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Checkmate #2.5-3
Checkmate by Greg Rucka: Book 2
Checkmate is on the hunt for the Outsiders! But something is afoul on Oolong Island. Then, Amanda Waller’s unauthorized Black Ops game is exposed! What does it mean for the future of Checkmate and of Amanda Waller? Also featuring Mademoiselle Marie and Kobra! Collects CHECKMATE #13-25 and OUTSIDERS #47-49!
392 pages, Paperback
Published January 30, 2018
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71 people want to read
About the author
Greg Rucka
1,493 books1,924 followersGreg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 16, 2018
Checkmate deputizes the Outsiders to sneak into Oolong Island where the mad scientists who started World War III are. Things go horribly wrong. Lots of fighting with creepy monster / machine hybrids. Chang Tzu (I am the evil Egg Man.) experiments on some of our heroes Mengele style before everyone eventually escapes. There's a huge cast to follow between the 2 teams but Rucka and Winick juggle it well.
Finally, things come to a head with Waller and her operating the Suicide Squad in secret. Lots of intrigue here as Waller goes up against the other 3 heads of Checkmate for the leadership of checkmate. Also included is some early Chris Sammee artwork on a two-parter about the history of Mademoiselle Marie and an old Superman villain taking over as Castilian for Checkmate.
Also included is Checkmate #23-25 which haven't appeared in the previous Checkmate collections. It's a followup to the last story featuring Kobra. The Checkmate agent who went in to Kobra undercover contacts Checkmate requesting extraction and that Kobra is planning a worldwide attack with millions of sleeper agents. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat at the end for me. This brings us to the end of Greg Rucka's run even though there is another volume of stories written by Bruce Jones
Finally, things come to a head with Waller and her operating the Suicide Squad in secret. Lots of intrigue here as Waller goes up against the other 3 heads of Checkmate for the leadership of checkmate. Also included is some early Chris Sammee artwork on a two-parter about the history of Mademoiselle Marie and an old Superman villain taking over as Castilian for Checkmate.
Also included is Checkmate #23-25 which haven't appeared in the previous Checkmate collections. It's a followup to the last story featuring Kobra. The Checkmate agent who went in to Kobra undercover contacts Checkmate requesting extraction and that Kobra is planning a worldwide attack with millions of sleeper agents. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat at the end for me. This brings us to the end of Greg Rucka's run even though there is another volume of stories written by Bruce Jones
March 6, 2018
The second half of Greg Rucka's Checkmate run is collected here, as well as the relevant issues of The Outsiders for the Checkout crossover.
Speaking of which, that's what we launch with. Checkout is six issues, three each of Checkmate and The Outsiders. Checkmate needs to infiltrate North Korea, but they can't because that's not sanctioned by the UN. Instead, they...kidnap the Outsiders and make them do it? But then go in with them? I'll be honest, the logistics of this one didn't really make any sense. It's also a bit too long, because most of it involves the characters running to and then from and then back to a place.
I'll be fair, it is very accessible. I had no idea what the current Outsiders status quo was at the time, but it was easy enough to jump into the characters. That said, it's not really a character piece for anyone in particular, except maybe Captain Boomerang Jr at a push. It's mindless fun, but not really what I'd expected from Checkmate at this point.
The effects of the crossover are more poignantly felt in the next issue, Past Perfect, which re-examines Sasha Bordeaux and Mr Terrific's relationship. It's clear Rucka likes Bordeaux as a character, because she's front and centre in most of Checkmate's stories. There are also some scenes for Fire, who's still dealing with the events from volume 1, so it's nice to see that that hasn't just been forgotten.
Firewall is the next one-shot, which looks at why the Checkmate castle isn't just constantly under threat. This is a nice little diversion, but not that important in the grand scheme of the book.
Then we hit the good stuff. The Fall Of The Wall three-parter was always going to be good with a name like that, and it's prime Amanda Waller doing what she does best. However, with the other minds of Checkmate working against her, things don't always go as planned. This is also a tie-in to Salvation Run, so some context would have been nice if you weren't aware of what that event was about, but still. It's always fun to see The Wall knocked down a few pegs.
Next up is La Vie En Sang, a two part story about Josephine that gives us some flashbacks to her training and the previous Mademoiselle Marie characters, while in the present Jo tries to rescue an old flame's daughter from terrorists. This feels the most straight forward story of the bunch; no superheroes, just spy action. Good stuff.
And we round up the volume with the three part Castling story. This one brings back some plot points from the Kobra battles from the first volume that this one kind of forgot about until right this minute. It's a fun story, especially with the inclusion of a lot of characters you wouldn't expect to see in a book like this. It does however rely on a few cliffhangers that don't pack quite the punch you'd expect, and a fairly flat ending - the book isn't ending at this point (although I doubt the rest will be collected), but Greg Rucka is leaving, so it feels like an ending that doesn't...end?
