I read the original Checkmate back when it started back in 1988.

It was a decent book, good writing, nice art, but not extremely noteworthy. Well, that's all changed. Why?

GREG RUCKA

Greg could quite possibly be the hardest working writer I know of. He writes at least one novel a year, usually more, plus it's had to keep track of all the comics he's writing, though his wonderful webmaster does a hell of a job keeping up.

What Greg brings to the table in Checkmate is the same thing that makes Queen And Country such a wonderful book. There's extreme care in making the characters real and emotional, the stories are realistic to the point of being eeire and best of all they don't "talk down" to the readers like so many Marvel titles do.

I love the line up of characters, Alan Scott, Amanda Waller, Fire, and Sasha to name a few. This is written like a thriller or espionage novel, not a superhero comic. I think that can only help bring in readers who might bot normally read comics.

I'm also really enjoying the art by Jesus Saiz. Wonderfully unique and compliments the stories perfectly.

The initial story arc is called A Game Of Kings, and involves Checkmate trying not to lose their UN sanction. China is up to something and Checkmate needs to find out what in a hurry.