Grumpy Old Fan

Although I wrote quite a lot over the past year about DC's weekly series Trinity, I kept coming up with questions that went outside the scope of my weekly notes. Fortunately, writer Kurt Busiek was nice enough to participate in the following e-mail interview, conducted after Trinity concluded (and after he returned from a well- deserved vacation).

We discussed the nuts and bolts of producing Trinity, its connections to a couple of Busiek's other DC projects, a few nitpicky items, and what the year-long series leaves behind.

* * *

TCB: How did the weekly format affect your approach? Did you feel obliged to pace the book so as to satisfy both the weekly audience and the "wait-for-traders?"

kdb: I always feel obligated to make a project satisfying in whatever formats it's planned for. So yes, we wanted each individual issue to be an enjoyable read, and we wanted each trade paperback volume to be an enjoyable read. Which was a little tricky, since we didn't know, going into it, whether it would be collected as 4 TPBs (meaning the volumes would end at #13, 26, 39, and 52) or 3 TPBs (meaning #17, #34 or 35, and #52).*

That said, we were aware that with a weekly schedule, it's only 7 days to the next chapter, so if one week is light on action (or virtually all action), that would likely be balanced out by the next installment. Or maybe even by the story in the co-feature.

TCB: What sorts of decisions went into breaking the series into individual two-story issues? Were there any labor considerations, for example to give the artists time to rest up for the next crowd scene? Did you and Fabian Nicieza write particular second stories for particular art teams?

kdb: We did try to juggle things for the strengths of the various co-feature artists, yes. But we had flexibility there, because we had enough lead time so that we didn't have to have them in strict rotation. If we needed two chapters in a row from Scott [McDaniel], for instance, we'd just have to make sure we were plotted far enough ahead that while he was working on chapter one of two, Tom [Derenick] and Mike [Norton] had their own chapters to work on. As a result, the co-feature chapters didn't come in in order, but we had enough time that we didn't need them to; we could juggle talent and material and match them up right.

As a rough rule of thumb, we started out giving Scott spooky stuff or crime stuff, Tom big superhero action and Mike "people" stories, but varied that around as we got more of a sense of what they could do. Tom turned out to be very good at space stuff, for instance, and Scott far better at "cosmic/trippy" stuff than anyone might have imagined, possibly even him. By the end of it, we were making sure he got the psychedelic stuff, because we knew he'd knock it out of the park, while at the start we were thinking of him for shadows and mood...

TCB: Especially considering the artists' deadline pressures, I thought Trinity's art was consistently good. Among other things, I feel like I've been to Thayer's Notch now that I've seen it drawn by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert; and I was very impressed by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens' psychedelic Worldsoul/Krona story. Not that you had low expectations for the art, but were there any scenes or sequences which looked better than you'd written them?

kdb: I agree with you on the art being consistently good -- credit the artists, of course, but also credit Mike Carlin, for lining up such a good squad of guys and making sure to manage their schedules right.

As for which scenes looked better than I imagined, I'm tempted to say "All of them." Getting pages in was a treat, because everyone found ways to go a little further, make it a bit bigger, or funnier, or more affecting. From giant battles to big mystery to chapters like that great Norton/Kesel chapter about the Riddler, which was just perfectly paced, it was a pleasure all the way through.

TCB: Mike Carlin edited most of Countdown, and worked on the "weekly" Superman titles of the '90s. Was he more helpful with regard to the logistics of the book or the creative aspects?

kdb: Mike weighed in on the big-picture stuff, going over the outlines, the big ideas and so on, but when it came to the chapter-by-chapter stuff, Fabian and I had a pretty good sense of how to play it out, and Mike rarely asked for changes. So I'd say that after the big story decisions had been made, he was very supportive creatively, and had to be the scheduling logistics taskmaster more often than anything else. And his experience juggling a large creative team helped out a lot.

TCB: What was it like collaborating with Fabian? How much input did he have into those scripts, and/or the book's overall direction?

kdb: Fabian was insanely helpful. On the one hand, Fabian and I have worked together in a lot of different situations, going back to when he was a promotions manager at Marvel and I was a sales manager. We get along, we have a similar enough sensibility that we can pretty easily pull in the same direction, and he's an inventive and professional writer. One of the reasons Mike didn't need to involve himself all that much in the chapter-by-chapter plotting was that we pretty much had it covered -- Fabian was kind of an extra story editor, where I could call him up and bounce ideas off him, and get feedback and suggestions from someone deeply involved in the story, who wasn't pulled in a million directions at once by other emergencies.

At the same time, Fabian brought tons of creativity and no ego to the process -- he knew going in that I'd be basically driving the bus, and his job was to help. I probably trampled all over his stuff dozens of times, replotting co-features, tweaking the dialogue so much that at points it amounted to rewriting rather than co-writing -- but it was all in the service of keeping the two pieces of the issue together and working at speed; it's simply easier, sometimes, to rewrite rather than talk all the details through.

So in the end, the credits are a bit misleading. Fabian's name doesn't appear on the lead chapters, but he was essentially a contributing writer on those, a sounding board, a suggestion guy and more. And my name is only listed as co-plotter on the co-features, but I had a lot more input than that. It was very organic -- we were on the phone a lot and figured things out together. So I was driving the bus, but Fabian was co-pilot, or something. He had a number of very good suggestions, pushing me to think harder about Gangbuster and Enigma and others, and making sure I didn't set something up and then let it fade away when it should play a larger role. He's had a lot more experience with gang-written books than I do, so he saw pitfalls and structural issues sooner than I did, and kept us from falling prey to them.

And then I'd rewrite all his stuff; what an ingrate!

TCB: Appropriately enough, Trinity itself seems to be the third part of a trilogy, wrapping up storylines from JLA/Avengers and JLA's "Syndicate Rules." How much of what became Trinity did you have in mind when you were writing the earlier stories?

kdb: Almost none of it. We put Krona in the Egg at the end of JLA/Avengers because it seemed like a good place to leave him, somewhere that could lead to something rich, but we hadn't figured out what, yet. And then in "Syndicate Rules," we didn't do a lot with the Egg itself, but built up ideas like the Void Hound, or the CSA's favor- bank rules, knowing that they'd be paid off later, but again, not precisely how. So it's more a case of putting things into places that feel like a satisfying resolution for the moment, but have a built-in springboard for further explanation. It's more about knowing that there's stuff you can do that'll work than knowing exactly what stuff that'll be.

TCB: Apart from simply being shorter, do you think Trinity would have been significantly different as, say, an arc in Superman or JLA?

kdb: Oh, it'd have to be. Keep in mind that the JLA doesn't turn up until #3, and then is erased from reality for the middle third of the story. If it was a JLA story, we'd have gotten tons of complaints from people who thought we were using JLA as a vehicle to ram the Trinity down everyone's throats, at the expense of the rest of the League, and then that we weren't even letting the League be part of their own book. So it'd have had to have been a much, much different story.

Same for if it was in Superman -- it's not a straight Superman story; it's a story that has Superman as one of the main characters. So to build it more fully around him would change a lot. It doesn't really fit any existing DC book -- to properly describe it, it's either a book about the Trinity, with a whole bunch of guest stars, or a book about the DCU Universe, with a special focus on the Trinity. So if you don't call it Trinity, you need to call it DCU or DC Nation or something like that. (It was originally pitched, by the way, as "DC Superstars: Starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman....and The DC Universe!" Which would have fit pretty well, as it worked out.)

TCB: It seemed to me that Trinity shared some of its story structure, at least superficially, with JLA/Avengers. Both stories begin with a quest to gather certain powerful items, which are then used to create an alternate timeline. Although the two stories have their differences, are the similarities just coincidental?

kdb: I think they're coincidence. The quest-for-power-objects part of JLA/Avengers was there to help make it a travelogue/showcase of the two universes, an excuse to have a lot of fun locations for the fights. In Trinity, it was the villains going after power-objects, and that was to set up the building mystery of the Tarot connections and the personal items that were used in the Trinity spell.

TCB: Another JLA/Avengers question. In JLA/Avengers, I got the feeling you were lamenting the heroes' various personal tragedies, and saying that no matter how appealing it looked, the combined DC/ Marvel timeline was just a pipe dream. Here, though, the experience of the deified Trinitarians suggests that the characters' tragedies are inevitable, and perhaps even necessary. What do these stories say about the usefulness of these events?

kdb: In JLA/Avengers, the "tragedies" you're referring to were things like the Scarlet Witch losing her children, or Hal and Barry being dead -- I'd call that the kind of upheaval and calamity that happened to the heroes over the course of their careers, but which they had to accept as their burden to bear to restore the world to what they should be. In Trinity, you mean the legends, with the death of Robin and the Max Lord thing and such, right? I don't know that we're saying those are necessary, merely that they were big events that sent the heroes off into directions that isolated them, and they had to overcome those and reconnect with their true missions, rather than obsessing about personal failures.

TCB: Apart from those tragedies, how important generally was it to tell a story about these particular versions of the characters? Was it simply a case of using what had been established and/or what was current? Could you have gotten the same points across with more "timeless" versions?

kdb: I think they were reasonably timeless versions. We didn't dwell all that hard on minor details -- we used recent history in the legend stuff, but we used it in the process of illustrating who the characters are at their core. In another era, with different histories, those legends would have been different, but I'm sure we'd have found ways to say what we needed to say.

TCB: Were there any characters who, for whatever reason, didn't make the final cut? (Personally, I was a little surprised not to see the "Sword of Atlantis" Aquaman.)

kdb: DC didn't seem to know what they were going to do with Aquaman, so even though I created that version, I didn't want to force him into the story. The big loss, to my mind, was Metron -- we'd set up that Metron was interested in what would happen to the Cosmic Egg, and then couldn't use him as we saw it play out because the New Gods were off-limits due to Final Crisis.

And we couldn't use Madame Xanadu, because of her Vertigo series, but that meant that Charity got to play a role, which spun the story a bit differently, and that was fun.

Overall, though, we got to use most everyone we wanted to.

TCB: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are each inspired by their parents in very different ways. However, Trinity didn't really concern itself with those differences. Why not?

kdb: It didn't really come up. We could have made that another aspect of their trinitarianity, if that's even a word -- Superman was raised by loving parents, Batman's an orphan, Wonder Woman had a single Mom; Superman's adopted, Batman's a natural son, Wonder Woman was created...but after a while adding more details starts to feel like you're just piling them on, not going deeper into the characters.

There certainly stuff there to explore, and maybe someone will do a story about it. But we had enough going on that we didn't need to add that in, too.

TCB: Here are a couple of really nit-picky questions about the altered timeline. First, why did Hal Jordan become Sky-Knight if John Stewart was still Green Lantern? I take it Hal quit because he couldn't operate as GL on Earth, leaving John to be the GL of Sector 2814 everywhere but Earth. Also, why did Interceptor wear those goggles?

kdb: Interceptor's visor has hi-tech sensors in it -- it allowed her military bosses to observe what she saw; to see and hear what she did. Part of her being an agent of the government rather than a solo act. Hal Jordan quit being Green Lantern at some point and then built a new identity to keep being a hero, and John became our sector's GL. Neither of these really came up, but like you say, it's nit-picky. Given the way comics work, we could see either character again and learn more about them, I suppose. I really got to like Interceptor, and would love to see Supergirl meet her, in a compare/contrast story. Each one would think the other's life was unbearable; it could be a lot of fun.

