Trinity #6 – Review

By Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza (writers), Mark Bagley, Mike Norton, Mark Farmer, Scott McDaniel, Andy Owens (artists), Art Thibert (inker), Pete Pantazis, Allen Passalaqua (colors), Pat Brosseau (letters), Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino (cover)

Trinity #6 goes back to the formula of issue #1 by having more story than action. The more I read it, the more I’m betting that the last few issues are going to be outstanding, but my main concern remains: will anyone still be reading it?

I enjoy Kurt Busiek’s writing more when he adds information as opposed to just giving us action. The problem with this set of information is that it’s stuff we’ve all heard before. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are three faces of the same idea. They may have different approaches, but the end goal is the same. While that’s a very cool concept, it’s been said before. Fabian Nicieza’s portion covers Gangbuster’s attempt to rescue Rita from the animal men sent by Le Fey and Enigma. This leads him to Hawkman, who’s chasing after the stolen Medallion of Khaf-re which I assume the villains need for their plan. That’s all we get from Nicieza since the fight takes up all of his pages. Since Rita has started to pop up in Busiek’s section I’m wondering what specifically Nicieza is going to cover from here on out. I’m sure Hawkman and the medallion will factor in, I’m wondering how.

Even though parts of the story are hit and miss, the artwork has shown a steady incline. For Mark Bagley, I don’t think he’s doing anything different stylistically, but he’s drawing cooler images. Seeing The Trinity as various tarot cards makes me wish there was a DC tarot card deck. Also, when Rita is talking about each member of The Trinity, the blank faces used while they’re in their secret identities is a great touch since she doesn’t know them. Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens’ portion appears to be the more visually bland of the two. Hawkman and Gangbuster make short work of the thugs, so while everything is drawn nicely there’s no real danger or interest.

The up and down roller-coaster continue with this issue. It’s not that any of it is bad, but it’s either all action or all information. No matter which of those is the case, half of the story (Busiek or Nicieza’s) seems to suffer. If they could get this series running all cylinders we might have something really great on our hands, till then it’s just slightly above average. (Grade B-)

– Ben Berger