Trinity, Vol. 3

Trinity

by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Mark Bagley (Illustrator)

The final, massive collection of TRINITY is here, featuring issues #36-52 of the weekly series. The world hasn't just been changed, it's been destroyed. Can the Trinity still save the day?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Batman, Superman, Comic Book

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2009

About the author

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.

During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).

Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.

In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.

In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.

Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.

Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998,

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to start by saying that I read all three monstrous volumes of Trinity on the recommendation of a friend. An evil friend, as it turns out. Ha-ha, Rick. Very funny, asshole!
Ok, on to the review.
Trinity is a mess. Have you ever seen that TV show Hoarders? You know, where the crazy people won't get rid of their junk, and their houses are so cram-packed full of stuff that they only have a narrow walkway to scooch through the entire place? Eventually, the house is so full that they can't clean anything and the mice and bugs take over. Or (even better) some concerned relative calls a reality show and outs them on national television. Then the Hoarder cries, as several dozen people in hazmat suits attempt to haul away all of the obviously worthless (read: unsanitary) crap. That's the kind of mess I see when I look at Trinity.
You know what I think? I think Busiek used up 1200 plus pages to bring Tomorrow Woman back to life. Yeah.
By the way, Rick, I have an awesome recommendation for you. You should definitely read Ultimate Iron Man Volume 1. I loved it! Really!

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most brilliant concept that DC Comics has come up with since "52" now comes to an end not with a bang but with a whimper due to lackluster writing.

[Rihards Husko · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so the 52 issues of Trinity come to a close and I find myself wanting to like the books more than I actually did.

I think the idea of exploring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman’s symbolic roles and how their absence would affect the DC universe is a great one. The stretch of volume 2 that attempts to imagine a world without this trinity was probably the most interesting part of the whole series. And it makes sense that, since you’re dealing with reality-shaping concepts, the threat our heroes must overcome is primarily a mystic one.

Unfortunately, it results in a lot of magi-babble. Using lots of arcane-sounding words to make it seem like something is happening, but, for much of what happens, the rules are too nebulous for me to understand the significance of any given thing.

There has clearly been a lot of thought put into this series, and I give Busiek credit for at least attempting to make all of this cosmic mumbo jumbo make sense. But things just didn't end up sticking together in a satisfying way for me.

There is some stunning imagery here. There are some wonderful character moments for many of the sprawling cast. There are some neat plot twists and reveals. But for 52 issues that seem to be tackling some pretty big, heady concepts, the series wrapped up, and I was left feeling like it really didn't say much at all.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I am done, and I cannot say that I am grateful I read the entire series. I am not quite sure what the author was striving for, as it really seemed to lose focus in the end while the author was trying to tie it all together. The character development was weak; there really was none in the story. I do not know if one could say the ‘main villain’ in the third piece Krona developed as a character or not, but the villain definitely had some “life-changing experiences” at the end. I almost wish it had been an Elseworlds series; I think the author could have done something ‘different’ and given it a more satisfying ending than it had. The final volume was so . . . anticlimactic, so ‘boring,’ so “would you please hurry up and get it over with?!?” There were moments that I did like in it, but, overall, they were few and far inbetween.

At one point, some of the verbiage of some of the characters reminded me of the nonsense spouted by Marvel’s Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock, like the author was trying to get these characters to sound as if they were ‘above it all’ in terms of no longer having any kind of “issues” or “desires” or “problems” or whatever that mere mortals have. If that is what the author was going for, I do not think it worked well at all. Surfer and Warlock have had a kind of ‘pompousness’ about them, about how they are portrayed as remaining aloof from everybody else. It makes me laugh, at times, at how they sound. Even Thanos has been portrayed in this manner, as if living on (in?) a different planet of existence while inhabiting the same mortal coil as everybody else in the Marvel U. These characters came off as being pale imitations of the bombasticness that some of the Marvel characters have.