TCB: He only popped up briefly here, so where might we see Khyber again?

kdb: Anywhere! He's out there, but he's very secretive, so he could pop up anywhere, or stay under the radar for years. He could make a good JLA villain, or get involved with some espionage/intrigue characters, or whatever. We hinted at him in "Syndicate Rules," by the way, when I was planning him as a JLA villain. But I don't think anyone noticed.

TCB: The Tarot plays a pretty significant part in the story, especially early on. I imagine that is the kind of thing you want to get right, because you'll probably have some readers who will know if you got it wrong. Did you have to do a lot of research before you felt comfortable with it? Did you consult any experts?

kdb: Fabian and I got a number of reference books, and used those -- I sort of delegated much of that to him, because, well, I was juggling so much stuff I didn't have the time to be more than cursory about it, and he was willing....

TCB: Trinity works in a lot of Clark's co-workers from his pre-Crisis days as a TV anchorman. That seemed to me to indicate a fondness for the Cary Bates/Elliott Maggin/Curt Swan era of Superman. Apart from your own work on the Trinitarians, and the ways they're being handled currently, to whom do you look for inspiration for each of these characters?

kdb: Everyone. I'm not looking to recreate any particular era, and my Superman, for instance, is informed by what Weisinger and his crew did, what Julie [Schwartz]'s creative staff did, what Byrne and Stern and Jurgens and Ordway and others did.... I like the Bronze Age Superman a lot, especially the Cary Bates issues, but when I write Superman it's a synthesis of all the stuff I like about Superman over the years. I don't try to hit particular notes, I simply have a sense of who the character is from reading all those comics, and that guy in my head is the guy I try to get on paper. Same for Batman and Wonder Woman ... I'm a big fan of Englehart's Batman, for instance, but I'm not specifically trying to capture that, it's just one piece of the mosaic that makes up Batman to me. Wonder Woman's history is a lot more fragmented, so I suppose I'm more guided by the stuff from what George [Perez] did to what Gail [Simone] is doing today, but there's certainly parts of the Bronze and Silver Age Wonder Woman in there, stuff that resonates with me and feels appropriate to who she is today.

TCB: Any immediate plans for Trinity's supporting cast, including Konvikt, Tarot and Gangbuster, Enigma and Stephie/Void Hound, and Tomorrow Woman?

kdb: I can't say, at present. I hope we'll see a lot of them -- including the Dreambound -- but if there are plans I'm not at liberty to announce them, and if there aren't I'm too sneaky to admit it.

TCB: Finally, can you share what's next for the new Earth-Trinity? Should we call it "Earth One," or was that just a wink to fans of the old Multiverse?

kdb: "Earth One" was a deliberate choice, and done in part at DC's request. There's definitely more than a wink going on there.

But again, I can't say, at present, what it's leading to...

kdb

+++++++++

* [It turned out to be 3 volumes, with vol. 2 covering issues #18-35 -- TCB]

Trinity #52

Well, it all comes down to this. With Trinity #52, Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, and the rest of their intrepid band have one last opportunity to sound off about Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Who will live? Who will die? Will there be food? And where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?

Join me, won't you, for one more trip around the triune block!

SPOILERS FOLLOW

"Where They Should Be" was written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; penciled by Mark Bagley (pages 1, 4-5, 19-25) and Mike Norton (pages 2-3, 9, 12, 18), Tom Derenick (pages 6-8, 10-11), and Scott McDaniel (pages 13-17); inked by Art Thibert (pages 1, 4-5, 19-25), John Stanisci (pages 2-3, 9, 12, 18), Wayne Faucher (pages 6-8, 10-11), and Andy Owens (pages 13-17); colored by Pete Pantazis and Allen Passalaqua, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The Trinity throws a wrap party -- and the cosmos gets a present!

Page 1

-- As we'll see on the next page, panels 1 and 2 are zooming in on the twin cities of Keystone and Central, connected by a bridge across the Missouri River. Naturally, this is a callback to issue #1, where the Keystone Coffee Pier made its first appearance. (But where is Cheynie?)

-- Considering how this issue ends, it's worth pointing out that in the days of the original infinite Multiverse, the two cities each occupied a different Earth. Earth-Two, home of DC's Golden Age heroes, had Keystone; and Earth-One, where most heroes didn't emerge until the Silver Age, had Central. Accordingly, the presence of Keystone City on the main DC-Earth is a constant reminder (for those of us old enough) of its merged status. The two were first seen as "twin cities" in Crisis On Infinite Earths #11 (February 1986).

Pages 2-3

-- I won't try to identify everyone on the patio, especially since most of them are spotlighted throughout the issue. However, I will say I like how this spread flows, particularly how the speech balloons lead one's eye down alongside the tier of inset panels to the tiny Grace and Metamorpho, and then back up to the "close-ups." Roy Harper connects panel 2 (the first inset) with panel 3, and Hal Jordan connects panels 3 and 4.

-- For what it's worth, Ollie Queen and Dinah Lance also appear with Roy and Hal in the insets. The guy in the tie is probably Tom Kalmaku, Hal's longtime friend and frequent co-worker. Tom, an aircraft mechanic who's known about Hal's Green Lantern career practically since the beginning, was created by John Broome and Gil Kane and first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #2 (September 1960).

[EDIT-- no it's not Tom Kalmaku; it's Ryan "Atom" Choi, as Mr. Busiek noted in the comments.]

Page 4

-- Wonder Woman's expression in panel 2 suggests that while she might be "nearly drained of power," she's still ready for the challenge. That's a nice bit of acting from Bagley and Thibert.

Page 5

-- Likewise, it's balanced by Superwoman's wild-eyed eagerness in panels 1 and 5.

Page 6

-- With Geo-Force, Katana, and Metamorpho in the picture, it looks like the army of Justice Leaguers, Justice Socialites, and adult Titans (all of whom went from Castle Branek to the North Pole) has been augmented with a few Outsiders.

Page 7

-- "That favor we owed you": I'm sure this has come up before, but the favor was owed when the Justice League (and friends) saved the Anti-Matter Earth from the Void Hound (then inhabiting a Qwardian battlecruiser) back in JLA #114 (July 2005).

Page 8

-- Enigma, Stephie, and the Void Hound are a sort of "trinity," even though they're not quite three separate beings anymore. It also looks like Enigma never gave up a last little bit of creation energy.

-- I had pegged Stephie for the new conduit to the Anti-Matter Earth's worldsoul, but this works too. Considering that she's got the mind of a young girl, "I sort of want to [rip their throats out]" is funny in a very demented way. Again I wonder -- since the Anti-Matter Earthlings are naturally predisposed to be bad, how much of that sentiment doesn't come from the Void Hound?

Page 9

-- In Panel 1 are Wally "Flash" West, Koriand'r/Starfire, Raven, Nemesis, Gar "Beast Boy" Logan, and Vic "Cyborg" Stone.

-- Eddie "Kid Devil/Red Devil" Bloomberg, Maxine "Cyclone" Hunkel, and Cassie "Wonder Girl" Sandsmark are in the background of panel 4. Eddie lost his powers and his demonic appearance sometime around Teen Titans vol. 3 #68 (April 2009), but I don't suppose that's meant to fix Trinity's spot on the overall timeline. The "bubble of time" probably includes a fudge factor.

-- If Nemesis is in a funk here, wait 'til he gets to this week's Wonder Woman #32....

Page 10

-- It's an understatement to say that Morgaine and Jason Blood have a long history of mutual animosity. I don't recognize this particular style of bookend. Coming soon from DC Direct…?

-- "All of Enigma's tech-goons are being deprogrammed" sounds like he brainwashed a few of DC-Earth's Geek Squads.

Page 11

-- The prison planet Takron-Galtos was created by Jim Shooter and Curt Swan and first appeared in Adventure Comics #359 (August 1967). At first it was only seen in the 30th Century in connection with the Legion of Super-Heroes, but eventually it began to show up in present-day stories.

-- Despero's restraints echo Krona's from his banishment in Green Lantern vol. 2 #40 (October 1965).

-- A couple of familiar Green Lanterns appear in panel 2, Salakk (second from left, miscolored blue) and Kilowog (third from left). Salakk was created by Denny O'Neil and Joe Staton and first appeared in DC Special Series #1 (1977) (a/k/a Five-Star Super-Hero Spectacular). Kilowog was created by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton and first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #149 (February 1982).

-- At first I thought the end of this particular subplot would mean no comeuppance for Kanjar Ro, but even his bravado recognizes how hard it'll be for him to get away.

Page 12

-- In the foreground of Panel 1 are Barbara "Oracle" Gordon, Helena "Huntress" Bertinelli, and Zinda "Lady Blackhawk" Blake.

-- "Ectotheric" should not be confused with "ectothermic," which means "cold-blooded."

-- Charity's Tarot cards are the Hermit, the Lovers, and the Wheel! Of! Fortune!

Page 13

-- The Vittaglias were seen previously in issue #26, as part of the altered timeline where Anthony was still alive.

-- Since the Hermit card signifies "communion with one's own inner world and deriving [one's own] truth from it," it's naturally appropriate for Xalitan Xor.

Page 14

-- Kind of an ironic twist to his story, though.

Page 15

-- "The Lovers" has been associated with Gangbuster and Tarot for a while now, so this is no surprise.

Page 16

-- E. Barrett Prettyman (1891-1971) was a federal judge who served for fifteen years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including two years as chief judge. As the caption indicates, the courthouse which bears his name is located in Washington, D.C., and is home to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as well as the D.C. Circuit's Court of Appeals.

-- Accordingly, the Dreambound were probably there for a hearing before that U.S. District Court regarding federal criminal charges, including their fight at the National Air & Space Museum. Perhaps in the interests of judicial economy, other charges stemming from their actions in Gotham City, Metropolis, and elsewhere were all consolidated into one case before this court.

-- Naturally, the Wheel of Fortune card signifies "life's unexpected changes."

-- I think this is Courtney Waxler's first appearance.

Page 17

-- I thought Graak would be revived and Tomorrow Woman would stay dead, and the complete opposite happened. Still, I'm glad Tomorrow Woman is back, especially since "Clara Kendall" is back with her. I'll look forward to her inevitable meeting with Clark/Superman when he re-settles on Earth.

-- Jay Garrick's T-shirt looks an awful lot like the original Mento costume. Maybe it's the latest from Graphitti?

Page 18

-- I'm still drawing a blank on the two guys talking (without dialogue) in panel 1.

-- Hawkman's soliloquy seems to set up the kind of "everything you know is wrong" story alluded to in Jim Starlin's infamous Hawkman Special.

Page 19

-- And now the stars of the show: the Trinitarians and the League of Extraordinary BFFs, three groups of three.

-- "New Chronus" … wow, we're so close to the end and here's a reference to Donna's origin! Well, I volunteered for this, so here goes. Originally, as depicted in Teen Titans vol. 1 #22 (July-August 1969), Wonder Woman rescued the infant Donna from her burning orphanage and took her to Paradise Island. This worked fine (in narrative terms) until Wonder Woman was removed from the Silver Age by her 1986 revamp. Consequently, The New Titans #50 (December 1988) revealed that Donna was rescued by Rhea, one of the Titans of Myth, who were the forerunners of the Greek gods. After the Greek gods deposed them, the Titans relocated to the planetoid New Chronus, and it was there that young Donna received her powers. When Donna was "killed" in 2003's Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day miniseries, she was actually "reborn," with a new identity as Goddess of the Moon, on New Chronus. The Teen Titans and (Nightwing's) Outsiders then brought her back to Earth in 2005's Return Of Donna Troy miniseries, just in time for Infinite Crisis.

