
I seem to find myself in an alternate reality this week, as I simply do not know what to think about Trinity's new status quo. Is it too soon in its revelation? Or should I have warmed to it immediately? Let's take a look.
The Believer: I liked the JSA stuff. I liked how the world's gigantic super-team carries the name of the First and Greatest Team. I also liked the brief look at the Founders – Jay, Alan, and… Carter? Ted? I guess since they're the "founders" it's supposed to be Carter. Still cool, regardless.
I also liked that the event at Castle Branek left both heroes and civilians standing around in a daze, wondering exactly what they were doing there. That's an interesting set-up, and I hope it's followed up on.
The Agnostic: Overall, I'm right smack dab in the middle of opinion on the new reality. My first thought after reading this week's installment was that it wasn't much that we haven't ever seen before. It's sad but as we get more jaded, we tend to demand a higher level of "new" in our comic stories. What we get this week is well-written – make no mistake about it – but I'm not so sure there's anything much there to devote time and space to. We get characters acting unlike their normal selves, a darker, more police-state version of the world than we're used to, and somewhat-skewed looks at DC events old the past, like Identity Crisis.
Again, Busiek's obviously put some time and thought into this wrinkle of Trinity's ongoing narrative, but if I'm going to live in this world for however long, I guess I'd have wished for something a bit more engaging – or off the beaten path. There are glimmers of interest, yes, like the guy in the back-up story who seems to remember Batman, but again, that's nothing we haven't really seen before. It's a world that's "off," one that's missing the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but instead of addressing that more firmly, we get a kind of lackadaisical tour of this reality's generalities. Oh, and a couple of characters who remember "what was."
I would have thought the much larger focus would have been "What exactly did the trinity do to bring about the DCU we know so well?" There are only brief glimpses of what filled the void in place of Clark, Diana, and Bruce. Busiek's focus seems to be more on Lois Lane doing a Nancy Grace shtick than anything that would more solidly tie this reality to the one we've followed for 17 previous issues.
One more time: not good, not bad, just there. Sounds kind of harsh but for myself, it's nothing that I stood up and cheered about – yet.
The Heretic: Here's the part that brings me down: one single panel of the villainous trinity. Nothing else is evident that would give us a hint of what the villains got out of the reality change. That seems a terrible oversight to me. I think a bit less of Lois' diatribes could have been used to show us the spoils of Morgaine, Enigma, and Despero's.
Also, the thing with John Stewart is getting pretty tiring. I've no clue to what that's all about, for as long as we've been hearing about it, and now I'm getting a bit sick of it.
Oh, and the first page with Krona seemed like a "check-in" rather than anything substantial.
Trinity…Non-existent? Not much to say about Our Heroes here, as they've been omitted from reality and all. And going back to what I was saying, no, their absence isn't a presence either, the way it should be.
Doctrine: "– for the grand opening of a Piggly-Wiggly store." Nice to see a real-world company mentioned in a comic book for a change.
Monsignor Wanty: Wants to know why white in particular was added to heroes' costumes in the new reality.
What did you think of this book?
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