Trinity #10


10In the lead: The JLA realize the missing people from last isssue are being taken by the Crime Syndicate to the Anti-Matter Earth to work as slaves, and decide to mount a rescue operation. Meanwhile, the evil Trinity sends one of their thugs to steal something from STAR Labs.

In the back-up: Nightwing and Robin fight a talking gorilla in a metal corset. Wait a minute…Nightwing and Robin fight a talking gorilla in a metal corset? Okay, just had to make sure I meant that. Then the two go and vists Jason Blood (somtimes known as Etrigan the Demon), who tells them more about the power of the trinity in magic.

My take: This is getting good.

I liked the distraction of the Crime Syndicate in the lead story and hope it turns out to be just that, a distraction. Not everything in this series needs to be related to the Trinity plot. In fact, it makes sense that some of it wouldn’t. It’s not like all the other bad guys are going to stand aside and say “It’s Morgaine Le Fey’s turn now.” Supervillains don’t take turns.

And while the lead and the Trinity are focusing on something else, the back-up is the perfect place to keep the overall series arc flowing nicely. Just because Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are busy defending innocents doesn’t mean the evil Trinity is taking a vacation. They’re still working on their master plan, and who’s better than Nightwing, Robin and Oracle to keep an eye on it? Hey, those three are just like their own little Trinity. Neat.

Anyway, the best parts of this issue are best discussed as…

Things to keep an eye on: Superman’s acting a little weird. The guy’s really angry that the Crime Syndicate is abducting people…and I mean really angry. Like super-angry. Like acting-completely-out-of-character angry. Like so-angry-the-other-characters-realize-he’s-acting-out-of-character angry. And now that I think about it, Batman not realizing right away that he’d come into contacts with the Howlers before is pretty out of character. So is Wonder Woman going shopping while the boys fight crime. The entire Trinity is freaking out; is this the evil Trinity’s doing?

Stellarman? Apollo? The Authority? Hyperman? Captain Champion? Die Liga Justiz? So apparently the people being abducted by the Crime Syndicate aren’t just being taken from New Earth. Nice twist. What are the odds we’ll see characters from the Wildstorm Universe show up in a normal DC series? And is it easier to get to the alternate Earth’s from the Anti-Matter Earth? Did our heroes just find a new cosmic treadmill?

The evil Trinity need to collect pieces of the Trinity’s past: something representing their friends, their foes and their foundations.

Batman is aleady complete. Last issue, Swashbuckler tried to steal Nightwing’s mask but settled for Gordon’s pipe and the Trans-Volitional Man stole the Joker’s laugh. This issue, Primat (the talking female gorilla) stole a chunk of Crime Alley.

So far, they only have one piece of Wonder Woman, her friend Etta Candy’s security pass. Looks like they’ll be going to Paradise Island sometime soon, and maybe going after the Cheetah or Ares? I don’t think the Secret Society would take too kindly the Morgaine’s thugs taking out one of their members.

Most interesting is Superman. Morgaine has a vial of Lex Luthor’s blood and Lois Lane’s notepad. So what represents Superman’s foundations? Kryptonite, of course. And where’s one place that you know you can always find Kryptonite in the DC Universe? The Batcave. Oh crap.