Page 20

-- "That other world might have … needed gods to repair the damage Krona did"; and the Trinity did a lot of good there. However, as we'll see in a few pages, apparently they weren't exactly what the other Earth needed.

Page 21

-- "We're not above this world": again, this is a revelation which is not new to Trinity, and which I suspect many fans will associate with stories like Kingdom Come. More on this later.

Page 22

-- No annotations.

Page 23

-- I'm not going to argue the logistics of Superman's whispered message, because it's a sweet sentiment and a fine cap for the series.

Page 24

-- What's the sphere (that's not the moon) in panel 1?

-- Drained of all his extraordinary power, Krona's back to his familiar Oan/Maltusian appearance.

-- "Make this Earth one at last": I didn't capitalize "one," but I wonder if it shouldn't be. In 1985, when the Multiverse was transformed/reborn/streamlined into a single DC Universe, there was considerable discussion about whether the new Earth was really a beefed-up Earth-One, which after all had been the main DC Earth for some thirty years. The short answer seemed to be no; the new DC-Earth was a conglomeration, dubbed by one fan "Earth-Sigma" (for "summation"). More recently, when the 52-Earth Multiverse was unveiled two years ago, there was considerable discussion about whether the main DC-Earth was the new Multiverse's Earth-1. Again, the answer was no; it was "New Earth" (notwithstanding scattered contrary references), because the new Earth-1 had yet to be charted.

Page 25

-- "A world is lost, a contest won, a child is orphaned": references to our heroes' origins, obviously.

-- "What might have been … what could have been … what, perhaps, should have been": the implication, I take it, is that without Krona's interference (in the name of cruel science), the humanoids would not have been the blue-skinned people we met. Furthermore, this Earth would have produced a familiar Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, living in familiar-looking Metropolis, Gotham, and Themyscira.

-- Together with the "Earth One" mention, it all makes me think that this new Earth might well be an analogue for the old Earth-One. Like many of the other pre-Crisis parallel Earths, it had only one main generation of super-heroes (as opposed to the current DC-Earth's four). On Earth-One, when Superman first appeared (as the teenaged Superboy), he wasn't really picking up where a Golden Age's worth of super-people had left off. Instead, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were at the top of the heroic hierarchy because they were the first superheroes, not because they did things the Golden Agers couldn't….

* * *

,,, And that brings us to the last roundup.

Let's finish "Earth One" first. Trinity exists, at least in part, to give narrative meaning to this facet of DC's publishing history. In practical terms, these three characters have been at the center of that history for the past seventy years. However, in the post-Crisis context, an entire generation of Golden Agers now precedes them. On the old Earth-One, as on its sister world Earth-Two, the Trinitarians were part of that first generation, and could claim to have inspired all of those who followed. Moreover, the Earth-One Trinitarians inhabited a fairly static universe, except for the occasional marriage, divorce, noble sacrifice (i.e., the Doom Patrol), or new Robin or Green Lantern. Their place in the hierarchy wasn't challenged either by predecessors or successors. If the "Earth One" reference is any kind of a clue, that may also be true on the new Earth (Earth-Trinity? Earth-Krona?). Thus, in a sense, Trinity has produced a world which probably doesn't need the justification of a series like Trinity.

What, though, is that justification? Why read Trinity, and not 52, The Nail, or Kingdom Come? Well, for one thing, Trinity combines aspects of each of those miniseries into its own distinct story. Through the use of two Earths -- one deprived of the Trinitarians, and one which saw them as gods -- Trinity asserts generally that our heroes are symbols of strength, hope, and justice. When deprived of those unique symbols, the altered Earth tried mightily to recall and/or replace them, while the armies of the Justice Society and Global Police Agency struggled to fit Golden Age ideals to a changing world. Meanwhile, on Earth-Trinity, the Trinitarians themselves lived their lives over, often in strange new ways. Those experiences helped lead the people of that Earth out of a dark, Krona-dominated past, but along the way the Trinitarians lost sight of the people who "grounded" them.

This development is nothing particularly new, but it highlights the utility of "Clark Kent." Clark is the person Superman aspires to be, even as Superman himself is an inspirational figure. (It's all very circular.) More significantly, Trinity suggests that not only does Superman choose to be Clark, the choice is inevitable -- even for Kellel, god of a parallel Earth. By contrast, Dinanna and Ahtman embraced their roles as gods, and the resulting schism almost destroyed the Trinity's adopted world. Here in issue #52, we see that they used Krona to rewrite Earth-Trinity's history, presumably to avoid that cataclysm. Although having them as gods would certainly have made their influence eternal, in the long run their human flaws were better managed when they were "lesser beings." The nigh-omnipotent Superman tries to relate to the rest of the world as an ordinary person. The mythologically-infused Wonder Woman relates to the world as an ambassador of her people. The non-powered Batman's perspective is colored by his particular crusade. Take them away from their familiar surroundings and fill them with immeasurable power and they become boring and pompous, worth examining only with regard to their old selves. If trading that sort of eternal influence for the illusion of change means periodic reinventions, it's a small price to pay. According to Trinity, our heroes will never be perfect, so some tweaking comes with the territory.

While the Trinitarians might not be eternal in real-world terms, they aren't going anywhere either. When the next round of line-wide DC housecleaning comes along -- and it will -- the Trinitarians will be at the center of it once again. Although they've been revised, rethought, and relaunched countless times across various media, their resiliency has facilitated their longevity. For its part, Trinity has done a lot, especially early on, to establish both the Trinity's individual qualities and its relationship to the larger DC world. It's been fun not only to read but to dig into, and I'll be glad to revisit it in the future.

* * *

Now, I'm sure this is not the last I'll write about this miniseries. Before I close up this feature, though, I want to thank the many websites upon whom I've relied over these past fifty-two weeks.

My own research trinity has been the Grand Comics Database, Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics, and the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe. I've also turned often to Tarotpedia, the Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe, the Superman Homepage, Supermanica, TitansTower.com, Flash: Those Who Ride The Lightning, DarkMark's Comics Indexing Domain, Cosmic Teams!, the Great Book of Oa, and Amazon Archives. My dead-tree collections of DC Archives, Complete Histories, and Encyclopediae have been invaluable; and of course, I had the Vast Bondurant Comics Library (when I felt like looking at it).

Thanks also to everyone who read and commented, especially writers Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza and colorist Allan Passalaqua. Whether you worked on Trinity or not -- and whether you liked it or not -- I appreciated your insights.

Thanks to Matt Brady and Troy Brownfield at Newsarama, who let me start this feature there; thanks to Jonah Weiland and Brian Cronin at CBR for their help in moving it here; and thanks to JK and my fellow Robot 6ers for all your support.

Finally, you may remember that a few months into Trinity, my wife and I welcomed our own little Trinitarian! Here was Olivia, barely a week old, channeling the cover of issue #12 …

Olivia, the Bat Girl

… and here she is today, forty issues later and 9 ½ months older.

"Says here Keystone/Central's off I-85! That sound right to you?"

She's been my own special research assistant. Whether she does something as insane as this will be entirely up to her.

Talk to you later!

Trinity #51

Lots of last-minute housecleaning in this penultimate issue of Trinity. Just about every lingering subplot is either resolved or set up for resolution, which doesn't leave much old business for next week's conclusion. Considering the standalone nature of this miniseries -- and the fact that it's a 52-issue standalone miniseries -- I think that's for the best. There will probably be some super-powered action next issue, but I still hope that Kurt Busiek & Co. have left room for a thoughtful epilogue.

We're not there yet, though.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

LEAD STORY (pages 1, 12-22)

"Can You Hold Out" was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Some villains are dispatched -- but some are still around.

SECOND STORY (pages 2-11)

“Solid Ground” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The world's superheroes deal with its reconstruction.

Page 1

-- I was going to open with something smart-alecky like "now I feel like taking a few deep, cleansing breaths," or maybe a comparison to one of those black-light posters from the '70s. Really, though, this is a very nice, tranquil way to open the issue. However, I wonder about the transition from last issue, which ended with Lois at the North Pole yelling "It's not over!" while the ground shuddered around her. Since the narration tells us things are "gentle on a planetary scale," I suppose we're to be reassured that it's not as bad as it looks.

Pages 2-3 (story pages 1-2)

-- What, no mention that Mercury is the only metal which is a liquid at room temperature?

-- The Rocket Red Brigade was created by Steve Englehart and Joe Staton and first appeared in Green Lantern Corps vol. 1 #208 (January 1987). The Reds' armor, developed by GL Kilowog, was originally more boxy. Their appearance here reflects a redesign which first appeared around 52 #6 (June 14, 2006).

Page 4/3

-- The first logo-shaped Batplane was the "Batwing," designed by Anton Furst for Batman (1989). Before that movie, the various Bat-aircraft were all pretty much recognizable as customized versions of existing vehicles.

-- "Major fault line": 'round about Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73 (April 1998), Gotham City was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. Eventually, as told in 1999's year-long "No Man's Land" mega-arc, the city was cut off from the rest of the United States.

-- So long, Bigger.

Page 5/4

-- "What will be revealed … remains a mystery": sounds like more continuity tweaks, but I didn't think Trinity would do that.

-- Since the Marianas Trench is actually in the Pacific Ocean, I'm sure Hal has a good reason for being over the North Atlantic. Maybe he's on his way to the Pacific?

-- Speaking of mysteries, the last I knew of Tempest (specifically, November 2007's Aquaman: Sword Of Atlantis #56), he had lost his powers and the ability to breathe water. Here (as in Final Crisis, which takes place after Trinity), he looks back to normal. Maybe the answers will be in July's Titans #15.

-- By the way, we first saw Tempest as Aqualad back in issue #23, so I'll mention here that he first appeared as Tempest in Tempest #2 (December 1996), by Phil Jiminez.

-- I take it Dina is back to life because she was killed as a result of Morgaine's magic. By contrast, Bigger is (still) dead because the Joker had already killed him.

Page 6/5

-- I had thought Tomorrow Woman might survive Trinity, but no such luck.

Page 7/6

-- The resolution of the John Stewart/Void Hound subplot doesn't feel that satisfying, at least where John is concerned. I understand that the Void Hound learned that it could set its own purpose, etc., but now it seems like John was only involved to give us insight into the V-H's mind. Maybe I'm not remembering it correctly, but it seems to have made John more of a passive participant. (It also got him off Earth while the Arcana Wars were going on, for whatever that's worth.)

Page 8/7

-- No annotations.

Page 9/8

-- Despero can stab Enigma, but the latter still retains some of his shadow-power. In light of what the Trinitarians tell us later on, I take it the Troika's powers have been similarly reduced.

Page 10/9

-- No annotations.

Page 11/10

-- No annotations.

Pages 12-13

-- I found this to be another awkward transition, mainly because there wasn't much visually locating the various players in relation to one another. On page 8/7, SPHERE is apparently near Lois, Tarot, et al., judging by the placement of the word balloon in panel 1. The scene then shifts to the Troiksters' battle, after which Enigma collapses next to SPHERE. Thus, Enigma apparently ends up near Lois, Tarot, and company, although each of these narrative threads plays out in isolation from the rest. Consequently, when Stephie emerges from SPHERE, calling for help, it's not unreasonable to think she is in the same general area as Lois and the others. This sets up the transition from page 11/10 to page 12; but again, nothing has placed her expressly in relation to them. Moreover, this two-page spread doesn't show any of those characters relative to each other, although the layouts may indicate that the good guys are on one side of the vast plain and the bad guys are on the other.

