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Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials

Trinity #43

Trinity #43

Scheduled to arrive in stores: March 25, 2009

Cover date: March 25, 2009

Main Story: "Shiny Face Pitch a Fit"

Main Writers: Kurt Busiek
Main Pencillers: Mark Bagley
Main Inker: Art Thibert
Lead Story Colorist: Pete Pantazis
Cover Art: Jesus Merino

Back-Up Story: "Talking to Sunshine and Shade"

Back-Up Story Writer: Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza
Back-Up Story Penciller: Tom Derenick
Back-Up Story Inker: Wayne Faucher
Back-Up Colors: Allen Passalaqua

Reviewed by: Barry Freiman with Neal Bailey and Jeffrey Bridges

Click to enlarge



Krona realizes that the recent changes made to Earth make it vulnerable to his goal of changing and controlling the Multiverse.

The Trinity fight demons. The heroes of Earth assist them but they don't even notice. The Trinity decide to let the little people defeat the demons and Wonder God focuses her efforts on restoring the scorched land of Europe.

Back at the evil trinity's castle, reality begins to reassert itself when Tattooed Man and Sun Chained in Ink literally separate into separate people again.

Tarot tells le Fey that the cards read that their power could be their salvation. Le Fey doesn't understand. She thinks it means she needs to amass more power. Suddenly, the Crime Syndicate, Despero, and Kanjar Ro break in.

To be continued...



Back-Up Story: "Talking to Sunshine and Shade"

The now-done traveling heroes decide to reassemble, thinking that they got the Trinity gods to respond to them when they were all together. First Lois jumps off the roof of the Daily Planet hoping Superman will save her (which she first explains to Supergirl via super-hearing). Lois is saved but not by Superman. She's caught by Tomorrow Woman, who wants to join them as she's looking for a way to live in the new reality. The supporting heroes try to get the Big Three's attention to no avail. The Big Three say that Earth needs to be cared for by gods.

To be continued...



Barry's Review:

3Main & Back-Up Story - 3: By the benchmark of my highly diminished expectations, this issue's not bad. I still hate the overall story. It has failed miserably in its purpose of analyzing the Big Three, their similarities and differences. But at least with the end in sight, things are actually moving forward.

Also with reality restored, it seems to have reined in Busiek. He clearly writes one-on-one conversations about emotion much better than anything else and there are starting to be more and more of those moments. In this issue, women especially get some great dialogue. Tomorrow Woman's desperation to exist in a world in which she doesn't exist. Lois's anguish over Clark. Lois's super-hearing 'conversation' with Supergirl and Kara's reaction to Lois's plan. Even the brief but hopeful "Shh" from Primat. Unfortunately, even with all this girl and woman power, Busiek still can't write a realistic threat in le Fey.

I hated the first page of the first story. Galaxy spanning searches that yield fruit on the first check-in point? I don't even find my keys that fast when I'm heading out of my apartment. Contrived.

1Main Art - 1: Nothing special. Kinda dull in fact.

4Back-Up Art - 4: Much stronger and bolder art in the back up this week. Even the Trinity look better in the back up story. Kara looks great. I wish reality would reassert itself to Lois's hair though.

4Cover Art - 4: This is a really pretty cover to look at. It's a study in contrasts. The contrast of size between Power Woman and Wonder God. The contrast of reds and purples evoking royalty. I still don't like Wonder Woman being represented in her primal form as anything but clay and earth, but this cover is one place where they make red-faced Diana look good.

Neal's Review:

1Main Story - 1: I could copy and paste most of the complaints from my previous reviews here. Names in dialogue, extrapolation through dialogue, random, coincidentally fortuitous happenstance.

Mainly it's a fight between good trinity and bad trinity that has no real parameters beyond the ethereal "MAGIC," so I feel absolutely no stake in it, no peril. I just await the resolution. It's like waiting for a paycheck. Only I don't need this to get by.

Somehow Konvikt faces no consequences for his actions. And the Tattooed Man and Sun-Chained-in-Hamburgers fight over something I can't discern, even though, if I recall correctly, the "real world" Sun-Chained died in a nova-thingie. But he's just back now, I guess.

And so we turn for Tarot for, well, for something I can't really fathom, some metaphorical semi-forshadow, before Despero and Kanjar, who hate each other, are suddenly working together. You're supposed to want to know why they're allied, I know, but I just don't. It's just boring.

That beginning, with Krona talking to himself (or a dog, depending), was just embarrassing to read. For obvious reasons. Let's explain our plan, to no one, for the benefit of the reader.

5Main Art - 5: The fights, such as they were, were beautifully rendered. Very little ethereal starstuff in the background, other than the double-page spread, and there it was justified. Good work.

1Back-Up Story - 1: More of the backup characters just talking about what's happening. Their plan? To talk about what's happening. It predictably fails just in time to get the "wow" point we've seen from eighteen miles away, that the trinity are somehow changed and now want to run things.

Lois jumping from the building would make sense if it were a coherent, rational way to try and resolve the issue. That's why she did it the first time (which is being shamelessly ripped off here for fanwank). Here, it makes Lois look ridiculously stupid. And why? To bring back a pet character, Tomorrow Woman.

4Back-Up Art - 4: Derenick continues to do a fine job, when he's not forced to draw bad Silver Age versions of characters and put his own tale out there. Lois' leap was a little awkward, but other than that, things look really great here.

2Cover Art - 2: Another arbitrary cover. All it shares with this issue is the shape and make of Wonder Woman, but even so, she isn't doing anything, just posing. This works if the new creation is even remotely interesting. A good example is the first appearance of Steel. You open that cover, he's just posing, but damn, you know he means business.

Here, she's trying to not look at the evil version of herself, who is the size of a smurf. It's kind of sad.

Jeffrey's Review:

1Main Story - 1: Earth is a... person? Wait, what?

Europe is full of sheep and goats!

The Crime Syndicate is working with Despero and Kanjar Ro?

Oh who cares anymore. Rubbish.

3Main Art - 3: Eh.

1Back-Up Story - 1: So while half the world is in chaos, Dick Grayson takes time for a shower.

Lois loses all intelligence and is now a moron.

Tomorrow Woman is able to stop DYING because of a promise.

And the Trinity are now self-important jerkwads who want to be our gods.

I honestly thought this book couldn't get any worse, and I was wrong.

I don't even know how that's possible. How can this be getting WORSE than before, when before it was the worst comic I'd ever read?

This is a train wreck for the ages.

3Back-Up Art - 3: Nothing left to say. At all. I'm just tired of it. All of it.

1Cover Art - 1: So... same cover as last week, this time we throw in one extra character who appeared in one panel on the interior!

COME ON, ARE YOU EVEN TRYING?!

I am so aggravated.


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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