Customer Reviews

Checkmate Vol. 2: Pawn Breaks (DC Comics)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I reviewed Checkmate: A King's Game not too long ago, and I was pretty positive about it. There's a reason for that, and there's a reason the review for this book will be equally, if not more positive. That reason? Checkmate continues to be a great book.

Volume 2, Pawn Breaks, deals with a couple different things left over from A King's Game - the mystery of Waller's hold on Fire and what Corvalho means, as well as the personal and professional ramifications of Mister Terrific's rise to White King, as his relationship with Sasha begins to deteriorate even while he has to find a good new Bishop.

It also lets you get a little deeper into the minds and hearts of the agents, while introducing new problems and setting up future conflicts. While some get pushed to the side-lines, Shen and King Farraday in particular, characters like Taleb Benni Khalid, Fire, and Thomas Jagger get notably more screen time, and Khalid and Jagger particularly get their personalities deepened ten-fold. The backstabbing is brilliant fun, and sets up what looks to be some excellent plots between the Royals.

That's the thing about Checkmate. There will be fights and, unlike many comics, there will even be deaths, both among and at the hands of the main cast. But the real heart of the book, what should keep you coming back for more, is the characters. Yes, "Corvalho", one of the two arcs featured in this trade, has a brawl with Bane...but, what it's about is two characters, dealing with the problems they've inherited from their parents. Yes, "Pawn 502" deals with an attempted infiltration of the ranks of a secret organization...but, the story is about coming to grips with the sacrifices people have to make for the job.

Checkmate isn't perfect, but in a medium that is more and more becoming filled with fun-but-simple beat 'em ups or grim-'n-gritty...well, beat 'em ups, Checkmate is a breath of fresh air. It's a well written book with good art, but more than that, Checkmate is a fun, gripping book that's got a heart.

One of the best new titles to come out of DC since the events of Infinite Crisis, Greg Rucka's Checkmate continues to impress with Pawn Breaks, the second TPB of the series. Amanda Waller, always seeming to be one step ahead in the game, has big plans in store, and the way that writer Greg Rucka weaves everything together is simply fantastic. Between Pawn 502's mission, the Suicide Squad, Bane, JSA member Mister Teriffic's rise in the organization, and a clash between Checkmate and a rival organization; Checkmate never fails to be boring in the least. The wonderfully stunning artwork from Jesus Saiz only makes Checkmate all the better, but it's Rucka's shifty storytelling that makes Checkmate one of the best DC titles you'll pick up today. All in all, if you enjoyed the first volume of Checkmate, picking up Pawn Breaks is a no-brainer, but if you've been missing out, what's wrong with you? Go check out Checkmate, you'll be glad you did.

Vol.2 of Checkmate has two really compelling stories, which are crucial to the series and very enjoyable to read. If you want a hard hitting black-ops story, this is definitely for you!

Name: Checkmate Vol. 2: Pawn Breaks

Publisher: DC

Writers: Greg Rucka

Artists: Jesus Saiz, Cliff Richards (pencils), Jesus Saiz, Bob Wiacek, Steve Bird, Dan Green, Fernando Blanco (inks), Tanya & Richard Horie, Santiago Arcas (colors)

Collects: Checkmate #8-12

Price: $14.99

The first thing I have to say about this book is a compliment. This second volume does a much, much better job of trying to make itself accessible to new readers. The main way it does this is through the use of a two-page introduction/summary that explains what the history of Checkmate is and how the previous incarnation of it became corrupted and ultimately fell apart. For new readers like me, this was much appreciated, so my thanks to the editor for including this.

The story in this volume - which includes a sort of team-up with the new Shadowpact team - primarily involves the Checkmate team's efforts to infiltrate the terrorist group Kobra. Because I don't know or care much about Kobra, and because I haven't had much time to learn about or care about the characters on the Checkmate team, this plot didn't hold much interest for me. The team-up with Shadowpact didn't help much, either, as I really despise magical characters, in general. So, there wasn't much to like about this book, unfortunately. The other plot of the story dealt with Amanda Waller's own personal machinations to secure her own power and pursue her own agenda. That portion was better, for me, though because it comprised a smaller portion of the book, I left feeling a bit disappointed. I liked seeing Bronze Tiger in action, and it was nice to see what has become of Rick Flagg, too. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of these two in future issues.

Art on the book was at the same quality as it was on the first volume, which is to say adequate. Nothing really stood out as overly impressive, but nothing disappointed, either.

I haven't made up my mind on this book yet. So far, I'm not being pulled into it, but I'm willing to give it one more try. Maybe Rucka can hook me, yet. At this stage, it's going to take some work to do so, because I expect a lot out of a first year's run of a monthly book, and Rucka has failed to deliver enough to grant further interest.

Writing: 6/10

Artwork: 7/10

Cool Factor: 5/10

Overall: 6/10