Even though last week was filled with religious significance, it is probably just a happy coincidence that Trinity #30 featured the "genesis" of the Trinitarians' new world. I did like the conflicts inherent in this planet's creation, including a clever testamentary divide.

Anyway, I'm eager to get into the nuts and bolts, so as always...

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

FIRST STORY

"In The Longago" was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: A ritualistic recitation of a new mythology.

Since this particular part of the issue is rather light on ordinary DC trivia, once again I'm skipping the page-by-page format.

-- This was a sweet story, and a nice interlude amid the carnage occurring on Earth. It strikes me as the kind of story which would not have gotten the same presentation in a more traditionally-formatted series. Here, though, it can be integrated seamlessly into the narrative. I am not a fan of the sort of branched-out storytelling made popular by big-event crossover series, so I'm glad that Trinity doesn't have to designate which of its subplots are part of the main thread and which are disposable. Under other circumstances, much of Trinity's expository material, especially in this Act Two, could easily have been shifted into some sort of appendix; and given the logistics of another format, such a choice might have made more sense. I imagine that the expanded volume of a weekly series must also tempt writers and editors to expand their stories with what turns out to be padding. Regardless, even when read in big chunks, Trinity has never felt bloated to me, and I think it has taken full advantage of its format.

-- Again, I did enjoy seeing Krona as the "Old Testament God" and the Trinitarians as the kinder, gentler "New Testament" deities. It's not clear to me whether the Trinity knows about Krona's stewardship, or vice versa; but I doubt that would have made much difference. (Actually, if the League of Extraordinary BFFs had figured out the Cosmic Egg connection, I expect the Trinitarians have further linked this planet to Krona.) They might not have liberated this world, as they thought about liberating the Anti-Matter Earth, but they appear to have made a positive difference in the lives of its people.

-- I presume that the "Genesis Planet's" natives are blue because Krona made them in his own image. However, I always thought that, as a race, the Oans' blue skin developed along with their particular mental powers. The Maltusians, from which the Oans came, had Earth-style flesh tones; and so did their sisters the Zamarons. In any event, I am not theorizing that the blue people have latent Guardian-like powers, just that they're blue like Krona.

-- Let's see if I have the chronology straight: the Cosmic Egg is a product of JLA/Avengers. From its first appearance at the end of that series until the end of Krona's captivity in Trinity was the Genesis Planet's "Old Testament" period, when Krona ruled with a cold, calculating fist. (Time passes differently, yadda yadda yadda.) Accordingly, pages 10 and 11 correspond roughly to the Troika's triumph at the end of Act One.

-- You'd think, though, that in order for a "New Testament" religion to spring up around our heroes, they'd have to have been thrown back into the past who-knows-how-far. Thus, in real time, Krona's rule only lasted a few years, but the Trinitarians have been on this planet probably since before the beginning of recorded Earth history. Of course, for the blue people it's all been a straight line....

-- In the same vein, I wondered originally whether the Trinitarians' Day-Glo selves were supposed to be poetic license on the part of the blue people. Now, though, I'm inclined to take it literally, indicating how they have been changed.

-- Couldn't help noticing: Wonder Woman calls her friends "Clark" and "Bruce" here, but judging by the derivations of their god-names, clearly "Kal-El" and "Batman" got much wider usage.

* * *

SECOND STORY

"This Is What We Need To Know" was written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Ande Parks, colored by Allen Passalaqua, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Space Ranger (?) fights Brainiac, and both sides pick their Tarot decks.

Page 13 (story page 1):

-- We know just about everyone, I think, in this band of desperadoes. (Why won't they come to their senses?) New faces (I believe) include the Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy, Vandal Savage, and Jason "Floronic Man" Woodrue.

-- The Scarecrow, a/k/a Professor Jonathan Crane, was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 (Winter 1941).

-- Solomon Grundy, formerly Cyrus Gold, was created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman and first appeared in All-American Comics #61 (October 1944).

