I really may have to check out the trades of Cable and Deadpool. I keep hearing good things about it.

As for Cable, I hated the character pre-2003. After Nicieza re-launched CABLE AND DEADPOOL (which is a really great series, btw) I immediately became interested in the character. During the 90′s, he was a continuity-laden, Liefeld-created eyesore, but he’s been recently reimagined as a being powerful enough to save humanity, but he’s in an ethical quandry over the whole “help vs. control” debate that superhero characters become embroiled in. CABLE AND DEADPOOL actually features really entertaining and clever writing. I agree with Matt D. above… you should check out the second volume if you get a chance (although the whole series is pretty good).

I’m glad to see this newer, re-imagined characterization being implemented in Carey’s X-MEN run. I’m glad someone is making good use of Cable… I haven’t read Carey’s current X-MEN book yet, but I’ll pick it up soon.

Well he did say that in the review.

Because crossovers are obessesd with their own anus’s*, which is why they are usually really boring, and Checkmate reads like a poorly conceived crossover.

“If you don’t like it, you must not like Sleeper or Suicide Squad, because those two titles did the same thing (better, sure, but Checkmate is still doing it well).”

Sleeper was one super powered guy undercover at another super powered guys group.
It had really good characters and style, but it never felt like it took it’s subject too seriously.
Stormwatch was the same – the exact same concept as Checkmate, but never taking it too seriously, just using the UN as a backdrop for superhero stories.

Neither of those were continutiy/anus obsessed.

Suicide Squad I’ve only ever read one issue of when I was 13 (#50 of Ostranders run).
I liked it, and the idea still sounds good to me – villains doing missions to get free.
I’d want to check the execution before buying it though.

*And cause no one here told me not to when I asked, I went and brought the Hardcover to Annihilation Book 1.
I needed someone to say ‘GOD NO!’, but no one did, and the cover and the art sucked me in.
I haven’t read it yet, and it could rock, but I feel some shame at actually owning a book with Quesar in it.

As for why I like Checkmate – well, I don’t really worry about sorting out what the black and white teams do. I have a much firmer grasp on the characters these days, and I think Rucka does a good job each issue dropping in reminders about who’s who. I love the idea of espionage in a superhero universe, and if you don’t, that’s fine. It would still go on in a superhero universe, and I like how Rucka is using superheroes to do espionage (does one “do” espionage?), because there are some things in the DCU that are too messy for Superman to come in a beat up. I don’t like it when real-world politics and superheroes mix and are done poorly – Civil War comes to mind – but I like the idea, and I think Rucka does a nice job with it. If you don’t like it, you must not like Sleeper or Suicide Squad, because those two titles did the same thing (better, sure, but Checkmate is still doing it well).

You really ought to drop 12 bucks or whatever and get the second Cable/Deadpool Trade: The Burnt Offering.

The comic never quite hit that level again (and the first arc is actually really bad), but that was probably my favorite Marvel story of 2004. It introduces Providence and ends with a bang, and is probably the best possible Cable story.

And I absolutely agree with you on the stakes issue in the Spirit. It’s fun, but it’s cotton candy.

My only excuse is that I was hung over the day I brought it.

(So hung over I spent almost AUS$200 on comics and damn near bankrupted myself for the week – I completely forgot how to count and was so struggling to actually deal with the chick at the counter that I decided to just pay for them all than figure out what to keep and what to put back).

But yeah, that’s no excuse.

I’d send you my copy of the trade, but then you’d hate me.

Sorry, man. I’m not putting myself through that. Money spent on Checkmate–even to make fun of it–is money taken out of more suitable purposes, like giving to homeless people, saving for a house, buying something actually decent for someone . . .

It’s obsessed with it’s own, and DC’s, anus.

I mean, what the shit is the book about?

What does ‘Rule Of Two’ even mean?

What’s the difference between White team and black team?
Half of Black team does operations, and white team handles the politicians? Why do politicans not just talk to black team?

Why is there a character with the last name king, when he’s on a team who has two characters who’s positions are titled ‘king’?
(Cause it confused the hell out of me).

Why after the first five issue storyline did it cut to two issues about some version of the sucicide squad that spun out of some book I haven’t read (and wasn’t even given a foot note telling me which book I ‘should’ have read)?

Why mix the genres of espionage and superheroes?
The superheroes look silly dealing with fake ‘important’ issues, and the espionage is trivialised by the men in capes.

Who the hell are half the characters in the book?
It never says where they are from, and never gives an explanation of what they can do (or why they are doing it).

C’mon Greg, this is everything you usually hate!
You’ve got Queen And Country for espionage books, and many other superhero books to read (If She-Hulk’s not enough, I reccomend Blue Beetle – now there’s a trade that told me all I needed to know).
Why bother with a lacklustre mix of the two?
Don’t you respect yourself a little more than that?

Hey Joe Rice!
Any chance of you reviewing Checkmate as well?
I could do with reading a hilarious paragraph about eyes beleeding!

Army @ Love: I liked the book overall. It did a pretty good job balancing over-the-top vs. subtle satire, but leaned towards the flashy stuff. I liked the little stuff better (eg. the robot and the guitar player). I do have some plot concerns, but plot is often secondary in satire, so I’m willing to wait it out longer than usual. I think the success of motivation and morale in creating bright-eyed, bushy-tailed soldiers was a good setup, but I don’t know if I’ll like where the problem at the end will lead. A little heavy-handed, but I’ll be back.

Death comes to Dillinger: what does this collect? How many issues, who put it out, when was it released? Thanks.

Today’s reason to love X-Factor: look at all the stuff you had to include in your summary! Tons going on, all exciting and easy to follow!

My dissatisfaction with The Spirit comes down, I think, to one words: stakes.

That’s my problem with a lot of serial comics these days, but especially established licenses characters like The Spirit, which is why I haven’t checked it out yet. There’s nothing at stake, so it’s overly dependent on the strength of the character(s). DC should have done a cheap #0 issue like Dark Horse did with Conan to rope in skeptical readers like me, instead of depending on the relatively limited draw of Eisner and Cooke. Busiek and Nord hit all the right notes in their preview and I was hooked; I never got that chance with The Spirit.