Page 1 of 6 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 82
  1. #1
    Astonishing Member batnbreakfast's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Zamunda
    Posts
    4,851

    Default Checkmate! Appreciated and discussed

    Recently added those two to my collection:

    Suicide Squad Vol. 04 The Janus Directive
    Checkmate by Greg Rucka 01

    It's a good time to be a fan of Checkmate (what's Spyral or SHIELD??)

    We could currently use a title like that. Could someone explain why Harvey Bullock was part of Checkmate once?
    Last edited by batnbreakfast; 02-01-2017 at 06:31 AM.

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    12,302

    Default

    I would love to see a new Checkmate series with Spyral as their Spectre.

    DC has a few really good writers with great espionage writing skills: Greg Rucka (Queen & Country, Checkmate), Tom King (Grayson, Omega Men), Matt Kindt (Super Spy).

    Make it a spiritual successor to Ostrander's Suicide Squad and it'll be amazing.
    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

  3. #3
    Spectacular Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Posts
    129

    Default

    Add me to the list of people that would really like Checkmate to make a comeback. I would add Tim Seeley to the list of writers. I remember loving what Rucka did with Checkmate after Infinite Crisis. The characters used to keep a meta/non-meta balance were always a treat.

  4. #4
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    4,337

    Default

    I suppose I'm asking guys who are biased in its favour, but was Greg Rucka's run on Checkmate a good read?

    (Thinking about getting it from comixology, like Greg Rucka's writing usually.)

  5. #5
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    2,549

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    I suppose I'm asking guys who are biased in its favour, but was Greg Rucka's run on Checkmate a good read?

    (Thinking about getting it from comixology, like Greg Rucka's writing usually.)
    I liked it a lot better than his Wonder Woman stories. The supers were usually B-listers, but used very intelligently. Outside of a retcon or two (I actually LIKED having Fire with a dirtybackground), it was generally well received.

  6. #6
    Astonishing Member Stanlos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    4,149

    Default

    CHECKMATE by Rucka was RIDICULOUSLY good! The merger of Rucka's writing and those earlier artists plus the cast of characters was sooooooooooo rich and compelling. I would buy that in a heartbeat!

  7. #7
    I am a diamond, Ms. Pryde millernumber1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    12,793

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    I suppose I'm asking guys who are biased in its favour, but was Greg Rucka's run on Checkmate a good read?

    (Thinking about getting it from comixology, like Greg Rucka's writing usually.)
    Want to add my own recommendation. The art was a bit inconsistent (as with any series with Saiz), and Rucka left/was forced out before he finished all his plotlines, but it's an incredibly well done, very well drawn series. The first reprint is absolutely worth getting.

    Also, if anyone is rereading the series with the new reprints, I'd love to discuss it! Sasha Bordeaux was one of my first favorite characters in comics, and I was really bummed to see what happened to her in the current run of Wonder Woman (though there may be more of her to come, hopefully).
    "We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
    "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
    "There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
    Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    4,337

    Default

    Cheers, guys. Thanks for your views.

    Will get the Rucka run next time I run out of things to read.

  9. #9
    All-New Member Scott Mateo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    13

    Default

    My main character on DC Universe Online is a Checkmate Knight:



    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member Factor's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    6,643

    Default

    I'd be all over a new Checkmate book in the molds of Rucka's run.
    I'd want them to be sponsored by the UN and to have a kind of antagonist relationship with Amanda Waller. It would be cool to see who'd oppose her as the White Queen and who else would comprise of the new leadership.

  11. #11
    I am a diamond, Ms. Pryde millernumber1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    12,793

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Factor View Post
    I'd be all over a new Checkmate book in the molds of Rucka's run.
    I'd want them to be sponsored by the UN and to have a kind of antagonist relationship with Amanda Waller. It would be cool to see who'd oppose her as the White Queen and who else would comprise of the new leadership.
    That would be interesting, depending on who writes it. Hopefully not the guy who finished up the Checkmate series. Or Tony Bedard. After the fun that was Grayson, I could see Tim Seeley or Tom King doing it - but that leads me to think about the potential follow ups to Checkmate, and whether Grayson can be considered one or not.
    "We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
    "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
    "There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
    Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord

  12. #12
    I am a diamond, Ms. Pryde millernumber1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    12,793

    Default

    Holy cats, just finished reading it (I'd only read up to Fall of the Wall before, and I don't know if I finished it, back when the series was still coming out), and while La Vie En Sang was pretty solid (with interesting pre-Black Widow spy girl stuff from Chris Samnee), and Joe Bennett closes out the story nicely with Castling, those Bruce Jones issues were beyond terrible. Chimera is so incredibly cliched, and the connections to the previous issues were, well, to say they are tenuous is to be generous to the word tenuous.

    I hope that DC just ignores them completely and collects up to 25. Since the first volume was 1-12, I'm betting that's the case. Though that does leave the question of CheckOut open - will they just collect the Checkmate issues, leave those out entirely, or collect the three Outsiders issues along with it (since the CheckOut crossover is probably the weakest part of Rucka's sections, I would not be too sad if they left it out, but the handling of The Hunt for Oracle in the Birds of Prey reprints seems to indicate they might include the whole crossover).
    "We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
    "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
    "There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
    Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord

  13. #13
    I am a diamond, Ms. Pryde millernumber1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    12,793

    Default

    We do indeed have up through #25, ignoring the terribleness that follows! http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-nove...eg-rucka-vol-2
    "We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
    "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
    "There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
    Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord

  14. #14
    Fantastic Member Kaled's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    378

    Default

    Originally Posted by JBatnBreakfast: "Could someone explain why Harvey Bullock as part of Checkmate once? ".
    Some of the details (the whys' and wherefores') are a bit sketchy but back in the '80's Checkmate was one of two spin-offs/outs of Vigilante. In the series Valentina Vostok (Doom Patrol's Negative Woman) was running black ops agency and used both the Vigilante and Peace Maker as her operatives. She also used Harry Stein as an operative and he recuited Bullock to the program. When the program was shut down Vostok went back to the Doom Patrol (it was being relaunched around the same time by the same guy writing Vigilante at the time, Paul Kupperberg) and Stein was given the same role as Amanda Waller but for Checkmate. At the time no one knew it was the other half of Task Force X. The first indication of what role Bullock was to play as one of the leads of Checkmate was shown in Action Comics #598 which was the first official appearance of Checkmate. He remain a player in checkmate during the first series run and when it ended he returned to the Batman family....but his time with Checkmate has never been touched upon in any of the Batman titles. So if his time with Checkmate has remained in effect or has been quietly removed has not been said.

  15. #15
    long time member Herowatcher's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    2,625

    Default

    Since I'd rather have the Goble Guardians back and sponsored by the UN,
    I'd make Checkmate more like the 1st series and similar to Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.


    "History of the DC Universe" by Wolfman and Perez, when the DCU use to make sense.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •