Checkmate #3

Checkmate #3

DC Comics 2021

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Illustrated by Alex Maleev

Coloured by Dave Stewart

Lettered by Josh Reed

All-new story! As the super-spies try to keep Leviathan from getting its hands on the Heroes Network, Lois Lane does her best to get to the bottom of the new truths in front of her. Meanwhile, her husband-the Man of Steel-has had just about enough of Leviathan. That’s right, finally! The man behind the rise of Leviathan, Mark Shaw, and Superman clash! Plus: Who is Mr. King really? Guest-starring Robin and Talia al Ghul! And Superman.

It is bugging me that Shaw keeps referring to Markovia as his because while I may have been out of the main loop for a while as far as I know Brion Markov’s family still rules it so I need an in depth explanation as to why Shaw thinks this is his country now. I mean Geo-Force wouldn’t let a man like Shaw have control of his country. Now that that’s off my chest what a fantastic series this is! Leviathan isn’t long for the world unless that facial covering Shaw wears is what keeps this personality in control and if that’s the case then the world needs its covert operations teams like Checkmate and the missing Green Flame.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is being presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. This brings out the personalities to the forefront exceptionally well. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story it raises more questions that we want answered.

How this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificent to see. One of the aspects within the layers that we see is that Shaw wants an audience, he craves others to know what he’s doing or else he wouldn’t have orchestrated Checkmate’s return. How this and the other aspects bring such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story is utterly amazing. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

Alex is a hugely underrated artist in the industry today. The linework we see is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work throughout the book is sensational. I do wish we’d see more backgrounds being utilised but what we do see expands and enhances the moments. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and colour work show a great understanding of how colour should work and how to maximise its effects.

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This is a diverse cast of characters and each one adds something to the group as a whole that is needed to figure out what Shaw is up to and how to stop him. Sometimes we forget that a few of these characters are so much more than what we think of them as being, and as Lois and Steve are seen as supporting characters they have skills that many don’t readily think about. We also see another character in these pages for the first time and I cannot wait to see his presence expanded upon. This has all the excitement, intrigue and electricity that a well written counterintelligence novel would have. With some phenomenal writing and stellar characterisation wrapped up in these perfectly suited interiors this is what has been missing from DC’s repertoire for a while now.