Checkmate, the long-teased and previously-delayed follow up to Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev‘s Event Leviathan storyline, finally has a release date. The writer announced on Instagram last night that the six-issue miniseries has been put on DC’s schedule for June. He also shared cover artwork for the first issue by Maleev & Dave Stewart, and a variant cover by Matt Taylor. No letterer for the series was named in the post.
Here’s how Bendis describes the series in the post:
“The superspies of the DC universe have a new leader in the form of the mysterious Mr. King. Their mission: take down leviathan. Guest starring Superman, Talia, Robin and a cast of thousands. Introducing a brand new underworld assassin only known as… (you’ll find out this June)”
“Mr. King,” eh? Could that be King Faraday? More than likely it refers to the structure within Checkmate, which is set up with people in roles corresponding to chess pieces.
Checkmate is the next step in Bendis’s plan to consolidate all of DC’s superspy organizations into one entity. The events of Event Leviathan followed the titular villain carrying out coordinated strikes against organizations including the DEO, Cadmus, and the many other secretive spy agencies of the DCU. The new miniseries was originally titled Event Leviathan: Checkmate when it was first solicited with the Green Arrow-centric cover and description below.
From the award-winning creative team behind last year’s Event Leviathan comes the next surprising chapter in DC Comics’ deadliest saga. Leviathan has agents and acolytes all over the world-but what is the secret behind its power? The planet’s last, best hope to infiltrate Leviathan may be this motley collection of spymasters, now teamed up to try to take back the world that was stolen from under us all! Green Arrow, the Question, Talia al Ghul and other unlikely allies converge to tackle Leviathan as members of the new Checkmate-but who is the surprise hero behind this team? Big clues to the future of the DC Universe start here!
The new series will be the third to star the Checkmate organization. Most recently, in the wake of Infinite Crisis and The OMAC Project, creators Greg Rucka, Jesus Saiz, and more worked on a Checkmate title that ran for 31 issues.
Check out the (slightly cropped for Instagram) cover artwork for Checkmate #1 below. The issue will arrive from DC Comics in June.
