Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials
Trinity #25
Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 19, 2008
Cover date: November 19, 2008
Main Story: "Like Ice Melting"
Main Writers: Kurt Busiek
Main Pencillers: Mark Bagley
Main Inker: Art Thibert
Back-Up Story: "Very Different People"
Back-Up Story Writer: Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza
Back-Up Story Penciller: Mike Norton & Ande Parks
Back-Up Story Inker: Allen Passalaqua
Reviewed by: Barry Freiman with Neal Bailey and Jeffrey Bridges
Click to enlarge
The opening page shows things happening all over: In Opal City, a fortuneteller is surprised by a reading as Tarot heads west on a bus. In Northern France, Enigma and le Fey battle. In the Andes, Konvikt and his little buddy are on the run. In Hartford, Alfred is making an offer (see the back-up story for more on this). And in Detroit, The JSI attacks the League (which includes Lex Luthor, Green Arrow, and Vibe). The Flash rushes in and says the JSI is there for the League's help, not for a fight.
Meanwhile Europe is burning. Enigma and le Fey continue to fight. Enigma convinces le Fey they need to do the full spell with a third alien to get the full power they need (and he needs to save the antimatter Earth). Enigma has an alien in mind.
Into the League's room comes Barry Allen (Silver Age Flash) in a wheelchair. After becoming overcome by Felix Faust and losing the use of his legs, he disappeared and let people think he was dead. Barry chose to remain speed-less and formed the League.
Meanwhile, Tarot is stepping out of the bus at Opal City when suddenly she's stepping out a train - reality shifted. As soon as she sets foot on the ground in Opal City, she's consumed by some cosmic energy and falls to her knees. A woman named Charity finds Rita and tells her she was expecting her. Now the train station has turned into an airport. Tarot is glad and cries that she needs help as Opal City's reality splits and the pair see the bus station, the train station, the old West of Opal City, and a possible alien-filled future for Opal.
To be continued...
Back-Up Story: "Very Different People"
Alfred assembles a group including Lois Lane, Dick Grayson, Thomas Tresser (Wonder Woman's current boyfriend, a.k.a., Nemesis) and explains to them about the missing Trinity and how that has affected the assembled group's lives. Though they all have detailed new histories that they remember, they begin to believe him.
Interceptor (Supergirl) busts in having been summoned by a high-pitched signal. Alfred exposes her to Kryptonite and tells her about her Kryptonian heritage.
Alfred tells them they need to pick up one more person and then they can begin their quest. Meanwhile, at a library in Virginia, an overburdened Donna Troy tries to drown out the needy library patrons.
To be continued...
Barry's Review:
 Main/Back-Up Story - 2: I should be happy that things have moved forward enough that Alfred, Lois, Dick, and Kara (and Tresser) have assembled and the JSI and the League are finally getting on the same page. But you can sum up both the lead and back-up as the good guys are finally all on the same page, well except for Donna Troy. I know the whole convoluted Donna Troy origin thing where she's lived a zillion different lives. But those lives derive out of being Diana's magically created twin. Without Diana, I don't get how there can be a Donna Troy.
Oh and if you're collecting Diana's touchstones, where's Etta Candy? Steve Trevor? Hippolyta???
Barry Allen in a wheelchair raises some interesting questions like - Was there a Crisis on Infinite Earths in this reality? If so, without a running Barry, who stopped the antimatter cannon?
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman can always rely on their friends. That seems to be the point of these recent issues. But I'd much rather see where the Trinity is and what they're doing to return to reality.
 Main Art - 4: The only critique I have of the art is that I really dislike the JSI costumes but, story wise, that's the whole point. There's a whole lot of characters - including Opal City itself, home of Starman - and everything and everyone looks as they should. Artistically, one of my favorite moments is when Tarot is exiting the bus and reality turns it into a train with Opal's distinct architecture in the background.
