I want to like this book. I like the writer. I like the artist. I like the concept. But it really failed me. Checkmate is a revival/revamp of the 1980s series that was spun out of the Infinite Crisis series. Checkmate has been reestablished and restaffed. There's the white side (with it's King, Queen, Knight, Bishop, etc) and the black side. What should be a great espionage book is actually a slightly dull administrative procedure book. They spend way too much time talking about procedures and votes and all that bullshit and too little time on the action.
Another issue I have with the book is it's incredibly large cast. And not only it's large cast, but the fact that everyone has multiple identities. They have their real names, they have their Checkmate designations and in some cases, they have their superhero names.
By the end of this first trade, I felt like Greg Rucka was finally getting his groove. He wasn't trying to squeeze everyone into each issue and that helped matters. There was a little more action outside of the headquarters and I liked that. But overall, I was bored reading this.
Checkmate By Greg Rucka Vol 1
Writer: Greg Rucka, Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir
Artist: Jesus Saiz, Cliff Richards, Steve Scott
DC Comics
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