Bringing the pieces back together.
Creative Staff:
Story: Francis Manapul
Art: Francis Manapul
Colors: Francis Manapul
Letterer: Steve Wands
What They Say:
“BETTER TOGETHER” part 1! Together again for the first time! Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. The core of the World’s Greatest Heroes…but with a new Man of Steel, the bonds these three share will be tested and redefined by super-star writer/artist Francis Manapul. In this premiere issue, see the trio travel from Metropolis to Gotham City and beyond to learn what forces launched their heroic careers. But how will this journey of discovery lead them to a new threat?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the Rebirth event plays out at DC Comics I’ve been doing my best at times to branch out into titles I haven’t looked at in years. I’ve spent the last couple of years mostly along the fringe titles that don’t get a lot of attention and don’t involve the main players. So a series like Trinity is appealing as it works the Big Three and works to put things in the right place in the Rebirth DC Universe. That the artwork and coloring is all done by Francis Manapul, who’s also writing it, is just the icing on the cake. I’ve long enjoyed his work so seeing him taking on all corners here outside of lettering really reinforces this as a passion project. And going by this opening issue I’ve certainly put in my preorder for the second, but I’m holding off on that subscribe button for the moment.
What this book does for the most part is what I really enjoy about comics as it’s about the characters that you enjoy essentially sitting around talking. Not in costume, not quipping amid battle, or with some large event looming. It’s just the main three coming to dinner at Clark’s place in Smallville where he’s living with Lois and his son Jon. The problem for me is that having not read the main books during most of the New 52 run, there isn’t a lot of great stage setting here for me to connect with recent events. Essentially, this Superman is from the pre-Flashpoint world while the New 52 events ended up with their Superman dead recently. A Superman that had a contentious relationship with Batman but also a seriously romantic one with Wonder Woman. You can get a lot of the things going on here easily enough, but I wish that Manapul made a bit more reference to how this Superman ended up here and the relationship side of things with Lois and Jon since I hadn’t read much pre-Flashpoint material in general and nothing with these characters.
That said, Manapul succeeds very well here with what he does in laying out who these characters are in the here and now. The arrival sequence is great as it showcases each of them in their own way with Lois narrating it and it works exceptionally well with the way that panels are laid out and the power of each of the characters. When it introduces some mild humor as they arrive and Jon loses control of his powers a bit, it sets things back into that contentious mode – mostly because of Bruce and his wariness of this situation and this setting. You can see how the trio can align, especially with Clark being more of the “old school” beacon of light and hope that most of us want him to be showing through, and that’s highly tantalizing. But it’s also really great to see Lois and Diana talk so that things are square between them considering Diana’s history with the New 52 Superman. It’s honest and realistic in a way that works better than it should.
In Summary:
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Trinity but I knew I wanted to reconnect with these characters while not getting mixed up in all their ongoing standalone books or the Justice League series. With it being a strong vision as coming through from Francis Manapul, you have to feel that everything has meaning with what’s done and that carries through it in a really good way. Each of the characters gets some very good time here and the dynamic between them is well explored, leading you to that last page where you want to know more of the teaser for what’s to come. But that isn’t what’s getting me to read the book but rather seeing how these three will work with each other and, hopefully, get back to something a little more classic and inspirational. I have a lot of hopes based on what Manapul has done here, though also a big of wariness over how far he can go in helping this course correction continue.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 21st, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