Pages 14-15

-- No annotations.

Page 16

-- This was a pretty touching scene, and well within Batman's paternal nature.

Page 17

-- "He knows what it means to be a machine": but does he know what it means to miss New Orleans?  Although it took me a while to figure this out, I'm guessing "he" is the Void Hound. (In fact, since we see Batman's cape in panel 4, it looks like the V-H has been transformed into the black serpentine spirit.) I like this development, not least because it may lead to a new Anti-Matter Universe trinity.

Page 18

-- No annotations.

Page 19

-- "Our power was largely spent": in helping the Worldsoul repair the Earth, I guess. However, as seen in this issue, they still have enough power to grow and shrink as best suits the drama of the moment.

-- Shorter Krona: "It's not you, it's me!"

Page 20

-- Not sure what's happened to Krona. The Trinitarians probably don't have enough power to banish him from reality (as Morgaine's spell would have done). Maybe he's the Worldsoul's butler now?

Page 21

-- And finally, here is the Trinity, once again in the flesh. I know I had complained that they were staying in their godlike forms a little too long, but they'd gotten more interesting since then.

Page 22

-- You know, if Green Lantern really is on his way to the Marianas Trench from the North Atlantic, he could take a shortcut over the North Pole….

* * *

I got to the end of this issue and almost groaned oh come on, the Crime Syndicate? Their scene in issue #49 would have been a good sendoff. Still, in terms of who's left at the North Pole, this twist makes sense, and it's a decent cliffhanger. Besides, I expect they'll get snapped up by the SPHERE/Void Hound combo and spirited back to the Anti-Matter Universe within the first couple of pages.

Accordingly, this issue looks pretty much like it wraps up Trinity's big-cosmic-action portion. The Trinitarians have returned to their old selves, the Earth is on the road to recovery, and the proper timeline has been re-established (future tweaks notwithstanding). Assuming that Enigma and Stephie/SPHERE/the Void Hound will be OK, I suppose we must still say goodbye-for-now to Konvikt (and Graak, because I think he'll be brought back the same way Dina was), and learn the final fate of Gangbuster and Tarot's relationship.

Other than that, though, it'd be nice if Trinity ended as it began, with our three principals meeting over a light meal to suss out what they've been through. The more I think about the end of this series, the more bittersweet it becomes. It's not that I've developed a deep emotional connection to weekly research sessions; but in the context of DC's other big events, this represents the last time for a while that these characters will be together. Of course, that separation won't last -- nothing is really permanent in superhero serials -- but the timing makes Trinity's end somewhat more meaningful.

See you next week for the finale!

++++++++++++++++++++

Issue #50

Issue #49

Issue #48

Issue #47

Issue #46

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #50

Maybe it's just me, but this was one deep issue of Trinity.

Lately I've been thinking about the way I approach fictional universes, and had put some of that into words on Tuesday with regard to Star Trek. Accordingly, Trinity #50 gives me the chance to expand on that.

For those of you concerned about such things, this means very little trivia and a lot of rambling. You have been warned.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

LEAD STORY

“So…” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Krona, the Trinity, and the Worldsoul bring back Earth -- but not before…

SECOND STORY

“Her Realm” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Scott McDaniel, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The Worldsoul tries to make Krona understand what it means to be her.

* * *

This issue is pretty simple, plot-wise. Krona has destroyed the Earth, pulling it apart like monkey bread (mmm…) in order to get at its Worldsoul. Said Worldsoul -- which might also be described as the Gaia-force, or perhaps the planet's "animating spirit" -- is a critical piece of the cosmic puzzle Krona seeks to solve. Accordingly, he "enters her realm" and starts grilling her about the quantifiable aspects of her existence: life-cycle, sustenance, communication with similar beings, generation of planetary inhabitants, etc. She's mystified by his questions, because all she does is exist and experience. Such existence and experiences are too big to be crammed into Krona's "specific" demands, so she lets Krona share her perceptions in a mind-expanding two-page spread.

Still not getting it, Krona lashes out with "a hurricane of energy that could devastate a galaxy," but which proves ineffectual in the Worldsoul's realm. Finally, the Worldsoul asks Krona rhetorically "[do y]ou want reality itself to change to suit you? To be what you think it 'must be,' rather than what it is? What your own senses have shown you?" When Krona continues to protest, the Worldsoul kicks him back into the regular universe; but he's far from done: "If the cosmic intelligences are too foolish to strive, to seek knowledge -- then they are not gods, but sheep! Lab animals! And I will tear you to pieces to see what makes you tick…!"

At this point, however, the Trinity appears, still in their divine forms. They and the Worldsoul draw Krona into their circle, using his power and theirs to bring back the Earth and its inhabitants. The issue ends at the North Pole, with Lois, the Justice League, Justice Society, and Titans alive and well, but still dealing with natural disasters.

Regular readers of this feature are probably well-acquainted with my perspective on DC's idea of a "Trinity." Essentially, it's an attempt to translate the characters' continuous publication histories into an in-story relationship. It's a relatively recent concept, and therefore not a well-settled part of the texts in the way that Batman and Superman have long been established as the "World's Finest Team." Indeed, Wonder Woman's 1986 relaunch set her debut in the present, thereby eliminating all of her prior adventures with other superheroes. Only in the past few years has that history been restored; and even now, all we really know is that she helped found the original Justice League. To be sure, it's important to her place in the Trinity, but it alone doesn't qualify her for Trinitarian status.

I'm getting off the track a little, but not much. Like Krona tearing into the Earth, I am trying to pick apart one aspect of Trinity -- Wonder Woman's history -- in order to see if it can be justified. However, What this issue seems to be saying to me is that such things are unquantifiable.

Let's look at this briefly from another angle, continuing with Wonder Woman. Would Trinity be different if it were being published five years ago? Ten years? Twenty? Forty? Fifty? If the story did change appreciably, odds are those changes would come from her shifting role. Nevertheless, I daresay Trinity would still make the case that the essence of Wonder Woman -- regardless of the details -- justifies her Trinitarian status. She might be a white-suited martial artist, she might pose as an Air Force officer, she might not have killed Maxwell Lord, but those things are irrelevant in the bigger picture. Likewise, Superman might consider "Clark" a disguise, or Batman might be working through a sci-fi phase; but their core characteristics remain unchanged. Trinity's premise might not be defensible statistically, but it doesn't have to be. The series provides its own justification. It just is.

That raises the troubling question of whether this space has been used productively. I do feel a certain sympathy for Krona's fruitless pursuit of hard data. Perhaps I have also concentrated too much on the details … uh, sometimes.

However, as a weekly series, Trinity invites weekly scrutiny; and it's not unreasonable to see if the details point to something more meaningful. Such an approach worked well with 52, which had its share of extended mystery plots (including Supernova's identity and Sue Dibny's final fate). By contrast, Trinity's main mystery was the villains' plan in Act One. Act Two followed the search for the Trinity and the altered timeline's effects; and Act Three has been a series of god-level battles. Thus, Trinity doesn't share 52's play-fair mystery characteristics. It also seems a little lighter on the numerology that 52 relished. These are not bad things, and I don't mean to suggest that Trinity suffers for not being 52. Both series use their details to give their stories depth and scope; and both use DC's superhero characters to play off (and/or fill the spaces left by) the Trinitarians.

Still, while Trinity is not a play-fair mystery, it is tempting to apply those play-fair rules. Certainly Trinity has played fair in many ways, including foreshadowing the altered timeline and Earth's destruction via issue #1's brazier-visions. Nevertheless, at some point the scientific method cannot account for a story's every twist and turn. More importantly, not every story has a predictable solution. On one level, 52 filled the year-long gap between Infinite Crisis and the "One Year Later" status quo. Therefore, those stories set parameters within which 52 could operate. Trinity's parameters are less specific, requiring only that its characters be "back to normal" at the end, ready to participate in Final Crisis and their own mini-events. This makes its ultimate outcome eminently predictable, since its characters will suffer no apparent consequences. (Regardless, I doubt it will be a complete reset.)

By the same token, though, this forces the reader to concentrate on what the story is saying, and not necessarily where it is going. I get the feeling that the Worldsoul tells Krona as much in this issue. Trinity is grounded firmly in the pre-Final Crisis DC Universe, and its assertions about the Trinitarians draw from established DC history. However, those assertions aim for a more general applicability. Trinity has not positioned itself as another link in the big-event chain which continues with Blackest Night. Instead, it has been a wide-ranging meditation on these characters' relationships with each other and with their friends and colleagues. Looking for something more concrete -- something more practically applicable -- ends up missing the point.

Now, all that sounds like I've talked myself out of a job; but I wouldn't say this feature has been wasted space. Again, Trinity has used DC's superhero lore to examine, flesh out, and sometimes justify the Trinitarians' relationships. To do this, it's had to pull from who-knows-how-many stories produced by countless professionals over seventy-one years. The "Trinity" idea may be relatively new, but it has to fit into that history (or, at least, the current interpretation of that history). Likewise, almost all of the book's guest stars are established characters with their own eclectic histories. The combination of those diverse ideas, and their distillation into narratives and themes, has always fascinated me. On Tuesday I mentioned Star Trek fans' personal theories about the Trek universe, drawn from its established history -- well, I see a good bit of that in Trinity, and I've enjoyed comparing its perspective with my own. To the extent that I can see the origin of a particular observation or plot element, I think Trinity has been "quantifiable."

The important parts, though, are those products of creative energy which we readers don't see coming. To me that's a big part of the Worldsoul's message: some things can't be dissected or calculated. I look forward to reading Trinity as a completed story, but I've had great fun "experiencing" it this way.

* * *

By the way, I do have some notes on this issue….

Pages 2-3

-- The triangular aircraft in the middle of page 2 looks like a version of the VentureStar spacecraft; but it is probably an F-14 fighter jet with its main wings folded back.

-- I know none of these folks will be dead for long, but I'd be surprised if Supergirl couldn't survive Earth's destruction.

Page 5 (story page 1)

-- The "CGI," for lack of a better term, is a very nice addition to this story. Like Jack Kirby's photo-collages, it gives the proceedings an appropriately otherworldly feel. I'd be interested in hearing more about how it was accomplished.

Page 6/2 et seq.

-- Trinity has shown us different women who have been connected to the Worldsoul throughout the years (see, e.g., issue #26), so naturally, the Worldsoul looks different throughout this issue. Whether these different faces are expressions of her "facilitators" or of herself is probably a moot point.

Page 20

-- "I lost one planet…. I won't lose another": while I don't mind him saying this here, the phrase should definitely be part of the Superman Drinking Game.

Page 21

-- We'll see if this (finally) drains the Trinitarians' god-powers.

Page 22

-- Fishnets in the snow = brrr! I know Black Canary has warmer costumes….

-- I think that's a plume of yellow-and-black smoke in panel 7 (behind the fading-out Firestorm), but it kinda looked like Krona at first.

* * *

Two more weeks!

++++++++++++++++++++

Issue #49

Issue #48

Issue #47

Issue #46

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #49

Off and on throughout this series, I have wondered how Busiek, Bagley, Nicieza, et al., would spend their last few issues. Would they go all-out right up to the very end, or would they wrap things up a little sooner in order to have some time for an epilogue? Like last issue, Trinity #49 concerns itself pretty much with one plot point; and with Krona trapped and Morgaine and Despero on the ropes, the issue was shaping up to be rather pivotal.

