Trinity (Review)

I must admit; as a Catholic, that I sometimes feel guilty refering to Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman as the "Trinity". I understand DC Comic's reasons, and that they are not trying to turn the three into gods for us to worship, but you just have to wonder who really might be behind that name (if I may be cryptic for a moment..lol). There have been two collections titled "Trinity" released in Graphic Novels (that I am aware of), Matt Wagner's and Kurt Busiek's. They couldn't be more opposite....


Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity (Citizen's Grade: Impressive). Written and drawn by Matt Wagner, the series focused on the first meeting and first alliance between DC's Trinity: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. A mysterious group calling themselves "The Purge" are able to steal any type of weapon they want, and it's up to the Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman to stop them. Also features Ra's Al Ghul & Bizarro.

Wagner's story and art are wonderful as he weaves the friendship and trust that will last and grow between these three for years to come.

Trinity (Citizen's Grade: Sigh...). These three volumes collected the weekly, 52 Issue series written by Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza. Artwork was done by Mark Bagley, Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, & Mike Norton.

"The Trinity of Heroes" are legendary characters who are believed to be the keystone to all of creation. Convinced that Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are this Trinity, sorceress Morgaine LeFey teams up with Despero and Enigma to replace the three icons with evil doppelgangers from the Multiverse in order to recreate existence. Can the greatest heroes of 52 universes stop this evil plot – or will evil win?

I was thoroughly disappointed in this series, there was some good build-up, but in the end the story fell flat on it's face! I'll give Busiek & Nicieza credit, they did take the "big 3" outside the box, and Bagley's art is very good, which would be the only reason to purchase these volumes. I like Nicieza the more I read him, and I like Busiek less the more I read him....go figure.

I'm glad that Bagley is at DC Comics full-time now, he's a great artist (he drew about a 100 issues of Ultimate Spiderman for Marvel Comics, I loved his artwork on that project!).

In the end......buy Matt Wagner's "Trinity" and pass on Busiek's "Trinity". Although I have no proof of this; and you can argue that it was because of the writers and artists working on the series at the time, but I think Busiek's "Trinity" may have actually contributed to the faltering sales of the Superman/Batman series. Just speculation, but...wow!...that's bad.