DC has indefinitely postponed Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s upcoming Event Leviathan: Checkmate six-issue limited series, promising in its most recent retailer mailer that it will be “rescheduled to align with upcoming DC Universe storylines.”
Event Leviathan: Checkmate spins out of the Bendis and Maleev’s 2019 series Event Leviathan in which the malicious, mysterious espionage group Leviathan – led by the eponymous villain, whose secret identity was revealed as Mark Shaw, the one-time Manhunter – took over the world of DC’s spy underground. The new Checkmate teams Green Arrow, Talia al Ghul, the Question, and Lois Lane to take on Leviathan in secret.
The series was announced in January with a planned April 22 on-sale date. However, DC canceled that release date when the Direct Market comic book industry went on pause due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Event Leviathan: Checkmate was then rescheduled for a June 2 release – though that date came and went without the issue’s release, which seemed to go largely unnoticed until DC’s update of its postponement.
The original announcement of Event Leviathan: Checkmate revealed only the limited series’ creative team and issue count, tying into the cryptic nature of the original series, which focused on a team of detectives organized by Lois Lane – a key player in the relaunching Checkmate – trying to solve the mystery of the identity of the leader of secret spy organization Leviathan (also conveniently named Leviathan).
In that series, Lois showed a gift for espionage by eventually deducing Leviathan’s identity as one-time hero Mark Shaw/Manhunter with the help of a secret second team of infiltrators.
A second planned spin-off titled Manhunters: Secret History was previously canceled outright.