And it was -- but not exactly how I imagined.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“This Planet, These People…” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Page 1

-- I don't recognize the extraterrestrials in panel 1. However, that bridge layout looks awfully familiar (although not quite like an Apple store).

Pages 2-3

-- While Batman has "reverse-engineered" the spell (thanks, again, to Luthor's analysis), I don't think the narration here contradicts anything I said last issue. Because, of course, I know more.

Page 4

-- "Cast him from reality forever" sounds pretty final; but then again, so does "reduced to disembodied energy" (as the Guardians originally treated Krona) or "trapped inside/transformed into a creation egg."

Page 5

-- I understand that the Troika created the Dreambound. However, this talk of "controlling" them (and releasing them from said control) is rather superfluous, considering that Morgaine hasn't done anything to stop their rebellion thus far. Sure, it might be a matter of Morgaine being too busy or too preoccupied to exert that control, but the way it's played out, it hasn't made much, if any, difference.

Page 6

-- Here's Charity talking about hope. If only Faith (created by Joe Kelly, first appeared in JLA #69 (Early October 2002)) had been part of this Justice League team.

-- Yay, the Worldsoul has been healed! Now let's get Stephie better and everything will turn out great!

Page 7

-- And Ultraman's heart grew three sizes that day…. Well, maybe not.

Page 8

-- I liked the Trinity's discussion of its roots, especially the notion that Wonder Woman represents "ancient powers that birthed my culture." That's a different, but perhaps more expansive, role than saying merely she is "of the Earth" -- as in, literally formed from clay. (Likewise, we could say that Superman is "of the heavens," and Batman is "of humanity.") It connects her more to the supernatural, whereas Superman's powers are rooted in (pseudo-) science and Batman's skills come from study and training.

Page 9

-- "We cast you out": hmm. Wonder where Krona would have gone? Same place the Troika would have sent the Trinity, I guess. ("Suppose they went nowhere?" "Then this'll be your big chance to get away from it all!")

Page 10

-- Occasionally I have had my doubts about Morgaine being Trinity's main antagonist (as opposed to, say, Circe). However, this moment is the perfect expression of how irredeemably, monomaniacally crazy she is. She has nothing left to lose, so she pushes the doomsday button. It's a fitting way for her to go.

Page 11

-- No annotations.

Page 12

-- And here, at last, is the final brazier-vision from issue #1. Accordingly, in all fairness, I suppose we should have seen this coming.

* * *

SECOND STORY

“No Future” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by John Stanisci, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Insert R.E.M. reference here (and I don't mean "Superman").

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- I hate to sound like a grump, but in the old days the Green Lantern rings were limited only by the wearer's willpower (and, when applicable, the color yellow). In a flashback to the JLA's first encounter with Starbreaker, shown in this winter's Justice League of America vol. 2 #29 (March 2009), Hal whipped up a harness around the Earth so Superman could keep it in its proper orbit. More recently (DC-wise), in DC One Million #4 (November 1998), Kyle Rayner used a ring-bubble to contain an exploding star until it had burned out. Counting down the power-level percentages is fine for drama, but I liked the GLs getting to do whatever they wanted on one 24-hour charge.

Page 14/2

-- "If willpower were enough": see?

-- Also, the rings are supposed to protect their wearers from mortal injury. Considering what happens in the rest of this issue, that may be a moot point. (Still, one ring even re-animated its wearer, the "dead" Lantern Driq. Wonder if we'll be seeing him in Blackest Night?)

Page 15/3

-- Well, I did say I wanted to see Desiree again. I guess that's Julia Kapatelis with her?

-- Looks like we're having curtain calls. Madame Zodiac was last seen in issue #15.

Page 16/4

-- Bigger's story was told in issue #18. The fact that he's still around suggests either that the timeline hadn't been entirely repaired, or that Bigger is a temporal anomaly.

Page 17/5

-- The Great Ten were referenced obliquely a couple of issues ago, but here are some of them in person. Bonded with the aircraft is Immortal Man In Darkess; next to him is Socialist Red Guardsman; then Thundermind, Ghost Fox Killer, and August General In Iron.

Page 18/6

-- Dina Avenbruch was seen previously in issue #33.

Page 19/7

-- The Sea Devils, a group of aquatic adventurers led by Dane Dorrance, were created by Bob Kanigher and Russ Heath and first appeared in Showcase #27 (July-August 1960).

Pages 20/8 and 21/9

-- There's Robin in the upper-right corner, but I don't remember seeing him before. In fact, Hal is there too, on the right edge, just above panel 2; so I guess the ring protected his body after it fell from space.

Page 22/10

-- A few pages back, the narration asked what can be done "when gravity itself fails." That phrase, and this page, may be subtle references to the story "When Gravity Went Wild!" from Justice League of America vol. 1 #5 (June-July 1961). The issue's cover looked down on the Leaguers and others as they flew away from Earth, not unlike panel 3. It didn't get this bad back then, of course; but the story did introduce longtime League foe Doctor Destiny.

* * *

Now, be honest: haven't we all just thrown up our hands at some point and said, "the heck with this -- I'll scrap the whole thing and start fresh!"

Obviously none of us thinks this is the end, but I thought this issue built suspense pretty effectively. As mentioned above, I was expecting things to start winding down; so I was caught off-guard by the ever-escalating series of "oh crap" moments. Despite all the power thrown around by Krona, the Trinitarians, and the Troiksters, I have no idea how this particular cliffhanger (or "cliff-shooter-into-space," maybe) will be resolved. It could be as simple as Krona wiping the dust off his hands and saying "thanks, I found what I came for, here's your planet back." Perhaps the resolution will at last drain the Trinitarians of their divine power. Since the series started with inexplicable dreams, Clark, Bruce, and Diana could each wake up in their own beds, shellshocked by the tale their unconscious minds had shared.

Whatever happens, I doubt it will be a complete reset (and I don't think Busiek will take the dream route either). Trinity hasn't promised that "everything you know is wrong/will change," but neither do I get the impression that it won't matter at all. At the very least, the Trinitarians should come out of it with new appreciations of each other and of their role(s) in the grand scheme of things. How you get from the end of the world to that, I have no idea; but that's why I read these things.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Issue #48

Issue #47

Issue #46

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #48

This issue of Trinity was pretty much devoted to one plot point. Considering that we're on issue #48 of 52, it was a crucial plot point, but still. Just enough trivia to retain my regular format.

Mind you, I am not complaining, because I liked the issue pretty well. However, the days of obscure references and extended riffs on tangential Easter eggs are probably behind us.

But that's not why we read Trinity, now is it?

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“Batman Said They Had A Plan” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: ... And here's the plan.

Page 1

-- Every time the book refers to the Trinity thinking in unison, it reminds me of the subplot towards the end of Act One where their thoughts and emotions were intermingled. That all changed when they became gods in Act Two (and it probably contributed to their problems as gods), so it makes me wonder whether the "intermingling" was just a byproduct of Morgaine's spell.

Page 2

-- No annotations.

Page 3

-- No annotations.

Page 4

-- "A third the might": There Krona goes again, talking about relative power levels, and while "a third" makes sense, I still find it hard to take him literally.

Page 5

-- The Worldsoul doesn't have the multiple female forms coming out of it like it did in previous issues; but I take it that's not because it's getting any better.

-- By the way, shouldn't the health of the Worldsoul be reflected in the physical world itself?

Page 6

-- Again I note that Batman and Enigma both have similar all-encompassing shadow powers, but I'm not drawing any conclusions from that.

Page 7

-- "You are the Void Hound? I am the Void." Nice. I don't think it diminishes the Void Hound at all. I mean, Batman is still a god at this point….

-- I also like the fact that they bond because they are both relentless. John Stewart's consciousness must be completely submerged.

Page 8

-- "I'm just learning to take your energy": again, no doubt drawing on his brief Electric Superman career.

-- "You three cling to the past": I'd say there is some truth to that, considering that the Trinitarians' fundamentals will never change. In a way, the point of Trinity seems to be to identify those fundamentals, place them in context, and ultimately affirm them. This obviously includes returning to their original selves, something in which Krona would have no interest.

Page 9

-- "They already are [noble]": considering Kellel's "secret identity" phase (among other things), this isn't really a new insight into Superman's character, even for Trinity. However, in light of the Trinity's more recent attitude towards the people of Earth, it's a big step.

Page 10

-- "We're just the conduit": more about this at the end.

Page 11

-- "Power flows downward … meeting power flowing upward": ditto.

Page 12

--"It's your own spell": do I have to say it?

* * *

SECOND STORY

“Lesser Beings” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Scott McDaniel, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Exploring the new trio.

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- I do like the new trio of Tarot, the Void Hound, and SCII. I like how they each come from different storylines, and aren't merely a collection of three characters thrown together by chance (although I liked the trio of Tarot, Gangbuster, and Hawkman).

Pages 14/2 and 15/3

-- No annotations.

Page 16/4

-- Hemi's frustration as an artist reminds me of issue #19's Desiree, who drew Wonder Woman despite the altered timeline. I liked her, and it would be nice to see her again.

Page 17/5

-- Is that the Iron Fist tattoo in panel 6 (next to the Sun Boy symbol)…?

Page 18/6

-- No annotations.

Page 19/7

-- For whatever it's worth, Mrs. Guzman may have been the woman from issue #5. Back then, her reading was interrupted by Throttle, Blindside, and Eraserhe-- I mean, Whiteout.

Page 20/8

-- You know, in all these shots of the various superheroes, I still haven't seen any Teen Titans. I guess they're being held in reserve.

Page 21/9

-- I did appreciate this page's narration. It's helping to bring the point of the series back in focus. After all, it is something of a happy accident that these three characters -- and not, say, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman -- have been published continuously since the late '30s/early '40s. We might explain it in business terms, but there was no conscious "mythmaking" behind it. Nevertheless, here we are; because myths have sprung up around them. I won't get too philosophical yet, but without myths to give them meaning, the world's everyday practicalities are just mechanics.

Page 22/10

-- No annotations.

* * *

As we know from last issue, the Trinitarians (and friends) were able to cast Morgaine's spell over Krona thanks to Luthor's "thorough analysis" of his findings at Castle Branek. However, looking back at issue #17, when Morgaine cast the original spell on the Trinity, we see that the outward mechanics of the two procedures are quite different.

The Troika and its associates spent much of Act One pursuing three general components of the spell. First, they assembled items representing the Minor Arcana of the Tarot: swords, staves, pentacles, and cups. Second, they gathered items representing each Trinitarian's friends, foes, and foundations. Third, they "tagged" each Trinitarian with an "anchor-sigil" corresponding to his or her place in the Major Arcana. The spell was finally ready when Batman was tagged, after he misjudged the agility of "Despero" (actually the disguised Kanjar Ro). We never actually saw what happened to the Trinitarians between Batman's tagging (at the end of issue #16's first story) and their captivity at the start of issue #17. Presumably, the tag completed some sort of mystical circuit (for lack of a better analogy) which allowed the Troika to have its way with our heroes. At least, that seems to be what's happening with Krona.

Before we go too far with this, let me just say that yes, it's a little silly to put a whole lot of analysis into a magic spell, which by definition includes a substantial fudge factor. This is the kind of thing for which the phrase "a wizard did it" was invented. Besides, I tend to misinterpret the mechanics of this series.

Anyway, the good guys may still have all the material components of the original spell. I suppose by now it's a moot point whether those components -- the staves, pentacles, friend-foe-foundation items, etc. -- survived the mucking with the timeline. No one needed them when the timeline was altered, so it didn't matter whether they had been erased from history. Now that the timeline has been restored, the good guys have found the friend-foe-foundation items still in Castle Branek, so it's reasonable to assume that the other items would also be there.

