Second Coming: Trinity

Second Coming

by Mark Russell

"The Nanny" meets The Bible, but with a superpowered baby – a religious satirical graphic novel about Jesus babysitting the infant son of his roommate, the superhero called Sunstar.

You welcomed Jesus with open arms in Second Coming. You marveled at his miraculous return in Second Coming: Only Begotten Son. Now the book that turned the comics industry upside-down with “quite a bit of humor…[and] a lot of heart” (The New York Times) is back for its third act with Second Coming: Trinity.

Written and co-created by 2022 Eisner winner Mark Russell (Not All Robots, BILLIONAIRE ISLAND) with art by co-creator Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk, Second Coming: Trinity finds Jesus Christ, the Son of God, tackling his biggest challenge in 2000 years: babysitting a child with super powers! Meanwhile, his roommate—the superhero called Sunstar—faces his greatest enemy, and his own guilt, in a court of law.

Second Coming: Holy Trinity collects all 6 issues of the series.

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Mark Russell is the author of God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also writes the comic book series Prez and The Flintstones for DC Comics. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to keep this short since I don't want to spoil too much. Mark Russell and Leonard Kirk's story of Sunstar and Jesus progresses a bit farther as Jesus tries to get his religion going and Sunstar deals with raising a toddler with his powers. I didn't see the ending coming, although I should have since I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. There has to be another Second Coming miniseries, right? They can't just leave us hanging like GRRM?

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regarding the volume title: Trinity examines fathers and sons but there aren't any holy ghosts to speak of. Russell had to name a planet Trinity to justify applying the title to his third volume.

Much ink is spent on Superman's relationship with Lex Luthor (well, "Crainiac", but we know what that means.) He bullied the smart kid all through high school and humiliated him for no reason at the class reunion. Supe briefly wrestles with whether his abuse may have contributed to Luthor's antisocial malefaction...then casually absolves himself of responsibility. A weird end to that line of contemplation.

The other big theme of v3 is the unavoidability of collateral damage resulting from immense power. And kudos to Russell for addressing the fact that with Superman levels of power, he will absolutely kill people on accident from time to time. When you're six feet tall, even with the best of intentions you occasionally step on some ants; it's a statistical inevitability. Pair that with the sociopathic innocence of childhood and even more people will get hurt. Russell's exhibits A and B are the boy Jesus and Superman's horrifyingly destructive toddler. It's sort of a trolley problem: what's the Right Thing for a parent to do when people will die simply by virtue of their child existing?

It's good stuff. I'm pretty sure Russell considers the series resolved but if there's ever a v4, I'll buy it.
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Funniest moment of the series: Superman stops an escaping supervillain by hurling his giggling indestructible baby.

[TV’s Kevin Lanigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even Jesus and Superman got regrets.

[Just_An_E · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent follow up to the original run of second coming, need to do a proper read through in order at some point

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t have much to say about Volume 3. It carries over the main themes from the last two volumes, but they feel a bit repetitive and don’t work as well for a final volume. The ending is somewhat open-ended, which might not sit well with everyone. That being said, it’s still an enjoyable ride.

There’s a lot more focus on Sunstar and his kid in this volume, which I really liked. His growth and development as a character are evident and well-handled. While this volume feels more like a setup than a conclusion, it’s still a good read with plenty of comedy, heartfelt moments, and meaningful life lessons, some of which I plan to take to heart.

[Andrew Dittmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second Coming, Vol. 3: Trinity by Mark Russell, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk, and Andy Troy


Reading history:
Normally I keep this in my private notes section, but I'm moving it. Yay!

Reading history was not added on Goodreads, but was instead kept on a post-it note with the book.


Started December 30th, 2025.
Finished December 31st, 2025.


December 30th, 2025 (after midnight): read issue #1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 in physical compilation of issues #1-6.

December 31st, 2025 (after midnight): read issue #6 in physical compilation of issues #1-6.

[Robby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third installment of Second Coming begins strong with an issue showing what happens to a supervillain at a high school reunion. The rest is pretty much more of what we've seen before, but since it's Russell, I'm not complaining.

[Samuel Otten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, as usual for Russell.

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Every heteronormative comic writer who spawns has to write that parenting is hard bullshit. Here's Russell's version.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un poco más bajo que en las sátiras anteriores, y menos centrado en Jesús. Creo que pierde un poco el foco.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many uninteresting superbaby shenanigans. Still good - still clever enough when it wants to be - but starting to lose steam now.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great sequel. No diminishing returns here!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharp.