Checkmate #30 - DC

Going in to this, I have 2 misgivings. First of all there's only one issue to go. That's right next issue . . #31 . . will be the final issue. That's not to say that Checkmate won't still be a presence in the DC Universe . . they just won't have their own title to chronicle those exploits. However, I would really like to see Checkmate become a staple in the DC Universe, much in the way the SHIELD is over at Marvel. I think we made a move in that direction with this series, but . . we still have a little way to go. I really hope that they don't drop the ball on this. My second concern is that this incarnation didn't make it as long as the last . . 31 issues, compared to 33. That wouldn't bother me as much if this series wasn't so much better than the previous one. They couldn't stretch it out for 2 or 3 more issues? I'm just saying. Anyways, on to issue #30 by Bruce Jones and Manuel Garcia. I really like this soap-opera here that's playing out between Adam and Chloe. This whole story-arc started because of Checkmate's need to have someone to fight all these . . creatures that keep popping up all over the globe. But I think the real story is the story with Adam and Chloe. But with the end of this issue, they may not get the chance to finish their story. If you think back, it seems like all of these creatures have escalated as Chimera has taken them down one by one. Well now I think he faces the greatest one yet, and he's got Chloe grasped within his hands. I say 'he' because this monster originated as a man . . or in the form of man. What he is . . we may not know yet. But I'm starting to think that were beginning to fall into the 'nature or nurture' question here. Is the necessity of Chimera becoming more and more apparent? Or, is his existence resulting in adversaries that are equal to his abilities? Whatever the case, it should all play out next issue . . for better or worse. As I said earlier, unfortunately . . it'll be the last issue of this series.