The beginning of the Trinity War is upon DC Comics, and the publisher has promised us a huge crossover which will change many of the aspects of the DC Universe. In the past, I have discussed the concern about how the Trinity War might relaunch the old universe, but with the official announcement of Villain Month and Forever Evil, those concerns have been laid to rest. There are a few concerns about the Trinity War, though, which have come to the surface in recent weeks which should be addressed.
The Trinity War triptych
Actual Start Date
According to word I have received from our Detroit area comic book store, there are questions about the official start date of the Trinity War. Many readers, myself included, purchases issues of Justice League, Justice League of America, and Justice League Dark in the past week expecting at least a precursor to the Trinity War. Some readers may have actually believed the crossover was beginning this month. Instead, the crossover event begins in July.
Possible Cause
If you remember back a few month to when Diamond Previews previewed Trinity of Sin: Pandora, a June release was given. Instead, Pandora will not hit store shelves until July. Also, the free publicity cards which were sent to comic book stores to pass out showed a June release date for Pandora. Poor communication and/or postponing dates should always cause for concern.
Lack of Support Sales
I do like the statement that DC Comics has made about retailers being allowed to return unsold copies of Justice League Dark as long as the orders match the numbers purchased for Justice League and/or Justice League of America. On the negative side, the Trinity War also crosses into Trinity of Sin: Pandora, Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger, and Constantine. Support should be given for these other titles as well since the casual reader who is trying to continue the story from Justice League or Justice League of America might not consider picking up these lower titles.
Will People Really Care About the Trinity War?
We already know about one of the major outcomes of the Trinity War. It will launch Villain Month and Forever Evil. Since we know A (where we are) and C (where we are going), will as many people be concerned about B (how we get from A to C)?
The Overall Cost
Many of us are going to be spending more money than usual during Villain Month. All of the DC Comics titles are going to be $3.99, and all of the major titles are going to have multiple .1 issues during the month. Readers might decide to pass up this crossover and save their money. Personally, if it were not for the fact that this crossover involves DC’s Dark Universe, I would probably not pick it up. Since it involves so many of the titles I am already getting, I might as well pick up the rest. I can see how the average reader might pass it by.
