Or - “The Chimp’s Got It Figured Out…”

It’s actually quite heartening to see Checkmate hitting double-digits. It’s not precisely the kind of book you normally get from DC, an attempt at a hard-hitting spy-style drama, with the added difficulty of being set within the confines of a world where every thirteenth person gets phenomenal cosmic power with the purchase of a Big Gulp at 7-11. This issue actually takes that proverbial bull by the horns, trying to streamline the Shadowpact (a team consisting of a talking chimpanzee, a interdimensional teleporter, a cloth Golem, an azure demon, a sorceress of great power, and Jim Morrison with a vorpal blade) with the more down-to-earth spycraft and internecine power struggle of government spook agencies… Add a dash of pepper, bake at 450 degrees for six hours, and whaddaya got?

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Or - “Too Much Of A Good Thing?”

Sarge Steel. Detective Chimp. Mister Terrific. Fire. Mademoiselle Marie. Plus two pages of strippers, and huge movie-blockbuster-style firefight and a surprising addition to the regular cast. This book is packed with geekout moments, intrigue, even a way cool cover that pops off the racks and tells you to shaddup and buy it. With all that going for it, there’s really no reason why I haven’t been able to sit down, concentrate, and review this book. So why haven’t I done it before now?

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Or - “Sasha Bordeaux Looks Just Like My Old Boss…”

There are some comic books you read because they amaze you… Astonishing X-Men, Invincible, Agents of Atlas, 52 and others fall in this category for me. Some books you read because you want to be impressed the way you had been before… My 20 year involvement with Hellblazer has been like that, up and down, but I always open a Constantine issue with a sense of “Wow, I hope this is as good as before!” Then, some books you just kind of… read. You’ll notice a cool plot point, or piece of dialogue, but for any number of different reasons (art or writing that doesn’t quite gel, new artist or writer, or simply because it’s a new title and you don’t know what to expect), you almost forget it’s on your hold list until it arrives, and then you get that special holiday feeling: unwrapping a gift with no idea what to expect. So, did I get socks, or did I get Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas this month?

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Or “If They’re The Suicide Squad, How Come There’s So Many Of ‘Em Left?”

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “realism” in superhero comics. Books like Ultimate Spider-Man have been able to look at characters and events in a more adult fashion, while maintaining the best of what Stan & Steve established for the character. Some books have been wildly successful with a more realistic bent (Astro City, for one), while others have actually created MORE ridiculous premises by taking “realism” to it’s extreme (Mark Millar’s brilliant “Wanted,” for example, does grim and gritty so well that it passes back around the other end of the scale to parody, though I have to believe this is intentional.) “Checkmate” mixes real-world politics and spy-game cliches with big swatches of superheroes and their various baggage. How well does it work? (more…)