Trinity #24
In the lead: Morgaine Le Fey forms an impenetrable barrier around Europe. Gangbuster shows up at JSI HQ and gives Carter Hall the Khufu scroll. Enigma and Le Fey get in a fight because Le Fey is just killing everybody, but Enigma wants the power to revive people (namely, his wife and kids). He tries to convince Le Fey to use Konvikt as the third of their bad Trinity to complete the spell. The Khufu scroll returns Hall, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott to their youthful forms and convinces Hall that their world has been altered. He frees Firestorm and tries to convince The Flash (who was captured earlier in the issue) to help set things right. Meanwhile, Freddie Pennyworth, super spy, pays a visit to Lois Lane.
In the back-up: Despero’s fleet attacks Kanjar Ro. Jon Stewart saves Ro and attacks Despero’s fleet. Despero jumps into the vacuum of space (without a space suit and holding his breath) to attack Stewart. Krona steals Stewart out of the situation because he’s curious about his Oan/Qwardian hybrid energies. Despero takes Ro onboard his ship, intent on killing him, but Ro convinces Despero to seek revenge on Le Fey and Enigma, who tried to cheat Despero out of his share of the power. And Ro’s discovered where Owlman, Ultraman and Superwoman were sent in issue #13.
My take: This would all be so much easier if this series sucked. It’s easy to go on and on about something you hate, but it’s hard to talk about why you really like a series without blowing a fanboy splooge all over the blog.
I’ve said many times in these reviews that the pacing is probably the best part of Trinity. The World Without a Trinity storyline started out a bit slow and disjointed, but in the last few issues everything has really come together in a great way.
Ooh! I thought of something bad! Colorist Pete Pantazis seems to have mixed up Jay Garrick and Alan Scott this issue. The thinner, runner-like character has Scott’s blond hair, while the stockier, more Lantern-like character has Garrick’s brown-with-white-temples. Carter Hall even calls the guy with Jay’s hair Alan at one point. Even stranger, when they trio opens the Khufu scroll, the colorist gets Hall and Garrick screwed up, even though it’s obvious from the dialogue and action which is which.
Things to keep an eye on: I really want to know who is in the League that Flash is a member of. The original cast of the JLA (Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Black Canary) is unaccounted for in this reality. In issue #18, Aquaman was portrayed as a despot, but The Flash wasn’t characterized as a hero in that issue either and he seems to be one of the good guys.
When Alfred introduces himself to Lois Lane, he says his name is “Alfred,” not “Freddie” as he calls himself in this reality. Does Alfred have some sense of the way Earth used to be? Maybe since Friends, Foes and Foundations were used to cast the spell in the first place, they’ll also be crucial to reversing things. We did see Wonder Woman’s friend Julia Kapatelis back in issue #19, but she hasn’t been seen since.
Neither Konvikt nor Enigma is exactly evil. Enigma wants this power so he can save Counter-Earth from the Crime Syndicate. Konvikt seems like a decent guy who lets his anger get the best of him a lot, and has shown no desire for greater power. So will they actually let Morgaine Le Fey destroy this world if they’re able to complete the spell, or will they play a part in its undoing?
With Konvikt assumedly becoming the third part of the bad Trinity, where does that leave Despero? Or Kanjar Ro for that matter? And will the counter-Trinity really help out Despero for rescuing them from the void between dimensions? That seems unlikely.