In fact, I doubt that the Trinitarians' 3-F items would work on Krona, because they're not his friends, etc. That’s where Sun-Chained-In-Ink, Tarot, and the Void Hound come in. Seems to me that they represent Krona's friend (the Void Hound), foe (Tarot), and foundation (SCII, whose "star in his belly" -- and this is a stretch -- literally personifies Krona's hunger for cosmic knowledge). Furthermore, the assembled superheroes may well represent the Arcana themselves, just as the JSI members did in the altered timeline. We haven't seen Krona tagged expressly with an anchor-sigil, but Superman could have been doing something similar with all the punching.

It's worth pointing out that the original spell was supposed to switch the Troika for the Trinity, and so far Krona doesn't seem to have established a comparable connection with the Earth. Therefore, the spell mechanics may only be in the service of channeling the Earth's creation (?) energy so that it can be one side of the "pincer" holding Krona in place. In the original spell, the Troika may have provided the "incoming" energy which Superman now projects. I presume he didn't do anything special for that part, but the spell was necessary for the "outbound" stream.

Since the Trinity apparently isn't using the spell in quite the same way as the Troika did, my guess is that they'll modify it, using Krona's creation energy to heal the Worldsoul. Heck, there may be enough to heal SPHERE/Stephie as well, and perhaps install her as the conduit to the Anti-Matter Earth's worldsoul.

Sadly, my track record for predictions speaks for itself….

Eleven months down -- one to go!

+++++++++++++++++++

Issue #47

Issue #46

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #47

Lots of payoffs in this week's installment of Trinity, and not just for this miniseries. Many of the plot threads and other elements about which I'd been curious show up here, which makes for a pretty exciting issue.

As the great tactician said, "I love it when a plan comes together."

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“Power To Spare” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Big fight at the North Pole!

Page 1

-- "Your hour of reckoning is at hand": I know this isn't a new thing, but what is it about godlike power that makes these folks elevate their speech patterns?

Pages 2-3

-- No annotations.

Page 4

-- "Three times the god": In part because this is not 52, which played more overtly with that number, I have slacked off keeping track of Trinity's "three" references, but of course this one was pretty obvious. Just as obvious, I doubt Krona's comment is meant to be taken literally. It's not like the Trinitarians and Troiksters each have 1/9 of the Cosmic Egg's energy, leaving Krona with 1/3.

-- (And you probably thought I'd do a "once … twice" joke.)

Page 5

-- What are the black areas of panels 2 and 3? Are they merely the blank spaces beyond the panels? At first I thought the heroes and armada were in space, and the black areas represented the nighttime Earth; but that would mean Supergirl could hear Despero's taunt from orbit.

-- This is the first time I've seen Cyborg with built-in jets. Cyborg is able to jump great distances, but I'd never seen him flying under his own power before.  Oh well, if it was good enough for R2-D2....

-- "Smack 'em up" is a phrase I, in my sheltered life, haven't encountered outside of Busiek-written comic books and Prodigy songs. I can guess what it means, but I was a little surprised to see it didn't have an Urban Dictionary definition. Even the venerable comic-book expression "Holy Hannah!" has an Urban Dictionary definition….

-- By the way, does Supergirl remember much of her Interceptor leadership training? She seems pretty take-charge here.

Page 6

-- Here's one payoff: Krona's keen insight into the Trinity. The more the Trinitarians settle into their godlike roles, the more they are, in fact, abandoning their friends and colleagues. Apparently the truth hurts so much that they stop fighting.

Page 7

-- Payoff #2: the Dreambound and Xor make good on their side-switching. This has been a long time coming (the Atom helped nudge the Dreambound away from Morgaine back in issue #36, and Morgaine killed Graak back in issue #39), but I'm not really complaining.

-- I do note that Morgaine was directly responsible for making these five characters what they are presently, so there's a nice irony in them turning on her.

Page 8

-- In fact, could that relationship to Morgaine make the Dreambound's powers a little more effective against her?

Page 9

-- The armada's rocket-scooters (seen firing on Sun-Chained-In-Ink in panel 1) were a little confusing to me throughout this issue. They look a little like something Owlman would ride, and they also remind me of similar craft which the Teen Titans (and probably other groups) used. I got confused because the good guys are seen riding similar scooters (which I suppose could have been commandeered) in the second story.

-- Payoffs #3 and #4: Enigma reclaims the Idol-Head, something I hoped for a couple of issues back; and attacks Morgaine's forces in earnest.

Page 10

-- Nice touch having Ultraman's eyes glowing heat-vision red. Superman's only light up that way when he's really angry; but as you'd expect, Ultraman's angry most of the time.

-- "That favor we owe you" was for stopping the Void-Hound from completely destroying the Anti-Matter Earth back in JLA #114 (July 2005). Funny that the Void-Hound is here now, isn't it? Wonder when the Crime Syndicate will find out?

-- I can't keep track: does Enigma now owe the CSA a favor?

Page 11

-- Appropriately enough, Power Ring is attacking the Void Hound, which may still have his counterpart inside.

-- If memory serves, "L.O.S.2" (which I think should be L.O.S.T. 2) stands for Low Orbit Supersonic (Transport), version 2. I don't think we've been told why it crashed, because it seemed to be doing fine last issue.

-- See, here's an (unidentified) good guy riding a rocket-scooter in panel 2.

Page 12

-- No annotations.

* * *

SECOND STORY

“A Role To Play” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Luthor's been busy.

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- "Kory" is short for Koriand'r, Starfire's real name.  Yes, like the spice.

-- "X'Hal" (which I don't think is pronounced "exhale") is the warrior-turned-goddess who Starfire worships. She was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and first appeared "in person" in New Teen Titans vol. 1 #24 (October 1982).

-- I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but the fight scenes in this story focus on the adult Titans, most of whom were New Teen Titans together.

Page 14/2

-- "I kept his clothes from that night in storage": huh. I don't know whether this detail has ever been previously mentioned.

Page 15/3

-- Payoff #5: Luthor's plan, arguably foreshadowed by issue #42's reference to the "Hierophant complicating matters." I had thought Luthor would try to steal the Trinity's creation energy (and he still might), but he's not above helping Superman save the planet when things get really tough.

-- Luthor was elected President in 2000's Superman: Lex 2000 special (January 2001), beating out both Vice-President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush. He didn't finish out his first term -- something about going insane with rage, strapping on the green battlesuit, and attacking Superman -- having been impeached following the events of Superman/Batman #6 (March 2004). Luthor's Vice-President, Smallville's own Pete Ross, succeeded him; and Ross was succeeded by one Jonathan V. Horne. Therefore, as far as I know, Bill Clinton was the last Commander-In-Chief which the DC-United States shared with the real one.

Page 16/4

-- Luthor is flashing back to issue #42.

-- "You can't allow anything that doesn't make them praise you": … and here, he's projecting.

Page 17/5

-- One could make the case that apart from their ethical differences, both Batman and Luthor stand in much the same relationship to Superman, since each represents a pinnacle of human achievement. This page shows Luthor as science-detective, which of course is one of Batman's more familiar roles. Luthor using magic is something unusual, though (by his own admission).

Page 18/6

-- Going by the Dreambound appearance, Luthor's investigation must take place between issues #42 and #43, since the original Sun-Chained-In-Ink returns in #43's first story.

Page 19/7

-- Back in #42, Firestorm mentioned a "hound" as part of his message to the Trinity about GL/John, but later in the issue, the Void Hound doesn't come up in the JLA's meeting. Now it seems from Alfred's narration that the JLA knew the Void Hound was involved, and just didn’t mention it at the meeting. I guess when it's no longer controlling a massive Qwardian engine of destruction, it's (literally) not as big a threat.

Page 20/8

-- I imagine a smug voice saying "you're stuck in a cave, but your party's at the North Pole fighting for the survival of the planet. Yep, there's an app for that."

Page 21/9

-- In panel 2, it looks like Donna's about to have a wardrobe malfunction.  The shape of the costume doesn't match the shape of her body.

Page 22/10

-- No annotations.

* * *

Like I said, lots of payoffs, and that doesn't even include obvious things like Despero's armada finally arriving, or Tarot and SPHERE being rescued. Now our heroes must simply heal the planet's animating spirit, and how hard could that be? (Might take all of the Trinity's creation energy, though….)

Again, this was a fairly satisfying issue. As a longtime New Teen Titans fan, I especially enjoyed seeing the Titans in action as a team (considering that we'd been focused previously on the Justice League or Justice Society). I also appreciated the coordination between Alfred, Dick, Lois, and Donna, 2/3 of the League of Extraordinary BFFs.

Finally, I know I don't mention the covers here, but since we're getting to the end of the series, it was good to give the second-story artists their share of a triptych. Mike Norton and Walden Wong's cover for next issue was exactly what I'd hoped it would be.

So, on that note, I'll see you next week!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Issue #46

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #46

I found a lot to like in this week's installment of Trinity. It advanced each major plotline, it showed characters behaving proactively, and it had some good, unexpected character moments. After all this time, I think I like Trinity best when it doesn't go too small (like last issue) or too big (like the epic battles). I liked the super-team interaction which kicked off the issue, the frustration which ended it, and most things in between.

Of course, this is probably just the calm before everything goes big again.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“They Who Taught Us” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: North, Ms. Teschmacher, north! (And bring cookies!)

Page 1

-- Last week I was wondering when the magic-users were going to show up; and here they are. We've seen both Zatanna and Raven previously in Trinity, but mostly in crowd scenes.

-- This has nothing to do with Trinity, or even his use on this page, but there's something which always bothers me about the current Dr. Mid-Nite: he wears his costume in the operating theatre. Is there a reason for this beyond merely identifying him?

Pages 2-3

-- I had a little trouble following the continuity of this scene from page 1. Dr. Mid-Nite is behind and to the right of Black Canary, but he (and Firestorm) must have moved into this bright courtyard from the shadowy ruins on page 1. Therefore, it seems like Zatanna and Raven located the "spell traces" heading into space; which is where Mid-Nite learned it. He then entered this two-page spread (off-panel, I guess) and repeated the information to Canary, explaining further that the energy was aimed at the Moon.

-- Obviously the Justice League, Justice Society, and Titans have been working independently of the Trinity -- that's the point of page 4's dialogue -- but the way this spread reads, their respective exposition sounds a little redundant. That said, the JLA doesn't work too differently here from how they did during the Konvikt fight, when the Trinity also went off on its own.

-- I've said this before, but I like how Wonder Woman is connected to the Earth and Batman to the Moon.

Page 4

-- "Fallville" most likely refers to Fallville, Iowa, Barry Allen's birthplace, last seen just a couple of weeks ago in The Flash: Rebirth #1.

-- For some reason I don't think this is the first appearance of Reina Doerr, but I can't find anything on her; and yes, I used the Google, more than once. (She probably appeared already in Trinity, and I have been too lazy to look through 45 other issues.) Marcy Doerr was a character in the first issue of Astro City (September 1996), but I'm probably not confusing Reina with her.

-- Google did say that "KFLV" was the call letters of a 1920s-era Rockford, Illinois, radio station associated with the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church. So, you know, there's that.