The art's kind of middle of the road. Checkout is shared by Matthew Clark and Joe Bennett, while Bennett continues into Past Perfect, The Fall Of The Wall, and Castling. Bennett's solid, but he's not one of those styles that you could easily pick out from the crowd. Very generic 2000s superhero-esque. Not that that's a bad thing, but still. It almost feels a bit of a waste to put him on a book that is almost always just characters talking in the Checkmate castle.
Chris Samnee, in what must be one his earliest mainstream works, pops up for the Firewall issue, and La Vie En Sang two-parter, but his style has evolved a hell of a lot from this period since you wouldn't think it was him at all aside from the way he renders faces.
Checkmate ends with something between a bang and a whimper; great ideas that are usually well executed, except for the final ending of the book and an overly long Outsiders crossover.
Speaking of which, that's what we launch with. Checkout is six issues, three each of Checkmate and The Outsiders. Checkmate needs to infiltrate North Korea, but they can't because that's not sanctioned by the UN. Instead, they...kidnap the Outsiders and make them do it? But then go in with them? I'll be honest, the logistics of this one didn't really make any sense. It's also a bit too long, because most of it involves the characters running to and then from and then back to a place.
I'll be fair, it is very accessible. I had no idea what the current Outsiders status quo was at the time, but it was easy enough to jump into the characters. That said, it's not really a character piece for anyone in particular, except maybe Captain Boomerang Jr at a push. It's mindless fun, but not really what I'd expected from Checkmate at this point.
The effects of the crossover are more poignantly felt in the next issue, Past Perfect, which re-examines Sasha Bordeaux and Mr Terrific's relationship. It's clear Rucka likes Bordeaux as a character, because she's front and centre in most of Checkmate's stories. There are also some scenes for Fire, who's still dealing with the events from volume 1, so it's nice to see that that hasn't just been forgotten.
Firewall is the next one-shot, which looks at why the Checkmate castle isn't just constantly under threat. This is a nice little diversion, but not that important in the grand scheme of the book.
Then we hit the good stuff. The Fall Of The Wall three-parter was always going to be good with a name like that, and it's prime Amanda Waller doing what she does best. However, with the other minds of Checkmate working against her, things don't always go as planned. This is also a tie-in to Salvation Run, so some context would have been nice if you weren't aware of what that event was about, but still. It's always fun to see The Wall knocked down a few pegs.
Next up is La Vie En Sang, a two part story about Josephine that gives us some flashbacks to her training and the previous Mademoiselle Marie characters, while in the present Jo tries to rescue an old flame's daughter from terrorists. This feels the most straight forward story of the bunch; no superheroes, just spy action. Good stuff.
And we round up the volume with the three part Castling story. This one brings back some plot points from the Kobra battles from the first volume that this one kind of forgot about until right this minute. It's a fun story, especially with the inclusion of a lot of characters you wouldn't expect to see in a book like this. It does however rely on a few cliffhangers that don't pack quite the punch you'd expect, and a fairly flat ending - the book isn't ending at this point (although I doubt the rest will be collected), but Greg Rucka is leaving, so it feels like an ending that doesn't...end?
The art's kind of middle of the road. Checkout is shared by Matthew Clark and Joe Bennett, while Bennett continues into Past Perfect, The Fall Of The Wall, and Castling. Bennett's solid, but he's not one of those styles that you could easily pick out from the crowd. Very generic 2000s superhero-esque. Not that that's a bad thing, but still. It almost feels a bit of a waste to put him on a book that is almost always just characters talking in the Checkmate castle.
Chris Samnee, in what must be one his earliest mainstream works, pops up for the Firewall issue, and La Vie En Sang two-parter, but his style has evolved a hell of a lot from this period since you wouldn't think it was him at all aside from the way he renders faces.
Checkmate ends with something between a bang and a whimper; great ideas that are usually well executed, except for the final ending of the book and an overly long Outsiders crossover.
January 3, 2020
La segunda parte del Jaque Mate de Greg Rucka continúa con los mismos argumentos que el guionista ya había mostrado en los primeros doce números: misiones especiales, giros políticos, traiciones.... Aunque esta vez sea sin los lápices de Jesús Sáiz, que sería sustituido por Chris Samnee (con menos éxito, todo sea dicho).
