Checkmate (comics)
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Checkmate is a covert operations agency within the DC Comics universe. Created from the ashes of its predecessor group, The Agency, it was originally set up by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X under the command of Colonel Valentina Vostok (formerly Negative Woman of the Doom Patrol) to perform operations worldwide considered vital to the security of American interests. In the wake of events depicted in the mini-series The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis, Checkmate has been re-chartered as a United Nations Security Council-affiliated agency.
Original Organization
Checkmate's hierarchy was modelled after the pieces of a chess game- One King, one Queen and several Bishops. The Bishops oversaw the Rooks behind the scenes while the Rooks planned missions and supervised the field agents, or Knights, and the Knight's support, Pawns.Known operatives
Official
- Amanda Waller
- Valentina Vostok
- Harry Stein
- Harvey Bullock
- Gary Washington
- Grace Guinness
- John Reed
- Winston Churchill O'Donnel
- Jacques Reynard
- Sarge Steel
- Sasha Bordeaux
- Jessica Midnight
- Fire
- King Faraday
- Alan Scott
- Count Vertigo
- Mister Terrific
Freelance operatives
- Black Thorn
- Peacemaker
- Vigilante II
- Vigilante V
- Arsenal
- Vixen
- Deathstroke
- Deadshot
The Janus Directive
The Janus Directive is a crossover storyline that involved an inter-agency war between Checkmate, the Suicide Squad, and Project Atom, manipulated by Kobra in order to distract the United States intelligence community from his activities. Checkmate lost 38 Knight agentsCheckmate! issue 19 and its headquarters (and its cover- Konig Industries) in Shelby, Virginia in the incident. In the aftermath, Sarge Steel took Waller's place as head of Checkmate.
Russian Checkmate
A Russian version of Checkmate was introduced in the last issues of the original series run. They were admitedly underfunded but wore armor similar to their US counterparts. They may have been based on the Vityaz (Knights), a division of the Russian Spetznaz in the MVD.
Bruce Wayne - Murderer?
After the events of Bruce Wayne - Murderer and Bruce Wayne - Fugitive, his bodyguard and partner Sasha Bordeaux is recruited as a Checkmate operative. This led her to play an important role in the OMAC Project storyline, where, now transformed into the only OMAC capable of free will, she regrouped the broken factions of Checkmate, leading the organization to a new start, that will be shown in a new series, following the events in the Infinite Crisis.Knight Moves
In the Knight Moves storyline ( #38-40) Checkmate tries to invade the Batcave, trying to recruit the Huntress in the process.The OMAC Project
One Year Later
After Infinite Crisis, a new ongoing series debuted, with Rucka and Saiz again as the creative team.
Rucka was quoted regarding the new series: "Take a big chunk of The OMAC Project, take the concept of "Who Watches the Watchmen?" and throw in some James Bond and you've got Checkmate." Rucka's stated plans in several interviews[link] include depicting the repurposing of Checkmate as a United Nations-affiliated intelligence/intervention force with a specific purpose of maintaining "balance" between Earth's human and metahuman communities in the wake of events in The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis.
The morality of Checkmate is, at the moment, ambiguous (and is a major plot element in early issues). In the first issue a team led by Black Queen Sasha Bordeaux infiltrates a Kobra base. Despite White Queen Amanda Waller's apparent orders that minimal force would be used, Bordeaux' team kills everyone on the base, some in cold-blooded fashion (including one wounded Kobra leader who Bordeaux herself shoots dead after uttering the word "Checkmate" to the doomed man). It is unclear whether Waller -- who has sanctioned similar activities in the past -- actually approved this level of force. In issue 2, Bordeaux and Khalid learn that Waller made the "minimal force" promise without Bordeaux's knowledge, which they hypothesize was done to appease Alan Scott (who is opposed to loss of life) and to discredit Bordeaux, possibly in a bid to become Black Queen. Also, Fire claims that between 30 and 50 Kobra personnel were killed in the mission, leading to further conflict between Scott and Bordeaux (who defends her actions as necessary to complete the mission), and also to a rise in tensions between Bordeaux and Fire, who apparently regrets having taken part in the mission. Bordeaux accuses Fire of exaggerating the numbers; based upon issue 1, it's clear the team kills many people, but it's impossible to gauge exactly how many.
In issue #3, both Amanda Waller and Alan Scott are attacked by would-be Kobra assassins. Scott disables his attacker, who survives. Waller, who also defeats her attacker, cold-bloodedly executes the wounded operative. As shown on the final page of issue #3, the Checkmate ground team, currently on an infiltration mission in China, has been discovered - and cornered by The Immortal Man in Darkness.
Organization
Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1696, Checkmate was reorganized as the UN’s Chartered Metahuman Monitoring Force. The organization was restructured utilizing the “Rule of Two”. Each super-powered or otherwise enhanced member in the “Royal Family” must have an un-powered counterpart in a corresponding position of power.
- The White King is Alan Scott - Green Lantern
- *The White King's Bishop is Dr. Michael Holt - Mister Terrific
- *The White King's Knight is Thomas Jagger
- The White Queen is Dr. Amanda Waller
- *The White Queen's Bishop is King Faraday
- *The White Queen's Knight is Count Werner Vertigo
- The Black Queen is Sasha Bordeaux
- *The Black Queen's Bishop is Comd. Jessica Midnight
- *The Black Queen's first Knight is Jonah McCarthy (KIA); a replacement has not yet been established
- The Black King is Col. Taleb Beni Khalid
- *The Black King's Bishop is Shen Li Po
- *The Black King's Knight is Beatriz Dacosta - Fire
Trivia
- The organizations structure of Checkmate is split into two halves, Black (ops) and White (intel). It is most probably based on the CIA's two separate halves, the Directorate of Operations and Directorate of Intelligence.
- The Checkmate organization's use of titles derived from chess pieces is similar but not equal to Marvel's Hellfire Club.
Other intelligence agencies
References
- [Newsarama interviews Greg Rucka]
- [Checkmate!]
- [The Unofficial Comics Crossover Index - The Janus Directive]
- [Titans Tower: Civic Associates-Sarge Steel]
- [Cosmic Teams!-Checkmate]
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