CHECKMATE #18Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson
Well, I said I was going to give Checkmate a few more issues to pull up its socks and it delivered in spades with this issue. I almost feel bad for having considered dropping this book before I read the first part of The Fall of the Wall.
There was a lot of stuff happening this issue and not once did I ever feel overwhelmed. The pacing was perfect and the various plotpoints dove tailed into each other quite nicely. I'm actually really excited about Checkmate again for the first time in months. Waller's Suicide Squad started off by picking up a drunk and depressed Scandal. It was a nice touch having Scandal's appearance this issue reflect Knockout's death in the last Birds of Prey issue.
Thinker looks like he might be starting to resent his position as Mr Terrific's glorified walking PDA in this issue and I'm curious as to whether it will be further explored.
I don't get to really say this enough, but I love August General in Irons. I just like saying his name out loud. It just never gets old for some reason. I love his look as well and consider him one of the best new characters in a long time. I'm glad to see him getting more use since 52 in this series and he is the only reason I will be picking up The Great Ten miniseries when it comes out. Glad to see him getting more use in Checkmate and this issue makes it look like he will be playing an even bigger role in the future.
The big development on the Waller black ops side is her arranging the hit on the Black Knight, with the use of Deadshot, during an op with Black Queen. This mirrors the beginning issues of this book when Black Queen lost her original Knight and I wonder if this was Waller sending a message to her. I was a little disappointed with BQ's behaviour though. She knows a sniper shot was fired and sees her friend down, yet continues running towards her like a normal, untrained civilian instead of the leader of one of the world's biggest covert ops organization's field unit.
All these big developments lead to the end of the issue with the Martian Manhunter revealed as a duplicate of the Black King. It was a nice splash page that most already know about, but still a great ending to a great issue. Hopefully they do not feel the need to do a needless crossover with the Outsiders again now that Manhunter is on that team as well.
Things are looking very good for this book and this issue should be a great jumping on point for anyone interested in an excellent mix of action, espionage and politics all grounded in the superhero based DCU. Glad to see this book back on track and can't wait for the next issue.
Verdict - Must Read
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