TRINITY #8 REVIEW

**Blake Petit** · #1 July 25th 2008, 11:30 PM

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Have You Tied Him Up Yet? & Dreams of Power

Assault on Wayne Manor!

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Art Thibert
Colors: Pete Pantazis
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Writers (Second Story): Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza
Art (Second Story): Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
Colors (Second Story): Allen Passalaqua
Letters (Second Story): Ken Lopez
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Andy Kubert & Edgar Delgado
Publisher: DC Comics

As Despero ponders the offer Morgaine and Enigma presented him, the Trinity returns to their normal lives while they try to unravel the riddle. In the case of Batman, this means donning his Bruce Wayne disguise for a tedious society party at Wayne Manor, while Clark meets with his wife and Diana shares an afternoon with her friend Etta Candy. This issue gives the heroes a little time to consider not only the mystery in front of them, but they way they are each perceived by their friends and the world at large.

While the cosmic plot of this series is strong, what makes this an exceptional book is the examination of our three characters, and it’s clear that Busiek is hitting it from all angles. We’ve seen the characters in self-examination and examining each other, but seeing how their supporting casts think of each other adds another great dimension to the tale. In the back-up, our trinity of villains take the time to consider the lost Cosmic Egg (which fans will remember was created in Busiek’s JLA/Avengers crossover event). Something I’ve always loved about Busiek’s writing is his clear grasp and respect of continuity, the way he draws on both his own stories and everyone else’s to weave his stories. It’s one of the things that makes him the perfect writer for this experiment.

Mark Bagley’s artwork? Sublime. Scott McDaniel’s? Well… the back-up stories that focus on the villains have definitely been the strongest ones in this series, but McDaniels’s artwork simply isn’t a good fit. He does great action comics – good runs on the likes of Nightwing and Batman – but as we saw with his Superman and Countdown: Arena work, his style simply doesn’t lend itself to this sort of cosmic event. No doubt he’s put on the book because he’s a reliable artist who can hit his deadlines, but that doesn’t make it fit any better.

A strong issue, but I wish the art in the back-ups was stronger.

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