En los arcos que completaron la colección hasta su repentino cierre, Rucka supo mantener ese aire un tanto paranóico que había marcado los primeros arcos, sin saber muy bien si lo que ocurre es bueno o malo y quién lo está orquestando. El primer arco que Rucka afrontó sería Jaque Intruso, con la colaboración de Judd Winnick, y que se trataría de un arco cruzado con los Outsiders. Jaque Mate reclutaría a estos de forma forzosa para intervenir en la Isla de Oolong, lo que supone un escenario complejo, ya que Oolong pertenece a China pero Corea del Norte también tiene pretensiones sobre ella... y es la sede del grupo de científicos locos reunido por Chang Tzu durante 52. Esta tensión política y el hecho de que uno de los Outsiders es el nuevo Capitán Boomerang y conoce parte de las acciones de Amanda Waller con el Escuadrón Suicida, hace que la misión de una serie de peligrosos giros que están a punto de acabar con unos y otros, y que finalmente sitúa a la Reina Blanca, Amanda Waller, en un punto de no retorno con respecto al resto de los reyes de la organización.
Así que el siguiente arco, La Caída del Muro, se centra en ese conflicto (además de presentarnos a un nuevo personaje, o más bien, el reciclaje de uno viejo, el antiguo villano Trampa Mortal convertido en jefe de seguridad de Jaque Mate haciéndose llamar "El Castellero"). Mientras Waller trata de reunir información que la permita destituir a los otros tres reyes, estos reaccionan de la misma manera, intentando no poner el mundo en peligro en el proceso, en una saga que acaba con una completa restructuración de la agencia... lo que demuestra que la serie fue cancelada bruscamente, ya que Rucka presenta en el siguiente arco toda una alineación nueva cuya duración sería fugaz. Después de una corta historia centrada en Mademoiselle Marie, el Caballo de la Reina Negra, con la recuperación de la hija de unos cooperantes franceses en Bialya, Rucka abordó en su último arco el fin del conflicto entre Jaque Mate y Kobra, acudiendo al Peón 502 para crear una historia tan rápida que resulta mareante, y en la que además de Jaque Mate, intervienen la Liga y la Sociedad de la Justicia, además de una presentación breve de las Torres, algo que ya se había insinuado anteriormente pero que en última instancia, resulta mucho menos espectacular de lo que parecía.
Es sobre todo este último arco lo que hace que la nota baje notablemente (le hubiera puesto un cinco si hubiera seguido el tono del tomo anterior), no sólo por el tambaleante cierre, si no por la chapuza que Planeta hizo con su publicación en España. Por algún error de imprenta, las páginas se imprimieron desordenadas, así que si la historia ya es de por sí rápida, es imposible disfrutarla correctamente, lo que ya en su momento me dejó un sabor de boca raro para una colección que, sin duda, se había convertido en una de mis favoritas.
En los arcos que completaron la colección hasta su repentino cierre, Rucka supo mantener ese aire un tanto paranóico que había marcado los primeros arcos, sin saber muy bien si lo que ocurre es bueno o malo y quién lo está orquestando. El primer arco que Rucka afrontó sería Jaque Intruso, con la colaboración de Judd Winnick, y que se trataría de un arco cruzado con los Outsiders. Jaque Mate reclutaría a estos de forma forzosa para intervenir en la Isla de Oolong, lo que supone un escenario complejo, ya que Oolong pertenece a China pero Corea del Norte también tiene pretensiones sobre ella... y es la sede del grupo de científicos locos reunido por Chang Tzu durante 52. Esta tensión política y el hecho de que uno de los Outsiders es el nuevo Capitán Boomerang y conoce parte de las acciones de Amanda Waller con el Escuadrón Suicida, hace que la misión de una serie de peligrosos giros que están a punto de acabar con unos y otros, y que finalmente sitúa a la Reina Blanca, Amanda Waller, en un punto de no retorno con respecto al resto de los reyes de la organización.
Así que el siguiente arco, La Caída del Muro, se centra en ese conflicto (además de presentarnos a un nuevo personaje, o más bien, el reciclaje de uno viejo, el antiguo villano Trampa Mortal convertido en jefe de seguridad de Jaque Mate haciéndose llamar "El Castellero"). Mientras Waller trata de reunir información que la permita destituir a los otros tres reyes, estos reaccionan de la misma manera, intentando no poner el mundo en peligro en el proceso, en una saga que acaba con una completa restructuración de la agencia... lo que demuestra que la serie fue cancelada bruscamente, ya que Rucka presenta en el siguiente arco toda una alineación nueva cuya duración sería fugaz. Después de una corta historia centrada en Mademoiselle Marie, el Caballo de la Reina Negra, con la recuperación de la hija de unos cooperantes franceses en Bialya, Rucka abordó en su último arco el fin del conflicto entre Jaque Mate y Kobra, acudiendo al Peón 502 para crear una historia tan rápida que resulta mareante, y en la que además de Jaque Mate, intervienen la Liga y la Sociedad de la Justicia, además de una presentación breve de las Torres, algo que ya se había insinuado anteriormente pero que en última instancia, resulta mucho menos espectacular de lo que parecía.