-- Vandal Savage, originally the caveman Vandar Adg, was created by Bester and Martin Nodell and first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 1 #10 (Winter 1943).

-- The Floronic Man, f/k/a Plant-Master, a/k/a Floro, was created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane. Ordinary human Jason Woodrue first appeared in The Atom vol. 1 #1 (June-July 1962). His current plant/human hybrid form dates back to The Flash vol. 1 #245 (November 1976).

Page 14/2

-- "The garrolous human is long-lived": Vandal's an immortal, having been exposed to a particular radioactive meteor as a caveman.

Page 15/3

-- Okay, Space Ranger is so totally the Martian Manhunter. "More than holographic projection" = shape-shifting; "intraspatial linear field" = immateriality; and "thermal helm-blast" = Martian vision. There may be Silver Age stories showing S.R. with each of those powers, but at this point I'm as convinced of "Space Ranger's" true identity as I am that Professor Hugo Strange was behind "Hush." In other words, I may be completely wrong, but it makes perfect sense.

Page 16/4

-- Panel 1 also shows us a familiar-looking telepathic link, which J'Onn would use as a communications channel for the Justice League. Now, I am willing to concede that the Ranger/Brainwave communication is a function of Brainwave Jr.'s telepathic networking, but acting as the switchboard between the Atom and Brainwave is a little more sophisticated.

Page 17/5

-- Ray "Atom" Palmer has appeared in Trinity already, but I think this is his first appearance in costume. He played a similar espionage role in JLA/Avengers.

Page 18/6

-- No annotations.

Page 19/7

-- "The Green" refers to the concept, first articulated in Swamp Thing, of an extradimensional continuum connecting all plant life. A "biomorphic field" may be another way of saying the same thing. It should probably not be confused with the "morphogenetic field" which facilitates the powers of Animal Man and Vixen.

Page 20/8

-- More new faces: "The Chariot" is Zoom, the Reverse-Flash; "The Empress" looks like Cheshire to me (although Tringenuity thinks she's Lady Shiva, and next issue's preview might prove them right); and "The Hi[erophant]" (sometimes called "The Pope") is Ra's al Ghul.

-- Professor Zoom, a/k/a Eobard Thawne, was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino and first appeared in The Flash vol. 1 #139 (September 1963). His successor, police scientist Hunter Zolomon (called simply "Zoom") was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. Zolomon first appeared in Flash Secret Files #3 (November 2001), and became Zoom in The Flash vol. 2 #197 (June 2003). Judging by the glowing red eyes, this looks to be Zolomon.

-- Let's cover our bases: Cheshire, a/k/a Jade, was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and first appeared in The New Teen Titans Annual vol. 1 #2 (1983). Lady Shiva, a/k/a Sandra Woosan, was created by Denny O'Neil and Ric Estrada and first appeared in Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #5 (December 1975-January 1976).

-- Ra's al Ghul was created by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams and first appeared in Batman #232 (June 1971).

Page 21/9

-- I'm not sure who's depicted in panel 3. It looks like Rosie the Riveter, but for some reason I think it's Sandy the Golden Boy. Probably Rosie, though.

-- Hawkman's Tarot lineup includes a bearded Aquaman, as well as Plastic Man and the current Mr. Terrific.

-- Plastic Man, a/k/a Patrick "Eel" O'Brian, was created by Jack Cole and first appeared in Police Comics #1 (August 1941).

-- Michael "Mr. Terrific" Holt was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake and first appeared in The Spectre vol. 3 #54 (June 1997).

Page 22/10

-- No annotations.

* * *

Well, I didn't see Act Two turning into a battle of Tarot-based armies; but it does provide a bigger payoff for all the Tarot material in Act One. Maybe I stopped visiting Tarotpedia too soon....

By the way, if you haven't seen it already, be sure to check out Tom Spurgeon's interview with Kurt Busiek. It would be well worth your time even if there were no Trinity tidbits; but of course there are some insights into the series' development.

