What’s so special about Action Comics #598, a 1980’s comic written by both John Byrne and Paul Kupperberg? Let me tell you. It comes down to inspiration. The comic itself isn’t as special as what it represents for myself. The issue starts out as an aftermath story that sums up a number of storylines that have occurred in the lives of Superman and the Justice League; nothing that stands out…yet. Then the plot shifts into a political thriller where a nuclear thriller where terrorists hijack a U.S. aircraft carrier carrying nuclear weapons while elsewhere Lois Lane is kidnapped by the same group of terrorists. Well that’s where things get interesting because it isn’t Superman who saves Lois. While he is elsewhere taking care of the events on the aircraft carrier, a secret government operative who is tasked with stopping the terrorists saves her. Then another one appears to assist Superman with stopping the nuclear threat. They are both members of an elite secret government group with political overtones. That secret group is called “Checkmate.” The reason why this issue is so special is because it’s the very seed and inspiration that was planted in my brain that would later give life to my own secret government group: Equinox. This very issue was fascinating and exciting for me from the very moment that I picked it up. I read it dozen’s of times. Both Byrne and Kupperberg created Checkmate and this was their first appearance. Although there was eventually a Checkmate comic, there was something specific about the mystery of this issue and the possibilities of what they could be that fascinated me. It was the unknown elements that caused my mind to stir and create possibilities. Those possibilities may become evident when the further stories of Agent Sandra Ramirez and Curtis Hunter are told. They will be the paths that I would have imagined my own secret agents taking which through my own characters would be realized. Inspiration comes from many places. The hardest part of being a good writer is utilizing those sources while still making the stories they give birth to fresh and new.
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