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Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials

Trinity #42

Trinity #42

Scheduled to arrive in stores: March 18, 2009

Cover date: March 18, 2009

Main Story: "An Old Pattern Repeating Itself"

Main Writers: Kurt Busiek
Main Pencillers: Mark Bagley
Main Inker: Art Thibert

Back-Up Story: "Weaving Fate"

Back-Up Story Writer: Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza
Back-Up Story Penciller: Scott McDaniel
Back-Up Story Inker: Andy Owens

Reviewed by: Neal Bailey with Jeffrey Bridges and Barry Freiman

Click to enlarge



Cheetah fights Black Adam in Washington, DC until the Trinity show up and take away her power.

A helicopter arrives and takes the Trinity secondary characters to JSI headquarters.

The Trinity arrives in Gotham. Lex Luthor suggests they use the power to remake the world to turn it into a utopia. Superman flicks him away. They take the city from the Joker.

They ask the heroes if they want to change the world back. Jay Garrick speaks up and says they want the world back.

The heroes change everything back, and then leave for space. In space, Green Lanterns hover decimated.

To be continued...



Back-Up Story: "Weaving Fate"

The heroes split to deal with the chaos.

Hawkman and Firestorm are disconcerted by the change from their former selves. Firestorm worries about Green Lantern Stewart as, coincidentally, a warning from him comes from space about Krona.

Firestorm tries to talk to the Trinity about it. They disappear.

Assorted heroes meet to discuss the situation. Gangbuster sees Charity prophesizing. She tells him Rita must sever her connection to the worldsoul, and indicates that he is her protector, and implies that they will be lovers.

To be continued...



Neal's Review:

1Main Story - 1: "An old pattern repeating itself."

No kidding. Thanks for writing the review for me.

Joker has his laugh. I think I already noted that, but still.

Thanks, Flash, for making the choice of existence vs. non-existence for 8 billion people. D#ck!

So we have three issues, so far, after reality is restored, that the Trinity go around and continue restoring humanity. They can do it just by willing it, as is shown by the end of the story, but they must go place to place and visit certain characters to do so, for some reason. The Evil Trinity make no attempt to stop them, making conflict non-existent.

Beyond, of course, Lex's moral comment that they should make the world a better place. Something that is obvious, that none of the heroes are bringing up. For this piece of logic, Superman swats him. Very heroic. How dare he bring intellect to the plot!

I can't emphasize more how poorly it speaks to the story that the Trinity ask the JSI what they should do for the entire world, and the JSI decides, rather arbitrarily, to end their existence as they know it without knowing what that means beyond, "it feels right."

But anyone reading this can see that. None of these dilemmas go beyond the surface level. It's just lame to see them almost addressed in some fashion... and then bluntly not.

It is also the same issue it's been for the last three in form and structure and pointlessness.

4Main Art - 4: There are still a number of CG backgrounds and missing background, but the backgrounds that do exist are well rendered, and everything looks like it has detail again. Much better than the last few weeks, generally, though I still can't stand those Trinity designs.

The Joker splash, though thematically redundant and odd in the narrative, is beautiful.

3Back-Up Story - 3: The first half was repetition and talking, along with coincidence that reiterates things we already know, to say nothing of the pat Stewart message that arrives at a coincidentally great time. The meeting where the heroes talk about what we already know about is unnecessary, and the Trinity disappearing just further confuses their purpose and power.

Gangbuster and Charity is interesting, to a degree, but it also jumps their relationship rather quickly from acquaintances to near lovers, and confuses itself with gobbledygook about a worldsoul and other esoteric concepts based in the tarot. It insufficiently explains why Delgado needs to be the protector in any way.

All that said, the emotion in the scene was still compelling enough to make the story average, instead of bad, despite the writing flaws. I notice that happens with the backups occasionally.

5Back-Up Art - 5: The art certainly helps. McDaniels and Owens rock. I really dig their style, and this backup is a prime example of why. I like their takes on characters, and the detail is awesome. There's a slightly cartoony quality to it, but it works for the art rather than against it, where it so often doesn't for other artists. Good stuff.

2Cover Art - 2: Not a very interesting design, unfortunately. Well rendered, but really generally pointless in terms of what it's doing. She's stanging in front of a leaning building. And? What's the context? What's the point? Why does this draw me in as a reader?

Jeffrey's Review:

1Main Story - 1: Hey you guys? You want to be changed back to whatever you were "before" even though you have no idea what that is?

Well, we made some mistakes, so... yeah, completely alter our reality!

Because in the other reality I'm sure we never made ANY mistakes! We're not human, right?

This is just meaningless filler now. What was accomplished here? Everything EXCEPT the Trinity went back to normal. Was there a story told? No. An event happened.

And event which could have happened in two pages.

Two PANELS.

Filler dreck.

3Main Art - 3: Back to the same-old, same-old.

1Back-Up Story - 1: Hey guys, let's split up but plan to get right back together again. Then why split up in the first place? I don't know, let's ask that Busiek guy.

While we're at it, maybe we can ask him why we all sit around talking about how we have to do something and no one actually does anything, with the only point of this entire backup being that Gangbuster loves Tarot and has to go help her (though a decision that's not even his own).

Hooray?

3Back-Up Art - 3: Also back to the same-old, same-old average mediocre forgettable stuff.

1Cover Art - 1: Worst new character design ever?

Quite possibly.

Barry's Review:

3Main Story & Back-Up Story - 3: The two stories this issue sort of book-end one another so I'll be reviewing them as one tale.

Reviewing this issue of Trinity on its own, separate and apart from the rest of the series, this isn't a bad comic. Three entities that are but aren't Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are at least part of the book that is supposedly about them. Using Cheetah, Luthor, and Joker as counterpoints to Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman is the first truly inspired use of three on three throughout this entire series.

The story has its faults too. There's Hawkman back to lamenting life again just as he was in the first issues of Trinity. Then there's the non-revelation that Gangbuster is in love with Tarot. Oh what a shock, I say with all due sarcasm.

Then there's the big mistake of the issue - at least in my opinion as a writer. On that last page of the first story, Lois should have said "Hold it right there buster" just like she did when she first met a pre-Superman Superman back in Man of Steel #1 and that would've been a memory hook for Supes not to mention a cool fan moment.

4Main Art - 4: Bagley and company have been terrific these past few issues and this issue's lead story is no exception. He's clearly having a lot more fun drawing characters like Joker, Luthor, and Cheetah than when all he had to do was draw big booms, blue nice-ies, and purple meanies.

3Back-Up Art - 3: The artistic tone shifts in the back-up story. As the story itself becomes a bit more gritty, so follows the art. My personal favorite is the lead story art, but this isn't bad.

2Cover Art - 2: The Superman cover showed how his godly image fits the character - he looks like a literal man of steel. Wonder Woman looks like Satan. I would think Wonder Woman in her primal form would be clay and mud, the foundation of the statue brought to life as the daughter of Hippolyta and Princess of the Amazons.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2009

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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