American comics are more or less terra incognita to me. I have, of course, absorbed some knowledge about them via cultural osmosis, but not enough to have the vaguest shimmering of an idea of what the Future Foundation is. Apparently, this particular issue was written by a certain Matt Fraction1 and drawn by a Mike Allred.2 Possibly, these are big names in the American comic scene, possibly they are young and coming stars, possibly they have been working in semi-obscurity for ages, I really couldn’t say. I can say, however, that this particular issue features a chessboard quite prominently.
What seems like a robot vampire in a green coat has leisurely thrown its leg over the armrest of a throne. A bunch of monks seem to have just served him a chessboard on an oversized wooden tray. There is a cut, for one panel, to a startled blonde woman who is being spied upon by Kif from Futurama. Then the chessboard is sent flying, I think because the robot vampire’s throne has exploded.
But all that is of no consequence. What’s on the board — that’s the question.3
I’m not a hundred percent sure about the position, but I think it’s mostly correct, including the white pieces deep in the black position. I suspect that this is a mistake introduced in the colouring process and that the rook on a8, the bishop on d7, and the pawn on d6 were meant to be white.
But even without this error, the position would be extremely suspicious.4 The black queen on a5 is in unreasonable danger. The white royalty have apparently forgotten their place. The white pawns seem to have deserted in droves. And I don’t blame them. If a robot-vampire’s throne exploded in front of my face while a dozen monks look on silently, I think I’d desert, too.
Realism: 1/5 Technically it’s possible that white has just played his bishop to d7 after having underpromoted twice, but the possibility is remarkable remote.
Probable winner: White. Black’s queen, and therefore he himself too, is toast.
1. [To enhance the realism, they should ask mister Cauchy-sequence or miss Dedekind-cut.] ↩
2. [I’ve seen a picture of him. He’s not red at all.] ↩
3. [And what diagram editor did they use.] ↩
4. [Almost as suspicious as the robot-vampire. Almost.] ↩