The Main Event Comic Book Reviews 4.26.08: The Mighty Avengers #12, Checkmate #25

Posted by Dennis Twigg on 04.26.2008

The Main Event examines espionage in the DC and Marvel Universe!

The Mighty Avengers #12:
General: Nick Fury has been a bad boy. He hijacked a group of superheroes, had them wage a war against the rogue-state of Latveria and then made his faithful superhero-soldiers forget it all. When the aggrieved parties responded to the amnesiac heroes, the Secret War was revealed, his plan backfired, and then Nick went into hiding. All of this happened years ago, in a period of time when I was out of comics. Now, its Secret Invasion time, and this book answers the question: what the hell has Nick Fury been up to?
Writing: Brian Michael Bendis brings us all Nick Fury, all the time. We get a tour-de-force of Fury's activities after his Secret War debacle and some really cool espionage action. Fury might not have powers, but he's crafty and he's not taking an alien invasion lying down. Sure, this may not have any jaw-dropping Secret Invasion reveals, but it does what a great tie-in ought to: play off the events of a crossover to tell a compelling story. And, there's a VERY interesting last panel (akin to the Rip Hunter chalkboard from DC's ‘52') that will surely have people chattering.
Art: Alex Maleev reunites with his partner in crime from Daredevil, with excellent results. Maleev's art is unusual: murky and dark, flowing and grainy and not suited for all comics. Here, though, it feels right. The super spy of the super hero world is perfect for Maleev's moody work the art is a perfect compliment to Bendis' peek into Nick Fury's spy world.
Overall Score: A. The smaller scope of this comic probably does it a favor. Secret Invasion #1 was great, but did suffer from the sheer size of the events that needed to be told. This, however, is a great compact book reintroducing a fan-favorite into the Marvel Universe.

Checkmate #25:
General: Checkmate has occupied a fun little corner of the DCU. Super hero espionage has been a blast and this issue is the culmination of a year or so worth of stories as Checkmate's espionage activities have revealed an enormous apocalyptic scheme by DCU's resident evil cult, Kobra. Checkmate has responded by coordinating a massive super hero effort and unleashing their ace in the hole: the heretofore unseen Rooks.
Writing: The action is intense, well-paced, and exciting. Checkmate manages to take characters I've never even heard of and inject them into gritty low-powered supers combat and make me care about it. Though I'd like to know more about the Rooks' role in the organization and exactly where the came from, these holes do not ruin the book. The story globe trots across the world without causing undo confusion and integrates famous DCU characters without making it seem like they're having guest stars to spike sales. That being said, one interlude took me a couple of read-thrus to understand the tech-alien-comic gibberish.
Art: The combat is gory and kinetic, but some of the more somber scenes are thoroughly mediocre. There's nothing wrong with Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman's appearance, but to some extent they really do look like guest-stars and out of place in the book. Perhaps its due to the books tone, but I tend to attribute it to the art.
Overall Score: B+. A competent espionage tale that wrapped some old plot threads and introduced new ones this book fails to reach the A-level plateau based on a few choppy portions and a small lack of background into the origin of the aforementioned Rooks.