Trinity #9 – Review

By Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza (writers), Mark Bagley, Tom Derenick, Wayne Faucher (artists), Art Thibert & Andy Owens (inks), Pete Pantazis, Allen Passalaqua (colors), Pat Brosseau, Ken Lopez (letters), Andy Kubert (cover)

I said before that Trinity is the biggest disappointment so far this year. In that regard, this issue doesn’t fail me and, well, I think you can see where this is going.

The writing has limped along largely without the presence of a major villain. Sure, Le Fey and company have a hand in what’s going on, but they’ve yet to truly make an impact. In Kurt Busiek’s portion, Batman finally feels like himself. Alfred’s cover for why he left the party after the wolf attack was a bit on the lame side, but oddly, a nice touch. Sadly, the bad jokes about Batman lightening up continue. It’s as if Busiek is trying to write an adult story, with young adult dialogue.

Luckily on Fabian Nicieza’s side, the story feels connected again… sort of. I’m not sure why Swashbuckler would want to steal Nightwing’s mask, but I’m sure it’s uninteresting. Speaking of stealing, taking The Joker’s laugh is a good idea, but with no explanation as to why or how Joker’s even connected to the story, things quickly fall flat.

As usual Mark Bagley’s panels do a good job of conveying the action. Sadly, his art still feels weak to me. There’s so little detail in each face it’s like The Question wearing different masks. Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens don’t fair much better. While slightly more detailed than Bagley’s work, the final product comes off as more inconsistent. For example, after Swashbuckler cuts Nightwing’s grapple there’s a panel which shows a detailed Nightwing standing next to a “blank” Swashbuckler – talk about looking off. But The Joker gets the worst look with his feminine features and blue tears. I just don’t get it.

I may be a minority in thinking so, but this series isn’t good. Nine weeks, and almost no story movement. Nine issues is almost 300 pages. I’ve read books with complete stories much shorter than that. I consider myself a fairly patient man. I don’t need constant explosions, loud music, or hot babes to be entertained (though it helps). With Trinity, I just don’t have it in me anymore. I hope you don’t either, don’t buy this book. It’s time me and this title parted ways. (Grade: F)

– Ben Berger

Trinity #7 – Review

By Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza (writers), Mark Bagley, Tom Derenick, Wayne Faucher (artists), Art Thibert (inker), Pete Pantazis, Allen Passalaqua (colors), Pat Brosseau, Ken Lopez (letters), Andy Kubert (cover)

For each glimmer of hope, there is a reminder of why Trinity is mediocre. Even with everything that’s happening I don’t feel any significant story movement. To progress any story you need a mix of action and information. They need to be working together harmoniously. Without that balance, Trinity will continue to be an unsatisfactory experience.

The writing for this series to come around remains an event amongst itself. Technically speaking, it’s better to show story than it is to tell it. Busiek’s choice to only show or tell depending on the issue really hurts the overall flow of the book. Even when we get a good chunk of information, it rarely sees an immediate payoff because the next week is all action. Busiek doesn’t need to pick one, but instead needs to find a way to balance the elements, otherwise the story will continue to be unbalanced and disappointing. I must admit, I feel bad for Fabian Nicieza. Ever since Rita popped up in Busiek’s story, Nicieza has felt like an afterthought. I’m sure his portion of the story is important, but right now it feels like supplemental material. At this point I’d rather have Busiek just write everything since each week Nicieza seems to have less pages and a less compelling story; Busiek’s story would most likely benefit from the extra room.

Artistically, things haven’t changed much. The characters are still drawn well up close, but the further you get from the action the worse and less detailed it looks. Superman looks like a kid in half of the panels because of this. Mark Bagley’s art is at its best when he’s drawing action, so issues like this one seem to suffer as a whole. Tom Derenick and Wayne Faucher get the short end of the stick. They have less pages, so they have to cram more information into less space. The compositions are nice, but each panel just feels claustrophobic.

Inconsistency continues with Trinity. Busiek can’t seem to decide if it’s an action story or something more cerebral. Sure the last five to ten issues may be incredible, but is anyone still going to be reading? We all know that a payoff is only as good as its setup. Someone should mention this to the creative team. (Grade: D)

– Ben Berger