I did not like how the author ‘handled’ Krona. I think it would have helped if the author had indicated that Krona had been ‘powered down’ after the JLA-Avengers crossover, if he had lost some of his powers/strengths after being cocooned inside the Cosmic Egg. Otherwise, it made absolutely no sense to me how Krona was able to be beaten at the end of this mega-series. He was able to tear universes apart while trying to force each universe’s “avatar” to give him the information he sought, the knowledge that he felt had been forever denied him. Entire. Universes. He destroyed entire dimensions in his mad quest for knowledge, for that ‘eternal thirst’ of his to finally be quenched. I guess some of his power had been absorbed by the “godlike-forms” of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but Krona still had enough power to tear apart the Earth and force the Earth’s “Worldsoul” to appear before him. He still had enough power in him to defeat the three and then tear the Earth apart. For him to be beaten like he was just did not ‘feel right’ to me; it felt like the author had written himself into a corner and cheated to try and find a way out, or he could not figure out how to get out so just wrote an ending to get it over with. It felt like there had been a ‘better prize’ offered while reading the series and, when I reached the end of it, instead of getting the gold medal or the big trophy, I was handed a certificate of authentication with a Cracker Jack toy as my prize. It was a bit of a letdown, after all of the attempts at building up that was done throughout the series.

Now, I will say this – I did like how Krona’s “quest” for that ‘forbidden knowledge’ ultimately proved to be a fool’s quest. I found myself laughing at Krona’s questions to Earth’s Worldsoul – they were hilarious to me! I mean, here this clown has been seeking ‘the answer to everything’ (whatever that might be and might mean to him, specifically) and instead of getting scientific knowledge, instead of getting ‘cold, hard facts,’ he gets dancing and artistic expression and peaceful contemplation. Not at all what he was expecting to learn or discover! He called Earth’s Worldsoul a liar, claiming that he (Krona) was billions of years older than “she” and more powerful than “she” and did not believe her, that she had to be lying to him, yet, somehow, this ‘young’ Avatar/Spirit-Being of Earth had more power than he had and was able to manipulate Krona’s perceptions. Part of that could have stemmed from Krona being a former temporal, physical, corporeal being and unable to understand that which is spiritual or . . . well, she said it best - there were clearly things that were still beyond his comprehension, despite his long life traveling the dimensional void between realities, between universes.

I found myself wondering if this was the ‘end’ that the author had for “this” iteration of Krona, as Krona was so instrumental in the JLA-Avengers crossover (being the villain and all that). I almost wish that the author had been given permission to use the Avengers in this series as well – I think it might have been a good ‘tie-up’ of the earlier crossover event, having both teams working together, again, to ‘make things right’ (as it were). But, this series was supposed to be focused on DC’s “Big Three,” so it really would not have made any sense for any of the Avengers to show up; I do realize that. I just would love to see another JLA-Avengers (or even JLA-X-Men) crossover event take place. It was a lot of fun to read. In any case, nobody had used Krona (“hibernating” in the Cosmic Egg) before this point, so it just made me wonder if the author decided to tie up a ‘loose end’ of some sort in telling this story.

In any case, I did not like how Krona was ‘depowered’ for this series.

There were some things that I did like. I liked how the Crime Syndicate was struggling with having to ‘become heroes’ in order ‘to save their world’ and how they were fighting so hard against it. I thought it was pretty hilarious, myself. I also thought it was funny how the Crime Syndicate’s “trinity” (Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman) tried to attack the DC Trinity while Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were still in their ‘god-being forms’ and the monumental consequences of their failures to defeat the Big Three. The humor was more in the aftermath than the initial attack itself, to be honest. Then, when the “full” Crime Syndicate was preparing to take on the Big Three after it was all said and done, how Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman managed to stall the Crime Syndicate long enough for reinforcements to arrive. That was a nice splash page! I mean, it was a little hokey and obvious what was going on, what with the three heroes egging on the five villains and yet the villains refusing to attack because they were trying to figure out what was going on. It was obvious to the reader that the heroes were stalling for time, but I still felt like the three of them could have taken the five Crime Syndicate members on and still maybe have beaten them (probably not, but that’s okay). After the earth was torn apart by Krona to ‘release’ Earth’s ‘avatar’/world-soul, there was a panel of a shark floating in space. I don’t know why, but I loved the incongruity of that moment. It was so . . . not-quite-bizarre but very strange and I ‘liked’ the juxtaposition of it all.

That shot of all of the “dead” bodies floating in space after the Earth was torn apart was pretty horrific, truth be told. I could not believe it had happened, that the author went and ‘did it.’ But then I remembered that there would be zero repercussions from this maxi-series as it would all somehow be made right by the end of it, so it was irrelevant in the end. While I did not ‘like it,’ I did think it was a powerful page.