Es sobre todo este último arco lo que hace que la nota baje notablemente (le hubiera puesto un cinco si hubiera seguido el tono del tomo anterior), no sólo por el tambaleante cierre, si no por la chapuza que Planeta hizo con su publicación en España. Por algún error de imprenta, las páginas se imprimieron desordenadas, así que si la historia ya es de por sí rápida, es imposible disfrutarla correctamente, lo que ya en su momento me dejó un sabor de boca raro para una colección que, sin duda, se había convertido en una de mis favoritas.
May 18, 2019
Good god, man. Greg Rucka is just consistently that good. And the art? This is the style I dig. Thick lines, heavy shadows. Just a damn fine read.
October 14, 2025
Edición integral en dos tomos. El libro no cuenta con índice en sí pero sí aclara que recopila Checkmante #13-25 y Outsiders #47-49.
July 26, 2020
3.75
I’ve come to be invested in this cast of C-list characters. A couple of A-listers pop up in these issues as well, though I don’t know if it was actually to the benefit of the story. This collection continues Rucka’s quality writing in espionage and political jargon, and I enjoyed it. I do feel like it was missing...something.
I think the main thing itching at me was that after the first volume of the series I was expecting a longer, overarching plot to the whole series. There were a few connecting threads, and they returned to a cliffhanger from earlier in the series, but it felt too disjointed. I also said that the appearance of the trinity may not have been to the story’s benefit because the plot point they picked back up turned into a muddy punch-em-up that, instead of relying on the subtlety of the Royals, looked to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to save the day (kinda, not technically because ).
The personal interaction and social politics that really made Checkmate interesting continues here, including the inevitable fuckery of Waller. I also appreciated the deeper personal look into the lives of lesser known team members, like the Mademoiselle Marie. The art team changed too much for my liking, and when it wasn’t by Joe Bennett or Chris Samnee, it kinda sucked. But toward the end Bennett stayed on and it was much improved.
In the end, I enjoyed the series and would recommend it, but I do think Rucka (and whoever is in charge of coordinating artists) left some on the table to really make this a hallmark series.
I’ve come to be invested in this cast of C-list characters. A couple of A-listers pop up in these issues as well, though I don’t know if it was actually to the benefit of the story. This collection continues Rucka’s quality writing in espionage and political jargon, and I enjoyed it. I do feel like it was missing...something.
I think the main thing itching at me was that after the first volume of the series I was expecting a longer, overarching plot to the whole series. There were a few connecting threads, and they returned to a cliffhanger from earlier in the series, but it felt too disjointed. I also said that the appearance of the trinity may not have been to the story’s benefit because the plot point they picked back up turned into a muddy punch-em-up that, instead of relying on the subtlety of the Royals, looked to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to save the day (kinda, not technically because ).
The personal interaction and social politics that really made Checkmate interesting continues here, including the inevitable fuckery of Waller. I also appreciated the deeper personal look into the lives of lesser known team members, like the Mademoiselle Marie. The art team changed too much for my liking, and when it wasn’t by Joe Bennett or Chris Samnee, it kinda sucked. But toward the end Bennett stayed on and it was much improved.
In the end, I enjoyed the series and would recommend it, but I do think Rucka (and whoever is in charge of coordinating artists) left some on the table to really make this a hallmark series.
July 3, 2019
Good read, but the Fall of the Wall was rather disappointing. Took the easy way out.
March 3, 2020
A fantastic conclusion to the Greg Rucka story arcs.
December 25, 2023
Good, but every arc in this book is only a three parter. Which didn't make them feel rushed but did make them feel incomplete.
September 13, 2022
Classic "collected comics run" bullshit where about half the book is dedicated to a crossover with characters I either haven't heard of, a plotline I was unfamiliar with, or both.
Luckily the second half is a lot stronger (I love you Mademoiselle Marie), but it's insane that it squeezes in about 4 storylines (?) and all of them combined get the real estate that the Checkmate/Outsiders crossover got.
Luckily the second half is a lot stronger (I love you Mademoiselle Marie), but it's insane that it squeezes in about 4 storylines (?) and all of them combined get the real estate that the Checkmate/Outsiders crossover got.
February 14, 2025
Just as good as the first volume, it finishes Rucka’s run and features a top notch crossover with the Outsiders. Excellent series.
January 2, 2026
Nueva versión en inglés en tomos dobles. Edición linda pero sin demasiados extras.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews