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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Checkmate is an international organization that works alongside other world's governments with their needs while maintaining independence.
History
Though characterized as a "global peace agency", they are still noted for using questionable methods.[1]
OMAC: Omactivate!
Main article: OMAC: Omactivate!
Checkmate is an international organization run by Maxwell Lord that works with all of the world's governments but only answerable to its mysterious founder[2]. They are described as a Global Peace Agency, albeit with questionable methods. Sarge Steel is put in charge of the investigation when Cadmus project Brother Eye goes rogue and creates OMAC.[3] They send a team of agents led by Steel after the monster, but he defeats them and escapes.[4] Mokkari also fails to capture OMAC.[5] In desperation, Lord enlists the help of S.H.A.D.E. and their leader Father Time sends his best operative Frankenstein to kill OMAC.[6][7] The conflict becomes personal when Brother Eye attempts to assassinate Lord.[8] In their final battle, Max outsmarts Eye and has him destroyed. They decide to leave OMAC alone, determining that he is no longer a threat.[9]
Spyral's End
Months later, when Spyral Agent 37 uncovered a conspiracy within Spyral and was on the run, he asked for help from Maxwell Lord, the current head of Checkmate[10]. Keen to remove a rival and consolidate his authority, Lord agreed. They successfully crippled Spyral, however, Lord was caught trying to double-cross Grayson and was stymied.
Leviathan Dawn
At some point, their former agent, Mark Shaw, went rogue and joined the terrorist organization Leviathan. The first step of his plan was to attack the facilities of Checkmate, A.R.G.U.S., D.E.O., and Spyral[11]. The plan was that without its covert intelligence organizations, the world would become more amenable to his plans. However, a roster of intelligence experts and detectives assembled to manage the surviving resources in the fight against Leviathan, operating under the name, Checkmate.[12]
Notes
- Checkmate was created by John Byrne and Paul Kupperberg, first appearing in Action Comics #598. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Checkmate first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in OMAC (Volume 4) #2 by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen.
Trivia
- Like in previous continuities, Checkmate is considered the world's premier spy agency.[13]
See Also
- 55 Appearances of Checkmate (Prime Earth)
- 6 Images that include Checkmate (Prime Earth)
- Team Gallery: Checkmate (Prime Earth)
Links and References
Footnotes
- ↑ DC Encyclopedia: All-New Edition
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #5
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #2
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #3
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #4
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #5
- ↑ Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #5
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #6
- ↑ OMAC (Volume 4) #8
- ↑ Grayson #17
- ↑ Event Leviathan #1
- ↑ Checkmate (Volume 3) #1
- ↑ DC Comics Encyclopedia: All-New Edition