I did like the ‘last’ page of the book – it was a great panel of the heroes all flying off to the next ‘big adventure/disaster.’ It did make me laugh, though, as it has Batman swinging on a rope right behind Superman and Wonder Woman. I found myself wondering to what his rope was attached, for him to be swinging like he was, and how he expected to keep up with the others, as everybody else but him was flying (I do not remember if the Flash was shown as running along, too, but all of the other heroes were clearly flying).

I liked that the War Hound became the new ‘housing’ for Stephanie as she and her father, the Enigma of the Crime Syndicate’s world, tried to spread a little bit of kindness here-and-there on the planet. That would be quite a chore – to spread ‘goodness’ on a planet that is apparently intrinsically evil!

So Konvict (Xalitan Xor) has become the . . . personal bodyguard for some criminal, some member of the mafia? I wonder how that is going to play out in the DCU?!? I cannot find him being referenced in any other online database after this series ended, so it seems like he was a pointless character to create (as somebody of his strength and ferocity should have come to the attention of any of the DC heroes, especially the fact that he is an alien to boot).

It was a sad end to a long series. I do not think it was a good idea to make this story so long as it really seemed to drag in many spots. The narrative was slow-moving, the constantly changing artists worked against the flow of the story, and so much happens that it became easy to forget about what had already transpired (as none of it seemed important ‘later on,’ anyway). While this series was an attempt to focus on how important Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman are to the DC Universe as well as ‘study’ super hero archetypes and tropes and whatnot, I am not sure how well the author succeeded in getting his point across. I do not know if I would even say it was a worthy effort; I felt that the story could have been told in maybe half to one-third of the issues in the series. Fifty-two issues seemed like quite a bit for the story being told; much (most) of it seemed like filler, anyways, and not really important to the ‘main story.’ There were so many characters, it was overwhelming at times to try and keep track of who was who and why they may or may not be important. There were characters in this book I had never even heard of, much less cared about, which made them even more of a distraction to the overall plot and story. In any case, as disappointed as I was with this ‘grand finale,’ I am still glad that I took a chance to read the series and finished it (as I will no longer be wondering how good it may or may not be, or if I should take a chance on reading it). I would rank it 1.7 – 1.9 stars, rounded up to two stars.

[Elias Rosner · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I should start this off talking about trinity as a while. Well, as a weekly series, this was phenomenal. I didn't read it weekly (I read it collection by collection) but considering the publication schedule, Trinity accomplished a ton as opposed to countdown or new 52 future's end. It felt like it told a self contained story, was interesting but also built within the DC universe. It wasn't just a series that was all lead up to an event, it was an event in and of itself, and that's why it was very good.

However, it still has its problems. In this volume, as with the others, there is so much dialogue. Just so many words on a page that it becomes overwhelming at times. While, for the most part, the narration and dialogue was interesting, the sheer volume made it difficult parse at times. The art did feel rough at times, but for the vast majority of the volume, it was consistent, colorful and very expressive. It helped convey the tone of the story and the immensity of many of the battles and events.

The story was also very interesting. All the discussion of the arcana and what batman, superman, and wonder woman stand for, while taking a backseat this volume, are still discussed and are ideas that aren't addressed in the way they are done here. Trinity feels like a superhero story, with grand ideas and battles. It features heros being heroes and takes really interesting concepts and plays with them. The villains feel threatening and in the end, more complex. While not a perfect series, I would still highly recommend a read. It can get slow every so often but if you love superheroes, this is a read that will not regret having.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is such a god awful book. Kurt Busiek has written a lot of great stuff before but this is dreadful. The series as a whole was just as bad. The book is billed at a Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman story even though they appear in about 10% of book. Gangbuster gets more time. Its insane. Add to that its over long, over developed, and underwhelming. I'm embarrassed I read all 52 issues. The art was really good and the only thing holding this at a two star review. Overall, a complete waste of time.

[Natlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conclusion to an epically tedious story. I wanted to read in Trinity because Fabian Nicieza is listed as a co-writer, but it is clear that he contributed only small parts of various issues and the story itself is Kurt Busiek. The focus of the entire three-volume story is too wide with too many characters to be interesting to me and the dialogue merely utilitarian except when Nicieza is allowed to insert his banter and wit into the mouths of bad guys.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've loved what I've read of Busiek's Astro City series, but this trilogy seemed bogged down in seriousness and mysticism and self-import. I'll admit I sort of skimmed this last volume, in an effort to finish the series and pass it along to my father.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume is probably actually no worse than the ones that came before, but the story is so horrendously decompressed, that by the time you’re 30 or 40 issues in, you just don't care any more and want the damn thing to be done. A terrible, terrible disappointment for Busiek.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can get really confusing as it jumps between different storyline to create that epic feel.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sinceramente... Me gusta el planteamiento de Kurt Busiek de hacer encarar a la Trinidad DCita a un estatus deífico que de verdad les pongan a prueba como baluartes vivientes de la Justicia, la Virtud, el Honor y cualquier atisbo positivo que representan Superman, Wonder Woman y Batman. Pero la estructura "bigger than life" con el maremagnum de tantos otros personajes no lleva a nada más que poder extender una serie comiquera que quizás se hubiese beneficiado de un planteamiento más "Elseworld" de números contados que exprimiesen el potencial del concepto. Pero en todos los intereses del rescate de la chica Tarot, el concilio maligno con Morgana poniendo en peligro la existencia misma por su simple megalomanía, el todopoderoso Krona en plan "quimicefa" con el cosmos, los dispares Soñadores y otros tantos personajes. Es normal que la presencia de la Trinidad en "God Level" se sienta totalmente maniquea y sin chispa. Solo posponiendo el esperable retorno a un estatus quo del que no discernir si esta cabecera ha hecho algo por reexaminar el concepto de la Trinidad DCita en pos de tener la enésima aventura pos-dosmiles previa a la reestructuración total post Flashpoint y el estatus actual de los personajes.

[Vail Chester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes when a story just keeps escalating and escalating to the point where truly phenomenal cosmic shenanigans are happening, you start to realize, "wasn't this about a witch using the Tarot to tie in how gorram important these three heroes are to the fabric of reality?" and then you look around to see that we have strayed very VERY far from that path.
With reality shifting as much as it did in this book, it was a miracle facts were even kept straight.
But hey, probably the most fascinating look at the bizarre scenario of What If the DC Trinity were an actual Holy Trinity?

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, that took time to read. It was not bad actually. A bit silly at times. Just had to take it in small chunks. I mean the Trinity of Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman became just gods. Gods who at this volume were waging genocidal wars against the other. Then they returned to the DC Earth while still gods for all the good it did. They were gods yet still just punching things as a solution.

It was a lot. But its done now.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Busiek pulls off an impressive finish to a remarkably large and complex story. The Trinity find their humanity, Krona is again chained, and the would-be usurpers get their just desserts, the world is made whole again, and happy endings abound. This is old-school comics at its best.

[Lucas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Final de novela, vilã se mata de uma forma dramática, rola uma tensão, casamento e grávidas. Não recomendo enfrentar 52 fascículos para isso.

[Sotofunkdamental · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres volúmenes excesivamente largos para contar una historia entretenida pero olvidable.

[Jaree Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted 2 rate this book 3.5 stars. I think Goodreads should make ratings range in .5 increments. Anyways, I viewed the coloring by Pantazis & Passalaqua to be the strong point of this graphic novel. Some of the characters became a bit to formulaic, such as Krona(who reminded me of a cross between Galactus and the Greek god Chronos). He even had a herald, and you can guess which color he was) I did enjoy Supe and Bats alternate look, as well as Supe's newly found edge.

Quite a bit of double-crossing abound within the many cliques featured...I imagined there would be a higher death count, but they kept it pretty much PG. With so much going on, the ante should've been upped. The main issue I have with this story is that I don't believe the mission for this tale was for it to be great as much as it was to put these three heroes together. It's not a bad read at all, but there are some repetitive themes that drag on.

- Jay

[Curt · Rating 3 out of 5]

To much magic and new age mysticism at the end of this one for my taste.

[A.P. Rajshekhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride. Metaphysical combined with super heroism - that's the kind of graphic novel this is.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

That sucked!