The DC Comics Trinity War has come to pass, and it is time for me to make my comments on a series as a whole. I have had many conversations with various people over the last few days about the Trinity War, and it is time for me to discuss it with you. Since you have had a few days to read the final issue, I am free to discuss without causing general spoilers. If you have not read it yet, sorry – my time limit for not giving spoilers is up.
Trinity War triptych focus
A Long Time to Market
With the amount of time DC Comics has been slowly marketing the Trinity War, I expected it to be one of the best crossovers DC Comics has ever had. Ya, well…not so much.
Which Trinity?
DC Comics took a long time to slowly push out information about the Trinity War. Over the course, we argued about who might be the trinity that fights in the war. Could it be Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman? Could it be the three factions of the Justice League? Could it be the Phantom Stranger, Pandora, and The Question? In the end, there were multiple trinities in the Trinity War, which played out well until Earth 3 entered. If Earth 3 is part of the trinity, is Earth 2 getting involved as well? If so, that part of this particular trinity would be coming out after the Trinity War and would botch the idea as a whole.
The Focus
The Trinity War did a great job of focusing on the Dark Universe. Constantine was awesome during the Trinity War and is one of the shining stars of the series. The Phantom Stranger got extra time, and might benefit as much as Constantine can from the extra exposure. Other than that, most of the characters from the three factions of the Justice League were lost in the fray. Yes, Pandora got a ton of face time, but what did we learn about her? What spiked out interest in reading her title? What got us interested in continuing on with reading the three factions?
Unanswered Questions:
- If Pandora’s Box is actually a door to Earth 3 that needed to be opened, why didn’t the Alfred from Earth 3 (or anyone else from Earth 3) have it opened before? Pandora has been running around with the skull for thousands of years.
- So the Crime Syndicate came through the door minus their version of Aquaman. How are they supposed to be a threat to our Earth’s Justice League, which still has its Aquaman? Did the creators of the storyline forget that the Justice League of America and Justice League Dark are also in the same location to battle? How is this supposed to get us nervous?
- Are all three Earths going to be involved to make a true trinity? Wouldn’t that meld with a Trinity War?
- Why have so many characters in the Trinity War story if they are not going to be used? Why the hodgepodge?
- What in the Hell was the point of The Question in this series? He has been pushed as a wildcard since The Phantom Stranger started, and all he did (essentially) was free Superman. The character was highlighted on the marketing, but barely used.
- Is Wonder Woman more powerful than God? [Read this]
- So God follows the Phantom Stranger around in the form of a dog. God kept hinting that the Trinity War was going to be between Pandora, The Question, and the Phantom Stranger. Was God wrong? Was God telling lies?
- If the Phantom Stranger was unmade, does that mean nobody was around to turning Jesus over in the Bible? [Read this]
- Earth 3’s Alfred stated that there are many doors (like the skull) to Earth 3. Why did they care so much about this one? Shouldn’t this question have been answered?
- Why hype that Justice League factions fighting when they only actually fight on a handful of pages in the entire series? Where was the substance of the obviously exaggerated marketing?
- How can I talk about unanswered questions without making a comment about Pandora going around asking everyone to open her box? I feel a Miley Cyrus joke coming on.
- Now that Superman has been neutralized by a tiny shard of Kryptonite in his brain during the Trinity War, how many times are we going to see that happen over and over again in the New 52? Oh, wait…I won’t see it at all since I don’t read Superman.
- Who is in the bag?
- When the Phantom Stranger headed off the Neatherealm, why did Batman automatically agree to go with him? Since when does Batman trust people he has just met? Did the Trinity War cause Batman to let his guard down?
- So how exactly did the Earth 3 version of Aquaman die?
- Was the whole episode of Sueprman killing Doctor Light, the arguments over his sanity, and the trip to the Neatherealm by the Phantom Stranger, Batman, Katana, and Deadman simply filler to expand on a story which could have been told in one issue of one comic?
- How many characters in the New 52 DC Universe are actually from Earth 3? There are too many hints now from the last few months to list here. Exclusing the characters which just crossed over and Earth 3’s Alfred, my current count is 6 (if I am reading hints right).
- If the skull is a door to Earth 3, and Pandora used it to release the Sins on Earth, wouldn’t that mean that there were no more Sins left on Earth 3 to corrupt the minds of people? Shouldn’t the characters who just crossed through from Earth 3 be tambourine-slapping hippies?
Unanswered Questions Not Always a Good Thing
Sure, some of you might come to the side of DC Comics and say that unanswered questions are a good thing because they will keep you reading. To an extent – yes. To the extent caused by the Trinity War – no.
Most of the questions listed above have left me with a sour taste in my mouth that I was strung along for no apparent reason outside of selling comics. Yes, comic book companies are in the business of selling comics, but they have an obligation to me (as a purchaser) to give a good story. A good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The questions above make me wonder if there were either too many cooks in the kitchen who wanted their ingredients used, or if DC Comics just kept change course in the middle of the story and hoped nobody would catch on. Comic book publishers have been known to change their own stories and hope nobody catches on.
The End Result
I have dropped Justice League from my pull list because the lead-up issues and Trinity War series did not keep me interested in the team.
I have dropped Justice League of America from my pull list because the lead-up issues and the Trinity War did not get me excited about that team either.
I have dropped Trinity of Sin: Pandora from my pull list because I have realized that I could care less about the New 52 version of the character.
My Final Thoughts
In hindsight, I am actually angered by the Trinity War and think it was a waste of time, marketing, and my money. Sure, there were some great points for characters such as the Phantom Stranger, Wonder Woman, and Constantine. The problem is that most of the characters in the story were underutilized if utilized at all. At the same time, there were too many inconsistencies with the DC Universe as we know it, and with the Trinity War story itself. I will have major problems trusting DC Comics crossovers in the future.
