Comments on: Annotations for Trinity issue #37

By: Nic

Nic — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:56:32 +0000

This is the second time Busiek has made reference to Carleton College (I'm an alum). The first was in issue #2 of "Superman: Secret Identity" as the college where Lois went.

When I saw the Minnesota Vikings beer-hat on the preceding page it made me wonder what Busiek's Minnesota connection was, and then, lo and behold, on the next page is another Carleton reference.

By: YLu

YLu — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:50:25 +0000

Mr. Nobody's been gone since a "dizzying whirlwind." Dizzying... A reference to Vertigo?

By: Johnny B

Johnny B — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:59:09 +0000

The "Emperor Joker" storyline is one of my favorite Joker stories, maybe even one of my favorite comic book stories, of all time, so I absolutely love it when the Joker is written this way. This issue has become the high point of the run for me for that reason.

Thanks for continuing to give us such great annotations each week!!

By: Tom Bondurant

Tom Bondurant — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:05:09 +0000

Vinnie: I did, but I figured that they were too obvious for me to note.

By: Vinnie Bartilucci

Vinnie Bartilucci — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:24:35 +0000

Did you not notice the "Gluckstern" typewriter and "Carlini" pen?

By: Tom Bondurant

Tom Bondurant — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:36:01 +0000

The Batman Adventures: Mad Love came out in 1994. Harley's first comic-book appearance (outside regular continuity, that is) was in The Batman Adventures #12 (September 1993).

By: Jeff Metzner

Jeff Metzner — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:55:29 +0000

Harley Quinn's first *in continuity* appearance was the Harley Quinn one-shot, but didn't the comic book adaptation of "Mad Love" come out before that?

By: Nathan Riemer

Nathan Riemer — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:11:20 +0000

Carleton College is indeed a real place. As a student at Carleton, I had a total "holy crap" moment when I saw Carleton mentioned in Trinity. Apparently Kurt Busiek's older sister was a Carleton student in the 70's, and he'd heard good things about the school. Amusingly, there's a student currently enrolled here who has the last name Busiek, but isn't related to Kurt. I've gotta admit, having my college explicitly referenced in a comic was even cooler than living in the same county (Westchester, NY) as Professor Xavier's school and the Company's headquarters on Heroes. I think I may ask the president of the college to sign my copy of Trinity.

By: Kaykordeath

Kaykordeath — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:57:45 +0000

I didn't catch the Red Hood + Robinson allusion. I read it as RED ROBIN (son)

By: Chris Buckley

Chris Buckley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:18:13 +0000

Looking for precedents, I think we're meant to take the Godwar as a meta-crisis that happened off panel, across the industry as a whole:

-Conflict among the Trinity = the disenchantment of the whole spirit of comics in the 1990s as the genre began to devolve into the posing stereotypical characters exhibited here.

-The decimation of their followers = the erosion of a disillusioned readership under the "grim 'n gritty" banner

-The restoration = the reconstruction of the "heroic" superhero, and its explosive appeal among the surviving fanbase

As per Kellel, "The need gods, not another man walking among them."

With the Trinity written out of the story, Busiek is allowing them to see and participate symbolically in the very dynamics that shape their storytelling, and their relationship with us, the readers.

See?