Trinity's like that one friend you have; you know the guy – the one who's a cool dude and all and you like the way he handles himself, real smooth, but you can't help but feel like he can really excel but he's holding himself back for some reason. He's fun to be around, to be sure, and he makes some dead-on statements, truisms I guess, but he has secrets, too – oh, yes, secrets. Dude's a real enigma.

Godhead: The JLA plays patty-cake with the Crime Syndicate but really only get themselves into more trouble. Enigma throws a hissy and John Stewart speaks the language of binary load lifters – which when you think about it is pretty similar to the binary language of vaporators, in most respects. The Riddler hunts the biggest of all game – himself.

The Believer: Fabian Nicieza made a believer out of me: for the first time I enjoyed the so-called back-up tale more than the lead story. Nicieza rolls out the latest deductive task for the Riddler, who since going straight has become a private investigator. Paul Dini has turned the old Bat-villain – one of my most favorite – into a terribly interesting character, and Nicieza continues that line of thinking with smooth continuity. I almost felt as if I was reading Detective Comics. That's praise, by the way.

The coolest thing this week's installment does is to deepen, widen, and twist the enigma of, well, Enigma. To lay it right on the line, it seems as if Enigma is the Antimatter Earth's Edward Nigma, a.k.a. The Riddler. But wait! It can't be that easy – can it?

Here's the rub: no, it can't be that easy, can it? Take the scene of Enigma wigging out in Busiek's front-of-the house tale and add that to Nicieza's narrative of the Riddler searching for the identity of the artifact thief and you have a great little conundrum of delicious proportions. Is Enigma "an" Edward Nigma? If he is and he's from Antimatter Earth, where most everyone is bad, then he'd be good, right? Because the Riddler's bad, no? No, the Riddler's now "good" so Enigma would be rightfully, yes, you guessed it, bad. But again, it seems as if we're being led by the nose to a comfortable deduction, but I'm here to tell you that it can't be that easy – or can it? Wheels within wheels.

Nicieza trots out Nightwing and Robin again, which is tres cool because he writes them so well, and there are also other fun encounters between Eddie and other DCU denizens. Then, a double-barreled, one-two punch of an ending and we're left with more than a few questions in our brains – delicious ones, like I said. At least, I think so. What I'm trying to get at is the riddle of Enigma is what this book needs, its own fun mystery, a la 52. I'm hoping that Enigma can be built into a major character within the series and provide that oh-so-needed watercooler talk that Trinity needs.

The Agnostic: I felt rather cool towards the main story this week – and that's not a good thing. I find it hard to put my finger on it, but my gut tells me that the wheels are spinning on the Antimatter Earth operation, and I feel frustration setting in. Several interesting plot points were introduced in this series, and while I don't expect them all to take center stage every week, I do expect that we'd check in with them every so often. Stuff like the Cosmic Egg and its disappearance, Mister "Let Me Out!" – no relation to Mr. Wanty – and what the heck did Graak and Konvikt have to do with anything at all?

Here's another "ehh" for you: already the Crime Syndicate are beginning to wear out their welcome with me. I was excited at first, thinking that this would be a cataclysmic brouhaha with the League and the trinity, but them ol' wheels on the bus are a'spinnin' and the Syndicate are just two-dimensional baddies who pale in comparison to Morgaine, Enigma, and Despero. I hope there's actually some sort of challenge the Syndicate will present to the trinity, otherwise who needs 'em? Ratchet this sucker up, Trinity Team!

The Heretic: I'm sorry but no – the League losing because they "count on" the trinity is nothing but wrong, in my opinion. That sour note blew a big raspberry in my face, and I actually set the book down and seethed for a few seconds. The trinity is inspirational; we get that. The League can sometimes look a bit like pikers in comparison; we get that too. But they're losing a battle just because the trinity's "off their game"? Every single Leaguer is a hero in his or her own right, a career crimefighter who operates solo as well as part of a team – and we're supposed to believe they can't fight because the holy trinity is kind of fuddle-jiggered in their collective head? I almost never, ever, never use this statement, mostly because it's pretty juvenile and immature, but nothing else really suits at this time: that's a slap in the face to the fans of the JLA and its members. Slight gaffes because things are "off," but losing? Arrggh. Sour note.

Superman Descending: Though he too now has recognized that something is happening to his mind, Superman red-hot attitude is cooling me off like Penguin's ice bath. I just don't see where it's saying anything much of interest at this moment.

Wonder Woman Descending: Here's what Diana did this week that was interesting:




Yeah, I thought so, too. Next?

Batman Ascending: Thank God for a clever line about how annoying his running off on his own is to his brethren. Two points for Batman.

Doctrine: "And Robin. Him I don't hate. Okay kid, actually." What a completely charming little line – and another example of Nicieza's ability to pepper his scripts with wit and insight.

Monsignor Wanty: wants to stop sounding like a broken CD when he says again that Trinity needs a little oomph to go along with its hmmm and its schwingg. Is that too much to ask for? Let's pray it isn’t.

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