How is Checkmate?

[yenaled]

Maybe he just REALLY likes Pirates.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Like yen said, the circumstances of its removal will be the deciding factor in whether I like it or not, but my gut reaction at the moment is that it's a general weakening of the character. The only reason for him to be missing an eye that I can think of right now is his willing the eye away. The only reason for willing the eye away would be that he lost it in a way that would take a mere mortal's eye and he'll spout more of that lame "Oh noes, I'm not really made of badass magical energy, I'm as human as the resta youze, see?" Not cool, Scottster. Not cool.

 

[drastic_quench]

It's a small little eye patch too. Looks more like half a pair of tanning goggles than an eye patch.

 

[Harlekin]

Okay, to get back to another point. How was Vertigo written? Did he even appear?

 

[yenaled]

No he didn't, his picture appeared but the White King and Queens Knights didn't appear in the comic.

Also, Greg Rucka on ComicBloc said to me that he agreed that the dress uniforms were rather facist looking and that they are working on changing them.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sweet, he must be psychic and attuned to my brainwaves in addition to being a badass writer.

If anything, I'd like them to just go back to the pre-OYL Checkmate look. Max Lord's simple t-shirt with an emblem worked fine for me. Or, even better, Alan could wear a white suit with a green tie and a white pin with the king emblem. All the higher ranks would get pins with their symbols on normal clothing that matches their color, then switch to t-shirts with their emblems under their gear for field ops.

 

[yenaled]

I really liked Max Lords outfits too, a little bit Star Trek looking without being so cheesy.

Actually, I think I'm the only person who is actuallly upset that Mex Lord was killed. I though he made a really badass villain and I wish he had been around longer than three issues in that role.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I was glad to see him go. The best thing to do after changing a beloved relic of a bygone age into a merciless bastard of a villain is to kill him off and minimize the damage. Hit 'em with that revelation and then take him off the board. I wouldn't have liked to see Max Lord hang around as a bad guy, getting in the remaining JLI'ers faces like, "Look at me, I ran your organization for years and none of you suspected a damn thing! Dumb bastards!" I also don't want to see Alex Luthor or Superboy Prime hang around as villains after the Crisis, either.

Well, maybe Alex, since he's so damn good at it.

 

[yenaled]

Well that's true and it ended up telling a better story too.

 

[Harlekin]

Exactly, I'm glad Lord is gone now, too. Too bad Vertigo didn't really appear. He's the number one reason I'm interested in this book.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He'll show up eventually, I'm sure. I wonder how they got him to cooperate and whether they've gotta do anything to keep him in line.

 

[sinewave]

I'm interested to see who replaces the Black Queen's Knight.

me too! i can't wait to see who the next black knight is. i don't even know who half of the other players are. can anyone explain to me who some of the civvies are in both hierarchies?

 

[Green Lantern]

I was pretty surprised with the severity of the casualties in this issue, myself. I can understand it, given the characters involved (though Mr. Terrific being okay with it did seem surprising to me), but still. I liked that Alan was at least trying to exercise some control on the casualties. One of the field agents said something to the effect of "the White King said keep the casualties down." I'm not digging the uniforms, though. Checkmate's a government agency, not a superhero team--their officials should be wearing business attire like every other government official outside of the military, not weird, neo-fascist uniforms. Small gripe, though.

Overall, I loved the first issue. I like the political drama and I like the whole balance dynamic. I'm looking forward to finding out what all the other positions are for and who currently fills them, and I'm interested to see who replaces the Black Queen's Knight.

I'm crossin my fingers for Roy to take BQ's Knight still

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I hope he does, too.

me too! i can't wait to see who the next black knight is. i don't even know who half of the other players are. can anyone explain to me who some of the civvies are in both hierarchies?

Sasha Bordeaux, the current Black Queen, was Bruce Wayne's bodyguard, then she found out Bruce's secret and became Batman's partner. They fell in love, but then Bruce was accused of murder and he closed in on himself, so Sasha left. Turns out she ended up at Checkmate. She was Max Lord's Knight while he was still Black King, and Brother Eye altered her into something like a more sophisticated OMAC meant to house its own consciousness if anything ever happened to it. Now that Brother Eye and Max Lord are out of the picture and Checkmate's been restructured, she's Black Queen.

Sasha's Bishop Jessica Midnight used to be the Black Queen's Knight under the old Checkmate setup. She initially opposed Sasha when Sasha started going rogue under Max Lord, but after the horror of what Max was really doing with Brother Eye was exposed, Jessica helped Sasha take them down.

