam and Chloe reunite and spend time together. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I said it in the last review and I think it bears repeating in this review:  where is the Justice League (or Society) of America?  The problem with a story of this type is that once you get into a global threat and you have monsters destroying the Earth, there is no reason why the JLA or JSA would not get involved (and with Mr. Terrific part of Checkmate, the omission is even more glaring).  Superman would be there in a heart beat, if not sooner.  And I think this is the problem with this particular storyline.  I have been saying for awhile that this is not a Checkmate story; there is nothing in this story that resembles spying, intrigue, espionage, etc.  I am not saying this is a bad story (although it is not exactly good, either), but it seems misplaced in this title.  Actually, it would’ve worked better as a creator-owned mini-series as a possible test for an ongoing series.  Granted, some of it would need to be re-written, but I think it would’ve worked.  But as a Checkmate story, this just doesn’t cut it. 

I am not sure if this story led to the cancellation of the title or if the title was cancelled and DC decide to let Jones write this story to finish the current run.  Either way, it is a poor send-off to a title that started off with so much promise.  The first 25 issues, all of them guided by writer Greg Rucka, were absolutely fantastic.  It is a shame that readers didn’t realize it and sales didn’t grow. 

On Page 6, the top panel, “discipline” is spelled incorrectly (as disipline).  On Page 7, the bottom panel, it is not only mis-spelled again, but then spelled correctly within the same text box. 

This is the final issue of the series.  Does it seem right that Chimera and the Global Guardians grace the cover? 

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