The most recent issue of Checkmate is the finale of a two part focus on Josephine Tautin, the current Mademoiselle Marie. It is, to be sure, a very interesting story.

In two issues, Rucka and Trautmann have filled in the Mademoiselle Marie legacy very well, in addition to building up a very interesting back story for Tautin, the Black Queen’s Knight. It is all done pretty seamlessly, where you’re not conscious of it TRYING to multi-task within the confines of the story. It plays to Rucka’s apparent strengths: strong female operatives.

But as impressive as this issue was (and the arc overall), I can’t help but wonder if it is the sort of story that helps the longevity of the series. Two issues that focus on a relatively new supporting character, practically to the exclusion of all other characters? Always a risky proposition.

Probably the closest thing to marquee characters the book has would be Sasha Bordeaux, Mr. Terrific, Fire, Thinker, and August General in Iron. The original Mademoiselle Marie in the DC Universe was never a huge draw as a character. She’s a great pick to include in the book. What better legacy character to include in a book that tends to play in the espionage genre?

But there are five characters that have more potential heat to them than her. Don’t get me wrong, though. At a time where editorial offices seem to be making more and more decisions as to every little piece of each story that appears in their monthlies, it is refreshing to see a talent like Rucka (with Trautmann) be given the leeway to tell a story where the guiding principle is quality, not sales.

Quality was high. Tautin had so many facets of her character fleshed out. Her personal history was detailed, including her passing up her true love for the opportunity to carry on the mantle of Mademoiselle Marie. Her competency as an agent was put in full view of the reader during several moments, especially being extremely prepared for a double cross. They even managed to sneak in a bit demonstrating Sasha’s leadership style and position on Tautin’s style of operation.

As a reader, I loved the issue. As a fan, I worry about the practicality of taking two issues to focus on a character that has less likelihood of drawing in new readers and more likelihood of having fickle current readers skip them until it comes back to the characters they’re more interested in.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Comics, Kevin Huxford. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.