Trinity #19

The idea of a weekly comic book has been tried before, but it wasn't until two-and-a-half years ago that a successful weekly appeared - DC's 52, which branched off from Infinite Crisis.

That success led to last year's follow-up, the less-successful Countdown, which was intended to lead into the Final Crisis, though it did so in a clumsy manner.

Now we have Trinity, which doesn't seem to have any connection to another series at all (though presumably it could be leading up to one). The book's focus is on the "Big 3" - Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - and so far it's been something of a roller coaster ride.

Which is to say, some issues have been very good, and some have been just so-so. The basic idea is that the "Big 3" are somehow linked as a trinity, and their influence has affected the real world of the DC Universe. Along comes three bad guys - Morgana, Despero and Enigma, who set out to take the place of our heroes and reshape the world.

As this issue picks up, the bad guys have succeeded, and the last two issues have been laying the groundwork, explaining the new reality to the readers.

It's obvious that writer Kurt Busiek has put a lot of work and a lot of thought into the new status quo, but the story is pretty deep in the weeds, as heroes and civilians try to understand their place in the new world. I'm not sure they're any more confused than the reader.

I think the problem I have with the comic is that we've had an overload of these "retooled reality" stories, and while Busiek is a good enough writer to carry it off, I'm just tired of the concept. Busiek did the same thing when he took over the Avengers (with George Perez), Loeb did an alternate reality story in the Superman/Batman comic, and we're seeing it now in Final Crisis - and those are just three off the top of my head!

Mark Bagley continues to serve up excellent artwork here - I really think he's the heir apparent to the mantle of Gil Kane. Their styles are somewhat similar, though Bagley gives it his own spin. And the fact that he can maintain this 12-pages-a-week schedule is a tribute to his professionalism.

DC deserves a lot of credit for managing to serve up a weekly comic like this - the logistics must be a difficult chore at best - and the quality of the work is strong. But this single issue isn't the best of the bunch, and would be an impossible spot for a new reader to jump on - it's just too much to sort out. Hopefully it'll all clear up soon.

Grade: C+