Weekly Comic Book Review

By: Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, Mike Norton (pencils), Art Thibert, Andy Owens, Wayne Faucher, and Jerry Ordway (inks), Pete Pantazis, Allen Passalqua (colors)

The Trinity event continues and still hampered by the same problems as previous weeks. The good news is I’ve finally put my finger on why I don’t like it. The bad news is nothing’s changed.

The format is the biggest weakness of this book. We have the same story coming from opposite ends. Half of the book is the heroes, the other half is from the human perspective. Both are too short, so even though it’s two sides to the same coin, it feels completely disconnected. It’s like having an important cell phone conversation in a mountainous area and you keep getting cut off.  Adding to this dissension is the shakeup to the creative team. Even though we’re getting two perspectives of the problem, they’re so different it’s hard to see how they connect. Kurt Busiek should have the easier time since he’s writing the title characters, but it’s actually Fabian Nicieza who has the better dialogue. Even though Nicieza has the less interesting character, his writing makes her feel more realistic than anything Busiek has written so far. Maybe I’m just bitter because Batman doesn’t feel like Batman to me. Busiek’s interpretation of the character seems to rely too much on his genius. I’m not saying the guy doesn’t “talk smart” when he needs to, but he sounds like Reed Richards.

Up until now, Mark Bagley had the more interesting artwork because he had the cooler characters fighting all the time. Mike Norton (tarot layout) and Scott McDaniel (dream pencils) are starting to catch my eye a bit more. Norton’s “real world” drawings of Rita feel so much more detailed than Bagley’s panels. Though, that may be because she’s all we focus on. McDaniel’s dream sequence is my favorite part of the book. The battle itself is chaotic, but easy to follow; the blue-bubbled lines used to separate each panel are a really good visual tool to remind us that it’s a dream.

Trinity #4 is better than the last two issues, but not by much. There are so many people involved that it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate who’s doing well and who’s not. This issue has slowed the nosedive and even ends with a glimmer of hope that things will start to get more interesting, but at the end of the day I want proof, not leads. (Grade: C)

- Ben Berger