Checkmate #20

The cover of this September 1989 DC "New Format" entry delivers a chaotic burst of action — a helmeted Checkmate agent in blue-and-white gear brandishes a gun while grappling with a red-clad figure amid an explosion of rubble, as a blond man in green struggles nearby and a yellow-costumed figure lies prone on a medical table below. The cover dialogue — "Back off, you quacks — his insurance policy just came in!" — gives the scene a sharp, almost wry edge that sets Checkmate! apart from standard espionage fare. Steve Erwin's pencils, inked here by Dick Giordano, pack the composition with real urgency, and with Paul Kupperberg scripting "Into the Knight," this issue is a solid showcase for one of DC's most underappreciated black-ops titles.