 Back-Up Art - 3: Not counting Tom Tresser, we're looking at some of the most well-known supporting characters in the DCU in this back-up story: Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Donna Troy. Alfred looks a bit younger in this world but I would expect that, without mentoring and mending and stressing over Batman all the time, he'd age better. Dick's got that semi-Latino, wise guy look. Unfortunately Lois's eyes are a bit large for her face and what's with her magic cigarette that doesn't burn down to the filter?
Cover Art - 4: I really like this cover. I hate the Morgaine le fey character - always have - and the cover artists really bring her to life for me. The metal mask is usually drawn like a mask - i.e., without any way to really show the emotion on her face (kinda like Green Goblin in the first "Spider-Man" film). But here, her face has a more malleable look all the better to take in that sinister smile. The wisp of Wonder Woman is a nice touch too.
So with le Fey on the first cover of a new triptych, I wonder who's next? Obviously Enigma - you can see his cane peeking onto this cover. But will the third cover be Despero - or Konvikt? Gosh I can hardly wait and see. Did that sound sarcastic enough? Good.
Neal's Review:
 Main Story - 1: The Justice Society guys burst into the League headquarters through the wall, and the story even acknowledges how ridiculous it is. Rationale in the story: "They would have scattered." But they didn't when the burst through the wall? They couldn't send Wally ahead? I reiterate, the story itself points out the oddity here.
"Defensive Posture G." "Menta-Helmet." "Five years old."
Enigma and Le Fay reiterate what we already established last issue. Padding.
Barry Allen as the league founder serves no real purpose other than to pad the story. There is already a Flash in the story. Each character should have a purpose.
Konvict again, and why?
Reality is shifting. Reality is not as it's supposed to be. We get this. Tarot in a bus/airport/train doesn't add anything.
Nothing new or enthralling here.
 Main Art - 5: Still great. Bagley's knocking it out of the ballpark with highly detailed, awesome work.
Back-Up Story - 1: Essentially, this is a group of guys talking about how great Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are with no sense of context or actual memory. It's also an excuse to sit there and say, "My, how weird this world is!" But that doesn't change the fact that it's five people out of context in an office introducing themselves, which is boring. An entire page is dedicated to a stock riposte, and treated like a "draw in."
To say nothing of the "If Krypton, why no Supes?" stuff I don't even care to contemplate.
Back-Up Art - 4: The art is actually pretty strong, and the reinterpretations of the heroes was creatively done on the artist's part. Strong.
Cover Art - 4: Pretty good image, and representative of what's going on in the issue. The Enigma staff is obstructing the image, and it's got an image of Superman over Wonder Woman, ergo it's not a five.
Jeffrey's Review:
Main Story - 1: Barry Allen once had an accident, likely decades ago, and hasn't changed his pants since. And Tarot is all, whoa, funky. And Morgaine goes from enraged to... not. For no reason.
AND I HAVE NO REASON TO CARE ABOUT ANY OF IT.
Fin.
Main Art - 3: Meh.
Back-Up Story - 3: Despite some truly horrendous dialogue that no one would ever say out loud, that takes pains to recap things from past issues when otherwise there's no reasons the characters would say those things, this at least related to the trinity themselves (as opposed to all that hogwash masquerading as the "main story" lately).
Still though, how many issues has it been now without the actual Trinity? In a book ABOUT them, they're just gone for months and we get arbitrary random changes to the world once they're gone and a bunch of tangentially related (and I use those words loosely) stories about other characters no one gives a damn about, like Krona and Konvikt (is Krazy Kat next? Ignatz, keep you bricks away from my head!)
Back-Up Art - 3: There's only so much you can do with a bunch of "normal" people standing around talking. And yet, I've seen it done far more compellingly.
Cover Art - 2: Jim Lee wants to do covers? Awesome! What does everyone want to see? MORGAINE LE FEY! YEAH!
...no?
How about Wonder Woman's crotch whisping across Morgaine's chest! It's a horny teen twofer!
Mild Mannered Reviews
2009
Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
Back to the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.
Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2009.
|