Page 5

-- Evergreen City first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #53 (June 1967). It is the home of the Evergreen Insurance Company, which once employed Hal Jordan. This map locates Evergreen City in southeast Washington State. The city was moved (forcibly) to Oa by an insane Guardian sometime around Green Lantern vol. 3 #4 (September 1990). Eventually, it became part of a "mosaic" community, made up of similarly-abducted cities from various planets, all watched over by John Stewart. The Mosaic residents were returned to their respective worlds before Hal-as-Parallax destroyed Oa, so it looks like the Evergreeners rebuilt.

-- I didn't think this was the first appearance of the current Ray in Trinity; but either way, it's been a while. The (famous) original Ray, "Happy" Terrill (now deceased), was created by Lou Fine and debuted in Smash Comics #14 (September 1940). There have been three Rays, but this looks like the second, Ray Terrill, created by Jack C. Harris and Joe Quesada and appearing first in The Ray #1 (February 1992). Ray is Happy's son.

-- Starshrike (real name unknown) succeeded the villainess called Shrike in the supervillain group The Cadre. She first appeared in The Power Company #1 (April 2002), which was written by Kurt Busiek and penciled by Tom Grummett. The team's original Shrike was created by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton and first appeared in Justice League of America vol. 1 #234 (January 1985). If I have the overall chronology straight, Starshrike will be bad again in time for JLofA vol. 2 #21 (July 2008), a Final Crisis tie-in.

Page 6

-- I take it that the "electronic signal" Batman wants to see looks in on this scene?

Page 7

-- "A chilling, unearthly laugh": belonging to the Joker (who, come to think of it, didn't laugh a whole lot in his recent appearances), and "buried" as part of the nine Articles Of Association.

-- Remember, these items represented "friends" (Commissioner Gordon's pipe, Etta Candy's ID badge, Lois's PDA), "foes" (the laugh, a sample of Luthor's blood, and Max Lord's skull), and "foundations" (concrete from Crime Alley, clay from Themyscira, and hull plates from the space-plane Constitution) of each of the Trinitarians.

Page 8

-- Mmmm … cookies. Kinda makes the pastries from issue #1 a little more important now, doesn't it?

-- Guess we know specifically what Lois wanted with her mother-in-law a couple of issues back. I bet it's a fun story how those cookies got from Martha Kent's oven (presumably in Kansas, unless Ma made a special trip) to Europe. Super-speed, Green Lantern express, teleportation…?

-- Back when we were going through the "Trinity myths," I wondered why we weren't seeing anything about the Trinitarians' parents. Looks like that was deliberate.

Page 9

-- I don't recognize Gangbuster's plane, but with the tail fin and red canopy it looks a little like the Martian spaceship J'Onn J'Onnz flew during the "War Of The Worlds" (Justice League of America #s 228-230 (July-September 1984)). That ship didn't have wings, though.

Page 10

-- "Directly over the North Pole": Oh no -- Krona's killed Santa! (You bastard!)

-- As of Action Comics #840 (August 2006), the Fortress of Solitude is back in the Arctic, but it's never been particularly close to the North Pole. (Don't want to encroach on the toy workshops, of course.) This is not to suggest that Krona's lab would set off any Fortress alarms, because the Arctic is a big place.

-- I shouldn't go overboard on the Santa jokes, but I will point out that Kanjar Ro has a red nose. (Not, however, one like a lightbulb.)

Page 11

-- I'm guessing that the various unidentified women intertwined between Tarot and SPHERE are the previous links to the Worldsoul.

Page 12

-- No annotations.

* * *

SECOND STORY

“Not What Heroes Do” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Scott McDaniel, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The Dreambound find Konvikt, and the Crime Syndicate finds Enigma.

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- Man, McDaniel and Owens can draw the hell out of some mountains, huh?

Page 14/2

-- Same goes for Konvikt. I especially like the little snow/frozen bits in his hair.

Page 15/3

-- No annotations.

Page 16/4

-- The Dreambound left Castle Branek two issues ago, "warping out" once they got to a safe distance. I presume they knew he was alone because TVM detected only his "funky energy smell?"

-- I'm a little surprised that Morgaine would cast Konvikt away while leaving him with his creation-energy power-up. She gave it to him, and I figured she could take it away. (Probably still can.)

Page 17/5

-- "I am a force of creation": if SCII isn't just speaking metaphorically, that could also give the Dreambound an edge Morgaine and Krona aren't expecting. Still, back in issue #10, he said "I am the center of your universe…."

Page 18/6

-- "The strain's flowing through to us": We've seen, here and elsewhere, that the Anti-Matter Earth is affected by events on the positive-matter one. (That's why there are Lois Lanes, Jimmy Olsens, James Gordons, etc., on both Earths.) Accordingly, our Earth getting a new Worldsoul might reasonably have repercussions for its anti-matter counterpart. (Makes me think about the A-M Earth's Worldsoul -- she's gotta be like Lady Macbeth.) Enigma could also be caught between his "bond" with the positive-matter Earth and some desire on the part of his home Earth to make him one of its gods.

-- By the way, most of you know this already, but as Crisis On Infinite Earths taught us, red skies are never good ("Batman: The Animated Series" excepted). The A-M Earth sported red skies during Trinity's first visit, back in the teens, but things weren't much better then.

-- Owlman's glider looks very familiar, doesn't it?

Page 19/7

-- The Most Unworthy Ten have got to be this Earth's counterparts to the Great Ten of DC-Earth's People's Republic of China. The Great Ten were created by Grant Morrison and first appeared in 52 #6 (June 14, 2006).

-- The Young Offenders were first named (but not seen) in JLA #114 (July 2005), which was written by Kurt Busiek. They are, most likely, a group of ne'er-do-well sidekicks and other bratty super-kids, being counterparts of the Teen Titans or Young Justice.

Page 20/8

-- "This is what we've been reduced to?" The Crime Syndicate's Earth-3 predecessors were a little more altruistic when an antimatter wall destroyed their world in the opening pages of Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Page 21/9

-- "We can't be heroes": (Not just for one day? ... sorry) Ultraman probably doesn't like the idea of predestination, because no one and nothing is the boss of him; but apparently neither does he enjoy stepping too far out of his comfort zone. Still, it's not like the universe is always asking Superman to be a villain.

Page 22/10

-- Looks like Enigma has just as much power on the Anti-Matter Earth as he does on the regular one.

* * *

With Trinity rapidly approaching its end, I'm thinking that the Trinitarians pretty much have to stay "divine" for much of the rest of the series in order to stand a chance against Krona. Although Ma Kent's cookies and (again, I'm guessing) Batman's checking up on Alfred seem to pull our heroes back towards their familiar selves, as a practical matter I doubt we'd see them relinquish their extra power in the face of the current threat.

After a few issues where the Trinity tells the world essentially to relax and let them do the work, I liked the way they realized their true place in the nature of things. They are not separate from the rest of humanity, and they cannot separate themselves from it, no matter how godlike they become. They're important "keystones," naturally, but as the altered timeline showed, the world will get along (albeit imperfectly) without them. Indeed, DC itself has been removing the Trinitarians from certain parts of its fictional history for over twenty years now, mostly with regard to the Golden Age and the early years of the Justice League. Only in the past few years (since 2006's JLofA vol. 2 #0) have they been restored to the JLA's history.

Anyway, the Trinitarians finally seem to have found a good middle ground with their colleagues and friends, and it looks like this will carry them through the next few issues at least. That is, unless they start to lose their godlike power the more "human" they become….

Six issues to go--!

+++++++++++++++++++++

Issue #45

Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #45

This week’s set of Trinity notes will be a little different. Issue #45 was extremely light on trivia, focusing tightly on a relatively small group of characters. Since my function is to offer insight on elements which come from outside the series, there’s not a lot of that to discuss here, because everything happens based on these characters’ roles in the series to date.

Accordingly, #45 was an important issue for the series. It built steadily towards a big finish and threw in a couple of twists. I’ll be eager to hear what you thought.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“The Power Is Close…” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The Crime Syndicate takes one for the team … and one just for Enigma.

-- Although the Trinity had little trouble sending the Troika into retreat, I thought our heroes’ fight with their Crime Syndicate counterparts was legitimately more suspenseful. Because the CSAers are also their world’s trinity, it’s reasonable to think that would give them some advantage, even away from home. Moreover, because the Trinitarians will have to give up their godhood at some point, I bought into Ultraman’s power-draining ultra-vision. As we know, though, it wasn’t meant to be; and the Crime Syndicate was just a slightly bigger bump on the road to Castle Branek.

-- This is not the first Trinity reference to the inhibition-loosening power of Superwoman’s lasso. She used it to help her Jimmy Olsen tell more convincing lies, back around issue #11 when he was posing as “our” Jimmy. Later, in issue #13, our Trinity bound them with it so they’d blab their plans.

-- Since I’d been complaining about the unitary nature of the Trinity’s work, it was good to see them each manifesting different but appropriate powers.

-- It was also good to see Enigma get some measure of revenge, however short-lived, on the Crime Syndicate. He hasn’t been on Morgaine’s page for a while, of course, but he seems locked in a détente with her. Like the Trinitarians, the Troiksters each appear to be evenly matched, regardless of whatever super-powers they had previously. (Indeed, both Enigma and Batman have similarly wraith-like god-bodies, although I’m not inclined to read too much into that right now.) Enigma still needs Morgaine, and vice versa, because neither can conquer their Earth without the other. Furthermore, as long as Morgaine is hoarding creation energy, she must make sure that Enigma’s power is still on her side. On balance I think this puts Morgaine at a disadvantage, since she’s not used to dealing with equals. It also makes me eager to see more of her interactions with Krona.

-- Morgaine’s mention of the reality-changing ritual also makes me wonder about her options now. On page 11 she states that “[i]f we’d gotten the spell right, we’d have had all the power.” However, as we know, Kanjar Ro’s impersonation of Despero screwed things up enough that he got none of the power, while Morgaine and Enigma were elevated to “godhood.” At the same time, rather than being wiped from history, the Trinity were elevated themselves and displaced to a newly-created parallel Earth. Therefore, if the spell had succeeded, Morgaine, Enigma, and Despero would be the new Trinity, with all of Earth looking to them for various forms of inspiration. Green Arrow would be accused of ripping off Enigma, Despero might have a midriff-baring cousin (Despera, of course), Lynda Carter would have played Morgaine on TV….

-- But I digress. Practically speaking, Morgaine has no shot at re-creating the original spell, even with Despero’s participation. The biggest barrier would be trapping the Trinity, which was hard enough to do when they were just superheroes; and seems virtually impossible now. I have a feeling any new ritual would have to include (willingly or not) anyone with a claim on the creation energy.

-- By the way, since it’s pretty well-known that Morgaine Le Fay has been involved in all these shenanigans, I’m hoping we see some input from the friendly magical community. Zatanna’s popped up in cameos and Dr. Fate has been mentioned a couple of times, but it seems like they should start having more active roles.

* * *

SECOND STORY

“A Single Human Soul” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Scott McDaniel, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Krona, meet the Troika. Troika, Krona.

-- Krona and the Troika are both fueled by creation energy, but I get the impression that Krona is still significantly more powerful than the Troika (or the Trinity) combined. I’m guessing that’s why he didn’t sic the Void-Hound on his guests -- he didn't need to.

-- As revealed in issue #17, Konvikt was deprived of the ability to speak (intelligibly, that is) as a part of the criminal proceedings against him. (Graak spoke for him through a telepathic link.) The fact that he can speak now may well be related to some psychological block placed upon him by the authorities, which could be undone by an appropriate change of heart. It could also be simply temporary, and/or a product of Graak’s death. Regardless, I imagine being able to talk again will have a profound emotional impact on him.