This set of annotations will be the last hosted here on Comics Should Be Good! My eternal thanks, once again, to Brian for giving me a home during December. Annotations to issue #31 should be up over the weekend at their new home -- where, I hope, we'll finish up the series in style. I can't tell you exactly where to look just now, but you shouldn't have much trouble finding it.

Hope to see you there!

3 Comments

• At December 30, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> I’m not sure who’s depicted in panel 3. It looks like Rosie the Riveter, but for some reason I ...

• At December 30, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  I really, really enjoyed the lead story this week. I've been getting a little tired of the alternate reality arc, ...

• At January 1, 2009, Robot 6 » Annotations for Trinity issue #30 wrote:

  [...] Couldn’t help noticing: Wonder Woman calls her friends “Clark” and “Bruce” here, but judging by the derivations of their ...

Oh, dear CSBG readers, I fear that I was too efficient last week, and may have led you into a false set of expectations about the timing of these posts. I should have known a self-imposed morning deadline was unreasonable. Yesterday was filled with problems related both to my computer and my child. Nothing serious, and everything is much better today -- so let's get going!

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

"It's All In The Cards" was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brousseau; with Rachel Gluckstern as associate editor and Mike Carlin as editor.

In Brief: While Rita and Charity try to stave off the Dreambound, the League of Extraordinary BFFs helps make peace between the locals.

Page 1

-- No annotations, but I will have some general thoughts on this subplot at the end of the post.

Page 2

-- No annotations.

Page 3

-- As Wonder Girl, Donna Troy had the same basic powers as Wonder Woman: super-strength, magic lasso (or a reasonable facsimile), bullet-deflecting bracelets, etc. Her current powers were a gift from the Titans of Myth, shown (in a not-too-distant flashback) in The New Titans #55 (June 1989).

-- "I think I've seen you do it before": Dick was around for much of Donna's Troia career, but you knew that already.

Page 4

-- No annotations.

Page 5

-- "Atmahn, Kellel, and Dinanna": one could say that each of the Trinitarians is going by his or her "real name." Of course, it is probably not that complicated. I presume that Batman simply wasn't as eager to introduce himself (or be remembered in prayers) as "Bruce."

-- "You are kind and good, and you aided us": one could also say that it's a little too convenient for our heroes to be so effective in the space of just five pages. However, we don't know how long the Trinitarians have been worshiped here, so perhaps their influence has made the locals more cautious, trusting, reasonable, or however you want to look at it.

Page 6

-- No annotations.

Page 7

-- This can't be the first time Bagley and Thibert have drawn the Dreambound -- can it?

-- The logistics of the DB's attack seem a little funny. Here, and at the end of the issue, they're in Opal City, trying to storm Charity's shop. However, in the second story, which appears to occur contemporaneously, TVM is in Metropolis. I know a rift is involved, so they could be using that to travel back and forth, but I don't see any indication of that happening.

-- I suppose it's also true that the second story takes place just slightly in the past, and we "see" it as Charity's vision.

Page 8

-- No annotations.

Page 9

-- No annotations.

[And now for a brief interlude...]

* * *

SECOND STORY

"Not On My Watch" was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Mr. Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brousseau; with Rachel Gluckstern as associate editor, and Mike Carlin as editor.

In Brief: Morgaine's villains free an important prisoner while Tomorrow Woman tries to seal Metropolis' rift.

Page 10

-- The Night-Judge's necklace almost looks like it's made out of those cylindrical capsules from the older version of Batman's utility belt.

Page 11

-- In fact, nice designs all around for the Judges. Very appropriate.

Page 12

-- Looks like this is the last of issue #1's "brazier visions."

* * *

SECOND STORY

"Railing Against The Tide" was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Dreambound unbound!

Page 10 (story page 1)

-- The Royal Flush Gang was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and first appeared (as a hand of Clubs) in Justice League of America vol. 1 #43 (March 1966). This particular suit (the Spades) first appeared in JLofA vol. 1 #203 (June 1982).