Amanda Waller was involved with the US government's metahuman-related projects for a long time. I think she was one of the original heads of Task Force X, but I'm not sure. Either way, she's reputed as a tough, no-nonsense leader who gets results. After Max Lord was killed and Brother Eye was destroyed, the President personally chose Amanda Waller to replace Lord as acting Black King and clean up the mess. After the restructuring of Checkmate, she got the more gender-appropriate rank of White Queen.

I know King Faraday is an established character, but I'd only heard of him once or twice before his appearance on the Justice League cartoon, so I don't really know anything about him. I don't know anything about the new Black King or White King's Knight at all.

 

[drastic_quench]

me too! i can't wait to see who the next black knight is. i don't even know who half of the other players are. can anyone explain to me who some of the civvies are in both hierarchies?

Spoiler

Roy Harper

Proof: http://superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229286

 

[sinewave]

Spoiler

Roy Harper

Proof: http://superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229286

Spoiler

huntress: reluctant queen

 

[yenaled]

King Farady first appeard in the 50s, he's a spy and used to be the main spy of the C.B.I (Central Bureau of Investigation) - a now defunct arm of the US government. He really never got along with Metas or any costumed heroes really, except Batman and he helped train Nightshade.

Amander Waller was in charge of the Task Force X (including the Suicide Squad and Argent 1). And yeah, she's not someone you want to mess with.

Jonah McCarthy was actually an established character in the Wonder Woman books, but I never realyl knew him... and he only lasted one issue of this book anyway.

Both the Black King (Col. Taleb Beni Khalid) and his Bishop (Shen Li Po) seem to be new characters.

Spoiler

huntress: reluctant queen

Spoiler

Roy Harper

Proof: http://superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229286

I have a feeling both of those take place in 52. Remember Checkmate has gone from a US sanctioned company with Amanada Waller as the Black Queen to a UN company with Amanada Waller as the White Queen - suggesting over 52 a lot of things happned to the company.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Amanda Waller was the Black King, actually. She took over Max Lord's position.

 

[Lackey]

Sasha Bordeaux, the current Black Queen, was Bruce Wayne's bodyguard, then she found out Bruce's secret and became Batman's partner. They fell in love, but then Bruce was accused of murder and he closed in on himself, so Sasha left. Turns out she ended up at Checkmate. She was Max Lord's Knight while he was still Black King, and Brother Eye altered her into something like a more sophisticated OMAC meant to house its own consciousness if anything ever happened to it. Now that Brother Eye and Max Lord are out of the picture and Checkmate's been restructured, she's Black Queen.

To flesh out that summary a little more...

Sasha was arrested at the same time Bruce was as an accomplice to his crime. All she had to do was out Bruce Wayne and she'd have her freedom, but she never did... even when he escaped from prison and left her to rot there. He never came to her rescue and she eventually got into a fight with some of the other prisoners and was killed. Batman, was, of course shocked and filled with guilt, but after a while he began to suspect that her death was staged... he eventually found out that her death was faked by Checkmate to bring her into that organization. Batman eventually tracked her down, confessed his love for her, and asked her to rejoin him... she refused.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Damn it, I knew I was forgetting something important from Murderer/Fugitive. I kept trying to think of how they ended up parting ways but I couldn't remember any details.

 

[Harlekin]

He'll show up eventually, I'm sure. I wonder how they got him to cooperate and whether they've gotta do anything to keep him in line.

Well, Vertigo does have a thing with working for the government considering his past affiliation with them. Heck, they could be manipulating the whole manic-depressive thing, or they could just promise him something to do with Vlatava. Considering the country was pretty much completely annihilated, I'd wager Vertigo would take a chance to return his nation to glory. A UN-sanctioned Checkmate might help in that.

 

[sinewave]

To flesh out that summary a little more...

Sasha was arrested at the same time Bruce was as an accomplice to his crime. All she had to do was out Bruce Wayne and she'd have her freedom, but she never did... even when he escaped from prison and left her to rot there. He never came to her rescue and she eventually got into a fight with some of the other prisoners and was killed. Batman, was, of course shocked and filled with guilt, but after a while he began to suspect that her death was staged... he eventually found out that her death was faked by Checkmate to bring her into that organization. Batman eventually tracked her down, confessed his love for her, and asked her to rejoin him... she refused.

i love your avatar. i really dug her on mr. show.

 

[Green Lantern]

Spoiler

Roy Harper

Proof: http://superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229286

I saw that earlier... and GODDAMN YOU RUCKA. Leading me on by saying you have no plans for Roy, but know where hed work... YOU BASTARD

 

[Lackey]

i love your avatar. i really dug her on mr. show.

I actually just bought the 4 seasons of Mr. Show a week ago, great stuff

I had forgotten how many good comedians made appearances here and there

 

[Assassin]

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