-- Morgaine and Krona’s scheme, as I understand it, involves giving the Worldsoul (via Tarot) to Krona. Stephie Nashton, the soul within SPHERE, would then replace the Worldsoul itself. All this would be in exchange for Krona lending his power to Morgaine’s. Apart from depriving Enigma of his only surviving family member, this plan is (needless to say) not the best deal for the Earth. First is the notion that the new Worldsoul wouldn’t be as “vital” as the old one. Second, since Stephie comes from the Anti-Matter Earth, her soul might turn the Earth as corrupt as its anti-matter counterpart. I know I’m getting into original-sin-type issues here, but if everyone on the A-M Earth is inherently, irredeemably … well, less virtuous, you’d think that would start (if only in small ways) right from the beginning.

-- I mentioned back around issue #4 that “Gaia,” the spirit of the Earth, appeared in a Firestorm storyline which also featured other elemental beings including Swamp Thing, Naiad, and Red Tornado. Swampy’s off-limits, but we’ve seen a good bit of Firestorm and Red Tornado in Trinity already. If the Worldsoul is another name for Gaia, I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Stormy and Reddy participated in some kind of Gaia-protecting ritual.

-- Actually, since Morgaine is the only member of the (extended) Troika who comes from the regular Earth, might not Krona be planning some sort of double-cross involving whatever connection to the planet she might have? Tarot’s the link to the Worldsoul, but Morgaine has to be plugged into something.

-- I’m curious to see how much of his godhood Enigma retains on the Anti-Matter Earth. He might even be stronger there. After all, the Trinitarians were gods on their parallel Earth, even though their home was elsewhere. In any event, he still has the Idol-Head of Infernatu, so he’s not exactly helpless.

-- Finally, I have to note that this is not the first time Morgaine has screamed “I’ll KILL YOU” uncontrollably at Enigma.

* * *

Well, that’s it for me this week. It's funny -- the day after I show off all my research material, I barely get a chance to use it. Oh well.

Until next time--!

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Issue #44

Issue #43

Issue #42

Issue #41

Issue #40

Issue #39

Issue #38

Issue #37

Issue #36

Act Two

Trinity #44

The two stories in Trinity #44 each ask their characters to face some hard facts. The Troika, the Crime Syndicate, Despero, and Kanjar Ro have no reason to trust each other; and as of last issue, the Trinity hadn’t found any compelling reason to return to their old lives. The result is more foreshadowing, albeit in an entertaining way.

Accordingly, this was another issue where not much happened on a macro level, but which still left me with some thought-provoking questions about the nature of the Trinity and what it could really mean for the world. After all, that’s what Trinity is supposed to do….

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“What’s In It For Us?” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: As the Dreambound leave Castle Branek, the Crime Syndicate and Despero come on board.

Page 1

-- I won’t parse T-V Man’s recap of recent events, because if you’ve been reading Trinity you’re pretty familiar with what he’s talking about. Still, if any new readers need a translation, leave a comment and I’ll do my best.

-- Seems like Swashbuckler is a lot less demonstrative and/or dynamic now than he was when we first met him. Back then he was cocky enough to steal Nightwing’s mask and Etta Candy’s ID badge. These days he seems comfortable letting T-V Man and Primat do the talking.

Pages 2-3

-- The four-eyed creature reminds me of the mechanoids who fought Wonder Woman back in issue #2.

Page 4

-- “How can I know”: as far as I understand it, Despero has never met Morgaine or Enigma in either version of the timeline. Issue #23 revealed that, Kanjar Ro took his place behind the scenes of issue #4, prior to the would-be Troika’s first meeting in issue #7.

-- Am I remembering correctly that Morgaine and Despero’s common dreams were a product of Krona’s escape?

Page 5

-- “We had a deal”: well, the whole Despero/Kanjar Ro alliance never seemed very stable to me. Since the Anti-Matter Earth operates on the “favor bank” principle, the Crime Syndicate is at least marginally more trustworthy.

Page 6

-- Speaking of shaky alliances, Enigma was ready to throw Morgaine under the bus before his old tormenters showed up.

-- “Addled, syphilitic”: probably pretty accurate, actually. Makes me wonder -- could Superwoman’s constitution be strong enough to withstand the Anti-Matter Universe’s toughest sexually-transmitted diseases, or is she merely contributing to the evolution of the ultimate super-syphilis? (Hey kids, comics annotations!)

-- Compare the Crime Syndicate’s dismissive treatment of Enigma to the Trinity’s dismissive treatment of the Justice Society and Justice League (and even Lois, Alfred, et al). The Syndicators remember Enigma/Quizmaster only so far as he provided them with entertainment -- in other words, only so far as he served their purposes. To them, he simply wasn’t that important in the grand scheme of things. The Trinity isn’t so cold to its old colleagues and loved ones, and their big-picture designs are definitely more charitable, but they’re not so much about interpersonal relationships for their own sake either.

Page 7

-- No annotations.

Pages 8-9

-- We know just about everyone on these two pages, but there are a few new faces: Bizarro, at the top of page 8, and Captain Nazi, almost lost in the fold. I don’t recognize the caped woman firing at Wonder Woman.  [EDIT:  alert commenter Ben Morse says she looks like Magenta -- see below.]

-- Bizarro (a/k/a the Bizarro Superman and/or Bizarro No. 1) was created by Otto Binder and George Papp and first appeared (as an imperfect duplicate of Superboy) in Superboy #68 (October 1958). The more familiar adult Bizarro was created with the same duplicating machine (this time stolen by Luthor), as told by Binder and artist Al Plastino in Action Comics #254 (July 1959).

-- Captain Nazi was created by William Woolfolk and Mac Raboy and first appeared in Master Comics #21 (December 1941). He fought Captain Marvel and, by crippling Freddy Freeman and killing his grandfather, was indirectly responsible for the creation of Captain Marvel Jr.

[EDITED TO ADD] -- Magenta, a/k/a Frances Kane, was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and first appeared in The New Teen Titans vol. 1 #16 (March 1982).  Back then she was Wally West's proto-girlfriend from Blue Valley, whose crazed mother thought she was possessed by the Devil when she was really possessed by Dr. Polaris (who'd been trapped in another dimension after a recent Green Lantern arc).  Yadda yadda yadda, it all activated Frances' own magnetic powers, but she didn't want to become a superhero.  Eventually, she had second thoughts, and suited up (in a really hideous costume; you can't see much of this one but trust me it's an improvement) to bring down the Church of Brother Blood.  She made her Magenta debut in New Teen Titans vol. 2 #29 (March 1987), but put on the costume only irregularly after that.  She was Wally's girlfriend for the first couple issues of Flash vol. 2, and when she came back (in Flash vol. 2 #80, Early September 1993) she wasn't too happy with him.  I think the phrase "psycho hosebeast" was involved.  She did, however, get a new costume, designed by the late Mike Wieringo.  I think her current costume is different from Wieringo's, and was designed by Scott Kolins.

Page 10

-- “If we take that power away from them”: Morgaine supposes correctly that the Trinity isn’t inclined to relinquish it, but I still like the idea of Luthor trying to steal it as well.

Page 11

-- Kanjar Ro’s technobabble suggests that the Trinity and its allies needed similar measures to get into Castle Branek at the end of Act One.

Page 12

-- You’d have to think, too, that because the Dreambound were made by Morgaine, they could help take her down.

* * *

SECOND STORY

“Much To Discuss” was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: "What if they're right?"

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- “Jerome” honors Clark’s co-creator Jerry Siegel, although other sources give his middle name as “Joseph,” for Joe Shuster. Wikipedia asserts that “Joseph” is the more common usage. However, “Jerome” was used on “Lois & Clark” and “Smallville,” which arguably reach more people.

Page 14/2

-- “They’re just leaving?” Hawkman said the same thing last issue. Drink!

Page 15/3

-- No annotations, although I wish Tomorrow Woman had yelled "Can you read my mind?!"

Page 16/4

-- No annotations.

Page 17/5

-- Tomorrow Woman’s plight is somewhat similar to Power Girl’s. PG is the last survivor of Krypton-2, which belonged to the universe of Earth-2, which for all intents and purposes ceased to exist as a separate entity after Crisis On Infinite Earths. There is a new universe of Earth-2, but as we see in the Power Girl preview at the back of this very issue (and other DC books this week), it has its own Power Girl. Anyhoodle, Tommie is about to become one of the last survivors of the Troika-altered timeline, which for all intents and purposes will cease to exist once the Trinity’s work is done.

Page 18/6

-- “We went to another universe to get you”: really? Perhaps that’s true from a certain point of view, but it seemed at most like just another galaxy.

Page 19/7

-- “We let our human feelings … cripple us”: apparently the Godwar had more of an impact than I thought. It seemed to me that the Trinity got more in touch with their feelings (the positive ones, at least) afterwards.

Page 20/8

-- “Our old selves could not have restored this world”: that's a good point.

Page 21/9

-- “Is it truly important for Lois Lane to have a husband?” Like a fish needs a bicycle, eh? Indeed, the more successful Lois is on her own merits, and the less she looks like a “trophy wife,” the more valuable she becomes as a character.

Page 22/10

-- “Martha Kent”: Clark’s adoptive mother, of course. She was created by Siegel and Shuster and first appeared as “Mary Kent” in Superman vol. 1 #1 (Summer 1939). Clark recently lost his adoptive father in Action Comics #870 (December 2008).

* * *

Last issue I argued for the quick resolution of this “godhood” storyline, and I’m not ready to back off that completely this week. However, this issue introduces the notion that the Trinity works better as gods; and perhaps also that their “ascension” is a natural part of their collective development. In other words, what if they were always meant to be the gods of DC-Earth, in truth as well as in spirit? That would mean the end of the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman titles as we know them, but it’s hardly the worst way to go. (At any rate, it beats being killed by a rampaging monster or zapped by Neron or Darkseid….) Superman and Wonder Woman were sent to Earth by well-meaning parents, and “Batman” was created out of an ordinary, sadly familiar, terrestrial tragedy. The former two ostensibly show humanity better ways, and the latter shows humanity what it can achieve on its own. For them to become divine archetypes seems altogether appropriate. They’ve done just about everything else. Certainly, as this world’s “keystones,” they appear to have unique connections which facilitated their transformations. The Crime Syndicate may even be closer to this sort of godhood than the Trinity.

There are “trinities” all across the Multiverse, of course, not just the Crime Syndicate. By dint of their continuous publication histories, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have become cosmic constants, branching out from the Silver Age Earth-1 to the Golden Age Earth-2 and dozens of other parallel worlds (and Elseworlds and Hypertime branches) besides. They were always there, and we are told they will always be there, in some form or fashion.

That, in turn, brings up a dangling plot thread from the altered timeline: the artifacts Alfred unearthed back in issue #19. In the context of that issue, they were none-too-subtle reminders of what the world was missing. Today, though, they also seem to speak to the Trinity’s inevitability, and the publishing realities which insure their eternal youth. Time passes for everyone except Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, making the Justice Society inspirations rather than contemporaries, and creating two generations of protégés so far. It creates a logjam, and sooner or later, DC’s flexible timeline will have to give. Trinity isn’t particularly concerned with that problem (nor should it be), but if it were actually the Trinitarians’ final sendoff, it would let everyone else get on with their lives.

Nevertheless, that’s a topic for another day, and I’m enjoying Trinity well enough as it is.

Until next week--!

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