-- I thought there was no Joker in the altered timeline, since there would have been no Batman to create him (or, for that matter, to give his life meaning). Assuming that's still true, I take it that his appearance here is a dimensional anomaly (like Tomorrow Woman's android parts?).

-- Booster Gold, a/k/a Michael Jon Carter, was created by Dan Jurgens and first appeared in Booster Gold vol. 1 #1 (February 1986).

-- The Crimson Avenger (III) was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins and first appeared in Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. #9 (April 2000). She is cursed to track and kill bad people with magic guns which never miss and never run out of ammo, so she's a little outside the superhero mainstream (and yes, you can take that as an ironic statement if you so choose).

Page 11/2

-- "Multiple vibrational reality planes": because each parallel universe in the Multiverse vibrates at a different frequency, vibrating one's molecules at a particular frequency transports him or her to that particular universe.

-- Again, here is my thing with the Dreambound's location: are they using the rift to be, for all practical purposes, in both Opal and Metropolis at once? Are they, in fact ,straddling a line 'tween discord and rhyme; and if so, with a howl and a whine, is Tomorrow Woman after them?

Page 12/3

-- "Can we use it [instead]?": Lex is sort of in the Boromir role here....

-- Doctor Polaris was created by John Broome and Gil Kane and first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2 #21 (June 1962). There have been two Doctors Polaris. In regular continuity, the first Doctor Polaris is dead; but in the altered timeline, maybe not.

-- Sky-Knight reminds me of Adam Strange. (Just thought I'd throw that out there.)

Page 13/4

-- Prometheus was created by Grant Morrison and first appeared in New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 (February 1998). Morrison considered him an "anti-Batman" (his criminal parents were killed by police) which is a little ironic in the context of this series.

Page 14/5

-- No annotations.

Page 15/6

-- Starting at the top left, and going down roughly in rows, it's Black Orchid, Starfire, Geo-Force, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hawkgirl, Triumph, Sky-Knight, Stargirl, Firestorm, Liberty Belle, Gangbuster, Cyborg, Doctor Mid-Nite, Vibe, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Robotman, Ragman, Flash (Jay Garrick), Mr. Terrific, and Black Canary.

-- Robotman, a/k/a Cliff Steele, is the only new face here. He was created by Bob Haney, Arnold Drake, and Bruno Premani, and first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963).

Page 16/7

-- Here the Dreambound bug out for Opal City, bringing Charity's vision (if that's what it is) into sync with the first story.

Page 17/8

-- Brainiac was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino and first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July 1958).

Page 18/9

-- "Something about his mind": I will make the bold, probably completely erroneous, prediction that Space Ranger is in fact J'Onn J'Onzz in disguise. Remember, J'Onn could also have phased through that wall back on page 13/4; and it would be a good way for him to fight crime while avoiding this timeline's anti-extraterrestrial sentiments.

Page 19/10

-- No annotations.

[Back to the first story...]

Page 20

-- No annotations.

Page 21

-- "Are we animals?": What an elegant line! Nicely done, both as joke and character insight.

Page 22

-- No annotations.

* * *

I had thought that Wonder Woman, much earlier in the series, had a line about being worshiped as a god. (I remember it because I had written a piece for Blog@Newsarama postulating that Wonder Woman was a better messianic figure than Superman.) Regardless, for all the Jesus and Moses parallels visited upon Superman, all of Wonder Woman's direct connections to mythology, and Batman's "pinnacle of human potential" reputation, here is a subplot where the three of them actually form the basis of a world's religion. The Trinity is only divinely present in the harbor-vs.-patterned dispute, but like I said earlier, their "teachings" seem to have made this world a more rational place.

I'm eager to see how this plays out, because each of these characters wants lasting social change, but (clearly) have different approaches. While Wonder Woman's mission is to bring Amazonian ideals to Patriarch's World, Superman is too humble to consider himself an active reformer, and Batman probably considers his crusade an impossible dream (at least in his lifetime). Here, though, they're not superheroes, obliged to have some role in normal society. Here they form the foundation of normal society in a way that might even be repugnant to them under ordinary circumstances.

