Checkmate! v1The first appearance of Checkmate as a named organization was in John Byrne’s

Checkmate! v1The first appearance of Checkmate as a named organization was in John Byrne’s Action Comics #598 in 1988, but Paul Kupperberg set the ground work for this title much earlier than that - in 1986, during his run as writer on Marv Wolfman’s Vigilante (sporadically from issue #16 to issue #50). As a matter of fact, most of Checkmate’s main and recurring characters (Harry Stein, Harvey Bullock, Val Vostok, Gary Washington, Black Thorn, Peacemaker) were supporting or recurring characters in the Vigilante series. After Kupperberg’s run on Vigilante ended in 1988, the series ended as well - but Kupperberg was able to transplant most of the characters into one of the two books he was now writing: Checkmate! (1988) and Doom Patrol v2 (1987). You don’t need to have read the Vigilante series to understand what is going on in Checkmate!, but it doesn’t hurt, either.Checkmate coincides with the creation of Task Force X (which occurred as a result of the LEGENDS cross-over) but focuses heavily on the covert/espionage/bureaucratic side of things. It’s basically an intelligence/counter-terrorism agency that deploys human agents (called ‘Knights’) who all wear identical weaponized armor and all seem to be experts in the martial arts. What’s interesting about this series is that you will find nary a superhero/super villain in this entire run, even though there are a few Invasion! cross-over issues (#11 to #13). Oh wait, I lied - Captain Atom and Firestorm make appearances - but they only briefly appear during the Janus Directive story and are mainly included to keep the plot moving along (aka: they don’t really interact with Checkmate). During the Janus Directive, Checkmate battle the only two non-super powered characters of the Suicide Squad - Captain Boomerang and Bronze Tiger.Anyways, as previously mentioned, the 'human element’ of this series is incredibly apparent as most of these stories are told from the perspective of a field agent (usually a Knight). A different Knight is featured in every story arc (a few return as recurring characters later in the series) but for the most part we get a diverse assortment of humans who are dealing with different types of covert missions. Kupperberg keeps the threats pretty down-to-earth, throughout the series Checkmate takes down: international drug smugglers, the mob, gun runners, a counterfit money ring and extortionists (among other types of organized crime). At this point, the storylines are pretty heavy on the 'spy game’ plot lines and light on the action. The only conflict that may seem a little out of their league was the Janus Directive cross-over when they battled Kobra and his earth-destroying satellite, but I can understand John Ostrander and Kupperberg needing to devise a large-scale threat that would require Manhunter, Checkmate, the Suicide Squad, the Force of July, Firestorm AND Captain Atom to team-up and intervene.It’s quite possible that some readers found the story lines too slow moving or confusing and that’s why the Janus Directive kicked things off into high gear for the third year of this publication. After the Janus Directive the series starts moving a mile-a-minute: a new armored antagonist named Bishop is introduced, there is dissidence in the ranks, a few Knights get distinct costumes (making it seem more like a superhero book rather than a covert operations book), there are suddenly more fire fights with opposing armies, a few agents go rogue, asynchronous plot lines are introduced and all seem to converge in the end for one big dramatic resolution. This series had no Comics Code Authority seal and proudly displayed the 'NEW FORMAT’ stamp on it’s cover. The series had a bit of vulgar language and blood, but wasn’t anything worth getting offended over. Checkmate lasted from 1988 to 1991. Paul Kupperberg wrote all 33 issues of this series. Steve Erwin penciled the first 25 issues. Rob Liefeld penciled the cover for Checkmate #3.In my opinion, one of the most interesting things about this series were the underlying commentaries Kupperberg appeared to be making. Maybe I’m reaching here, but it appears that Kupperberg was using this series to spotlight a lot of political issues that were the epitome of the 1980s. For example, there is a storyline involving the American government providing weapons to a rebel faction in Qurac* with the hope that they would provide a diversion so the Americans can perform some sort of covert operation. This is incredibly similar to the Iran-Contra Affair that occurred from 1985 to 1987. (Kupperberg depicts the American forces acknowledging that their Quracian allies were expendable.) During the Invasion! cross-over, several Britains have aligned themselves with the aliens in a plot to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and the Queen (and the rest of the Parliament). Ironically, conditions for the working class in the UK were so bad (thanks to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) during the mid 80s, that a lower class bloke would be a fool not to throw in with some extra-terrestrials trying to overthrow the Parliament. The series ends with Checkmate aligning itself with Russian allies to defeat a common foe - just in time for the Berlin Wall to come down and the threat of the Cold War to have finally subsided. I’m sure there are other fictional plot/real world similarities that I’m missing. The ending of the series may be Kupperberg’s biggest 'tell’ about his opinions on American funded intelligence agencies - but I’m not going to spoil it for you.The character known as Peacemaker plays a large part in the later half of this series. For those of you who don’t know - Peacemaker is actually a Charlton Comics character (first introduced in 1966) who was purchased by DC comics sometime in 1983. Sarge Steel (who also becomes a prominent character in the Checkmate! series after the Janus Directive) was also a Charlton Comics character (debuted in 1964) acquired by DC comics. By the way, Captain Atom was also once a Charlton Comics character.After the Checkmate! series ended, Peacemaker kicked the bucket during the 1992 Eclipso series and Sarge Steel kept recurring as a 'government-type’ character in various DC titles. Black Thorn and Harry Stein more or less disappear into 'comic book limbo’ after the series concludes. Checkmate continues to appear in various government-related affairs or in Batman comics (and plays a big part in Infinite Crisis, I hear). None of the Knights from this series are seen or heard from again in the DCU.When I was younger I really didn’t have the patience to understand this series, and would’ve given it a very slanted review. Now that I’m older and can follow and understand the thick plot lines of this series, I can truly enjoy it for what it is. Probably inspired by the success of Tom Clancy’s cold war 'spy game’ novels**, the first half of this series was a mature-themed spy book that for some reason completely changed direction after the Janus Directive. On a hunch, I’d say the book wasn’t selling so well during the second year and a change of genre was required (as DC comics is wont to do in situations like these). I did enjoy the second half of the series - (did I ever tell you I am a big Peacemaker fan?) - but I saw that the original magic had dissipated and this once unique series had turned into a run-of-the-mill superhero team title. I applaud Kupperberg and Erwin for trying something new.  Every issue credits Checkmate! as a creation of John Byrne, Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin, but I don’t think Byrne had much involvement after initially introducing the organization in Action Comics #598 (1 month before Checkmate! #1 was published). John Byrne, if you are reading this, correct me if I am wrong. ;)*Qurac is the fictional Middle Eastern country DC comics uses when they need a terrorist state but don’t want to offend anyone. 'Qurac’ is most likely an amalgamation of 'Kuwait’ and 'Iraq’. **Tom Clancy’s first book, The Hunt for Red October, was published in 1984 and was very well received. Clancy was renowned for stories involving spy games set during the Cold War. He would go to publish five more books of the same genre within the decade. -- source link
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