Trinity (#1-6)

Let's try a multi-issue review to help catch up some.

One-sentence summary: Trinity seems to have good intentions, but thus far has been a bit slow-paced, and the two 13-page stories a week are light fare.

I should put this out there right now: I am a comic book optimist. When I pick up a new book, or an old one, I hope for and look for the best. That's why I never tore apart Countdown, it's why I still read Punisher: War Journal, etc. That being said, I'm worried about Trinity, though not disliking it yet.

It's been 6 issues. I know for a weekly title that's barely 10% of the series, but for the average comic that's an entire arc. That sort of comparison makes the fact that, thus far, the "main" story of Trinity has progressed most of the way through one fight. It feels like these first few issues of Trinity have Dragonball Z syndrome -- a bunch of guys fighting, the dialogue mostly consisting of the characters talking about the fight, the subplot consisting of people watching the fight and talking about it. This is a story-telling style that wore on me in 8th grade, so my impatience is (in my opinion) understandable.

That being said, I'm intrigued by the concept being laid down here by Busiek. Having the three main DCU characters form some sort of mystical trinity fits well with the themes going on in the other mega-title right now, Final Crisis. Whether these are going to intersect at all? I wouldn't bet on it. Final Crisis is Morrison's baby, and come hell, high water, or contradictory mini-series, nothing's stopping Morrison from writing what he wants.

So what does all this mean for Trinity? It means that, at best, we can hope for a long, well-written story revolving around some neat ideas that won't have much of an impact outside of it, which wouldn't be so bad. This will require a swift progression of things from the current stagnant-style of plotting that's occurred thus far, but it could happen. Of course, there's the worst-case scenario too, but, hey -- I'm an optimist.

JSA Classified #28

One-sentence summary: Hot on the heels of the pretty good storylines about Doctor Midnight and Wildcat we get this mediocre story about Jakeem Thunder, a rather hokey hero who should've been allowed to stay dead.

I guess I just think the character of Jakeem Thunder is sort of dumb. I mean, the idea worked alright in the old humorous, campy comics of the 40s, but if you're going to be putting a character in a modern day comic, there really should be more to them than "has a magic genie." I know that now it's a 5th dimensional creature or whatever, but it's still a freaking genie as far as I'm concerned. The issue's big moral lesson seems to me to indicate that, in actuality, he's useless. In case you're curious, the twist (I'll ruin it for you because this isn't a great issue) is that for everything the genie does an equal and opposite thing happens elsewhere, so that for every person he makes a home for, someone loses theirs. This would indicate, to me at least, that in every fight every blow he lands is just a super-powered punch someone else is going to have to deal with, or something similar. Can he only wish for things with relatively no consequence now?

I just don't like this character, really, so seeing a comic that includes him and Green Lantern acting like Batman all of the sudden doesn't do much for me.

Cable Deadpool #43

One-sentence summary: Cable/Deadpool is back to being funny with this installment bringing back wave after wave of really immature jokes, as well as a character from Deadpool's past.

This was my favorite issue of Cable/Deadpool in a little while. We're back to Bob from Hydra, Deadpool, Agent X, and even Weasel. I love the fact that they use Deadpool's team-crush on the X-Men as a motivating factor. And the immature sex jokes? I loved each and every one of them (all night long?).

This was a good issue. The art worked for what you have, the end was hilarious, the dialogue was back to being moderately sparkling, and, in general, I haven't enjoyed an issue of this as much in a little while. I think one of my favorite moments is at the very front where Bob can't figure out how to correctly break the fourth wall -- just awesome.