Broken Trinity #1 – Review

Ron Marz, (Writer) Stjepan Sejic, and Phil Hester (Art)

As I have come to learn since becoming a comic book critic, the first part of an event or a new creative run is tough to review. It must hook the reader in some way while at the same time going through the (possibly boring or redundant) motions necessary to set up the story arc. Things can really get off on the wrong foot if the set up (a necessary evil) isn’t sufficiently compelling (check out Uncanny X-Men #500 for proof). I mention this because I feel that Broken Trinity #1 is a great example of how to properly set up a new storyline without making it feel like a boring chore to read.

There are two storylines at work in this issue, both of them serving to bring the elements of this event together. One of them, a visually striking Viking skirmish that quickly escalates into an epic battle between supernatural forces, serves up the action while establishing new elements in the Top Cow Universe. The other storyline works to bring almost all of the main players together in a way that feels both logical and natural given the continuity. While I honestly have no idea as to where things will go from here, the set up is solid and full of enough combustible elements to make for a great event. One thing is for sure, the creative team working on this series set quite a high bar with the First Born event, so they have their work cut out for them if they hope to clear it.

As for the writing, Ron Marz does a great job in this issue. The dialogue during the Viking battle is suitably epic and the characters drive the story well in the present day scenes. While I wish he would have spent a touch more time establishing the Celestine character, I have a feeling more will be explained sooner than later. Marz deftly puts the pieces in place while keeping a sense of mystery about what exactly is going on and, honestly, he’s got me hooked. While this story could really go either way at this point (since so much is still up in the air), it is off to quite a start.

I expected some nice work from the team of Stjepan Sejic and Phil Hester, but I’ve got to say that they really exceeded every expectation. The Viking scenes are absolutely stunning, a display of what I suppose I’ll call beautiful brutality. The supernatural characters look fantastic as well, though I will readily admit that they are nothing more than extremely impressive looking fantasy clichés. My only true complaint is that, like nearly all of Sejic’s books, there is a noticeable drop in detail/quality from time to time, but I can excuse that considering it must take quite some time to create the more impressive stuff. A book needs to get out at some point, so I can overlook that for the most part.

Overall, I’m really enjoying the first part of the Broken Trinity event. It manages to avoid getting bogged down by the necessary set up while creating the hooks that make me want more as soon as possible. (Grade: A)

-Kyle Posluszny