In any event, best not to get too far ahead of the story. Due to the holidays, next issue's annotations will be delayed, probably until Tuesday, December 30. Meanwhile, there are issue previews and "Tringenuity" to tide you over. Accordingly, I wish each of you the best of whatever holiday, if any, which you may celebrate; and I'll see you in about twelve days!

17 Comments

• At December 18, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  "This can’t be the first time Bagley and Thibert have drawn the Dreambound — can it?"

  No, they've definitely drawn them ...

• At December 18, 2008, The Mutt wrote:

  I can just picture the Trinity introducing themselves:

  "Hi, I'm Kal-El."

  "Hello. I am Diana."

  "I'm Batman."

• At December 18, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> I suppose it’s also true that the second story takes place just slightly in the past, and we “see” ...

• At December 18, 2008, Tom Bondurant wrote:

  About the Joker: I came away from the Bigger Melvin story thinking that since the Joker didn't kill him, ...

• At December 20, 2008, jedifish wrote:

  Is that Hourman behind Black Canary on page 15?

• At December 21, 2008, ZZZ wrote:

  While the Joker is probably just something that "bled through" from the baseline reality due to the "patchwork mess" nature ...

• At December 25, 2008, Thad wrote:

  Hey Tom,

  All your apostrophes are coming out garbled in my browser (I'm running Firefox on Linux). Are you by ...

• At December 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Not Tom - something's screwy with all the apostrophes on the blog.

• At January 1, 2009, Robot 6 » Annotations for Trinity issue #30 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At January 4, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources » 6’s Index wrote:

  [...] annotations that Tom did while we were gone: [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #34 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #32 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #33 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #35 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #36 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Trinity Annotations Extra: Thoughts on Act Two wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

• At February 19, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #37 wrote:

  [...] Issue #29 [...]

Hi-ho, Trinity fans! I hope you enjoyed Brian's fill-in as much as I did. I am tanned (okay, not really), and only semi-rested, but I am definitely ready. Warm up the Google -- it's good to be back!

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

"Those We Have Lost" was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: The League of Extraordinary BFFs holds a seance.

Page 1

-- "This can't be any mystic nexus-site": of course not! That kind of thing is in Florida.

-- "The Flying Graysons" were (in case I hadn't mentioned it previously) acrobats John and Mary Grayson, Dick's parents, introduced in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940). In regular continuity, they were killed by Boss Zucco's gangsters; here, it sounds like that still happened, except that Zucco (instead of Bruce Wayne) adopted Dick.

Page 2

-- No annotations.

Page 3

-- "Happy Harbor, Rhode Island": Happy Harbor was introduced in The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #28 (February-March 1960), as the home of JLA mascot Lucas "Snapper" Carr. That makes this cave the "Secret Sanctuary," the original JLA's first headquarters (also introduced in B&B #28).

-- After the League relocated to its first satellite headquarters almost exactly ten years later (in Justice League of America vol. 1 #78 (February 1970)), the Secret Sanctuary went unoccupied for several years. However, eventually it was used by a variety of super-teams; including the Doom Patrol, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Young Justice, and other incarnations of the League itself.

-- I want to say that only recently (say, in the last 15-20 years) did the texts place the Secret Sanctuary outside Happy Harbor; and in fact I think Happy Harbor was "officially" placed in Rhode Island around the same time. However, the Rhode Island location may be part of DC lore going back a little further, perhaps to the same source (the DC role-playing game?) which placed Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey.

Page 4

-- "Gitchika Maumee" refers to the bat-god from World's Finest Comics #255 (February-March 1979), as I guessed back in week 19.

-- "Sonzrr": also back in week 19, eagle-eyed commenter CandidGamera ID'ed the emblem as being from 1977's Superman Spectacular #5.

-- "Chains of submission": hey, let's see what kind of searches we can draw with that phrase! Of course, a common theme of the Amazons' collective "origin" is their capture and humiliation at the hands of Heracles and his men.

-- "No need to hold hands": although if they did, the allusion would be clearer. In Justice League of America vol. 1 #21 (August 1963), the League uses a crystal ball and seance to bring the Justice Society to its Earth, where they can fight the villains whose magic has trapped the League in, yes, its cave headquarters.

Page 5

-- "I'll bring the medi-kit": I have probably mentioned previously that "our" Alfred is trained as a field medic.

Page 6

-- No annotations.

Page 7

-- No annotations.

Page 8

-- No annotations.

Page 9

-- These appear to be Konvikt's ... excuse me, Xalitan Xor's people; although it may be further back in the technological development of his planet.

-- "The patterned men": Mr. Xor seemed to have a double-M pattern on his head, but I'm just spitballing here.

Page 10

-- The Night-Judge's necklace almost looks like it's made out of those cylindrical capsules from the older version of Batman's utility belt.

Page 11

-- In fact, nice designs all around for the Judges. Very appropriate.

Page 12

-- Looks like this is the last of issue #1's "brazier visions."

* * *

SECOND STORY

"Railing Against The Tide" was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Dreambound unbound!

Page 13 (story page 1)

-- Slightly different set of characters than we saw at the end of last issue, but that's OK. Clockwise from the top left, they look like Prysm, Negative Man, Negative Woman, Obsidian, Doctor Light II, T-V Man, Tattooed Man II/Sun-Chained-In-Ink, Primat, Bolt, Swashbuckler, Sparx, Brimstone, Gentleman Ghost, and the Folded Man.

-- Prysm was created by Dan Jurgens and George Pérez and first appeared in Teen Titans vol. 2 #1 (October 1996).

-- Negative Man, a/k/a Larry Trainor, was a founding member of the original Doom Patrol. Created by Bob Haney, Arnold Drake, and Bruno Premani, he first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963).

-- Negative Woman, a/k/a Valentina Vostok, was a founding member of the New Doom Patrol. She was created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton and first appeared in Showcase #94 (August-September 1977).

-- [I was under the impression that there was only one Negative Spirit, which migrated from Larry to Val and -- in Doom Patrol vol. 2 #19 (February 1989) -- eventually merged Larry with Dr. Eleanor Poole to form Rebis ... but there are, after all, limits to my knowledge.]

-- Obsidian, a/k/a Todd Rice, was created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway and first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25 (September 1983). Alan Scott is his father, which makes the JSI's involvement a little more interesting.

-- [At first I thought Obsidian was Black Mass, and I had a nice little line in his micro-bio. Here goes: "Black Mass, a/k/a Geoffrey Thibodeaux, is like the Tom Joad of C-list supervillains: wherever there's a crowd scene in need of filling out, he'll be there." Too good to waste, I know.]

-- Doctor Light III, a/k/a Arthur Light, was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and first appeared in Justice League of America vol. 1 #12 (June 1962). In current continuity, the Spectre sent him to his "final reward," as it were, in Final Crisis: Revelations #1 (October 2008).

-- Bolt, a/k/a Larry Bolatinsky, was created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Paris Cullins, and first appeared in Blue Devil #6 (November 1984).

-- Sparx, a/k/a Donna Carol Force, was created by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, and Ed Hannigan, and first appeared in The Adventures Of Superman Annual #5 (1993). She was the "New Blood" character introduced therein as part of the "Bloodlines" crossover.

-- Brimstone, a creature born of Apokoliptian technology, was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne, and first appeared in Legends #1 (November 1986).

-- The Gentleman Ghost, a/k/a James "Gentleman Jim" Craddock, was created by Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert and first appeared in the Hawkman story in Flash Comics #88 (October 1947).

-- The Folded Man, a/k/a Edwin Gauss, was created by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Paul Pelletier, and first appeared in The Flash vol. 2 #153 (October 1999).

Page 14/2

-- No annotations.

Page 15/3

-- I notice that Starfire hasn't had to change her costume too much to fit in with the JSI....

-- This is not the first time that Alan Scott has been de-aged. (I almost said "youthenized," but that would have been wrong.) It happened somewhere around Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #5 (Summer 1993), and it resulted in a costume change almost identical to the one shown here.

Page 16/4

-- TVM's new friends include Gentleman Ghost, Negative Man, Negative Woman, and Doctor Light.

-- There's a better shot of Obsidian in panel 3.

Page 17/5

-- No annotations.

Page 18/6

-- Roll call ... of SCIENCE! Doctor Will Magnus created the Metal Men, built a couple of Cliff Steele's robot bodies, and helps prop up the pipe-tobacco industry. Thomas Oscar "T.O." Morrow created the Red Tornado and Tomorrow Woman, both designed to destroy the Justice League, but who both ended up joining. You know Lex Luthor already, of course; back in the purple-and-green we all love. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is one of Captain Marvel's greatest foes, and he knows Cap's secret identity to boot. Finally, John Henry Irons was so inspired by Superman that he became a "Man of Steel" himself.

-- Will Magnus was created by Bob Kanigher and Ross Andru and first appeared in Showcase #37 (March-April 1962).

-- T.O. Morrow was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino and first appeared in The Flash vol. 1 #143 (March 1964).

-- Sivana was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck and first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940).

-- John Henry Irons was created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove and first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993). He built a suit of battle armor designed to evoke Superman's costume, and paired it with a technologically-advanced hammer. Although he was a "replacement Superman," I don't think he ever seriously adopted that codename, settling eventually on "Steel."

Page 19/7

-- No annotations.

Page 20/8

-- "I like it when they think they're tough": you know, after Identity Crisis, that line's a lot more unsettling. Personally, I can go a long, long time without being reminded of Doctor Light's sordid tastes.

Page 21/9

-- "Plastino Bridge": named, I presume, for Al Plastino, longtime Superman artist of the 1950s and co-creator of Kara Zor-El and the three original Legionnaires.

Page 22/10

-- Is Tomorrow Woman an android in this timeline? If not, this latest development is doubly bad.

* * *

It feels like last issue and this issue have been concerned largely with getting all the players in their places. Rita and Charity are in Opal City; the JSI is coordinating superheroes to fight Morgaine and other crises; the BFFs are on the Trinity's trail; and Green Lantern, Despero, and Krona are in space. Meanwhile, Konvikt has joined the Troika. Obviously, at some point these subplots must all converge; and I kinda get the feeling that not much more setup can be wrung out of this act.

Anyway, that's all I have this time. Thanks for stopping by; and I'll see you next week!

17 Comments

• At December 11, 2008, suedenim wrote:

  I wonder if Tomorrow Woman will be able to fix her current dilemma by shouting "Xam!"

  http://www.thefifthbranch.com/gorilladaze/?p=69

• At December 11, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> These appear to be Konvikt’s … excuse me, Xalitan Xor’s people;>>

  They're not.

  >> Looks like this is the last of ...

• At December 11, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Not only is the Sonzrr medallion from that story, but so is the "antedeluvian sub-oceanic cult" Alfred mentions.

• At December 11, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Also, Dr. Light's costume is a negative image of the one he wore in Green Lantern v.3 #80, Green Lantern ...

• At December 11, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Al Plastino also co-created the Parasite with Jim Shooter, which seems especially appropriate given that TVM's absorbing energy in this ...

• At December 11, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> Al Plastino also co-created the Parasite with Jim Shooter, which seems especially appropriate given that TVM’s absorbing energy in ...

• At December 11, 2008, Tom Bondurant wrote:

  Okay, here are the brazier-visions from issue #1:

  -- Tarot at her apartment, with the cards turning into the Trinity

  -- Green ...

• At December 11, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> Okay, here are the brazier-visions from issue #1: >>

  That's four of 'em.

  The fifth one is on the very last ...

• At December 11, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  I'm still a little confused. So is Sun-Chained-In-Ink another alter-ego of Mark Richards, or has SCII taken over Mark's body? ...

• At December 12, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> So is Sun-Chained-In-Ink another alter-ego of Mark Richards, or has SCII taken over Mark’s body? Or is this just ...

• At December 12, 2008, PyroTwilight wrote:

  Yeah I'll go with Tommie being an android in this timeline given all the metal in her. Of course this ...

• At December 12, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  "The original Sun-Chained blew up.

  The Dreambound have recreated him — or at least his powers — by getting Mark Richards ...

• At December 14, 2008, jedifish wrote:

  Hi Kurt

  Did Allen Passalaqua color the cover?

  Thanks

  Greg Fischer

• At January 1, 2009, Robot 6 » Annotations for Trinity issue #30 wrote:

  [...] Issue #28 [...]

• At January 2, 2009, Dwight Williams wrote:

  Aparo Park is in Gotham, yes. Although I seem to recall seeing a Hotel of the same ilk in Deathstroke ...

• At January 3, 2009, Dwight Williams wrote:

  Further note of a memory refreshing nature: I just re-checked the No Man's Land map of Gotham by our good ...

• At January 4, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources » 6’s Index wrote:

  [...] annotations that Tom did while we were gone: [...]

This issue seems a bit light on trivia (like last issue, as well, really), but we shall see what we shall see!

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

LEAD STORY

"Time to Suit Up" was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Charity and Rita discuss their next step while Morgaine and Konvict strike up a bargain.

Page 1

The book opens in the Arctic, where Konvict is on his way to meet up with Morgaine, who summoned him last issue. Morgaine and Enigma are in the Harteigen Mountains in Norway, and Konvict was in Mass-a-chu-setts, so he's made up a lot of ground already.

We cut to Opal City, the home of Starman, where Rita and Charity O'Dare are dealing with the magic energy from last issue.

Page 2

We get a reminder that Charity is a fortune teller. Charity was an older DC character that James Robinson made into a supporting character in the pages of Starman, ultimately marrying her off to one of the O'Dares - a family of Opal City residents who were major supporting cast members in Starman.

Rita, our Tarot-reading heroine, is worried about the Worldsoul, the living embodiment of Earth, which is in bad shape due to the disappearance of the Trinity.

Page 3

St. Roch was the home base of Hawkman during Geoff Johns and James Robinson's Hawkman series from a few years back. Carter Hall's museum, Stonechat House, is in St. Roch.

The bad guys remind me of the Millenium Giants, but they are probably just nameless extra-dimensional bad guys.

The heroes on this page, courtesy of Tom's annotations for previous issues, are:

- Vibe, a/k/a Paco Ramone, was created by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton and first appeared in the aforementioned Justice League of America Annual #2. Vibe was killed in the line of duty in JLofA vol. 1 #258 (January 1987). He was survived by a brother, Joey ... I mean, Armando, who also became a superhero (Reverb, then Hardline) with similar vibratory powers.

- Space Ranger, a/k/a Rick Starr, was created by Edmond Hamilton, Gardner Fox, and Bob Brown, and first appeared in Showcase #15 (July 1958). It's a little surprising to see him in this context, since (in regular continuity) he lives in the 22nd Century. Either this is an ancestor or time travel was involved; and he's visited our time previously, so it's not out of the question.

- Triumph's pedigree is a little tough to figure out. Wikipedia credits Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Howard Porter with creating him. The Unofficial Triumph Chronology gives his first appearance as Justice League Task Force #16 (August 1994), which was written by Waid and pencilled by Sal Velluto. However, his 3-part "origin story" - the first one I remember where he really played a major role - was written by Christopher Priest and appeared in the September 1994 issues of the League's books (Justice League America #92, JL Task Force #17, and Justice League International vol. 2 #68). Triumph, a/k/a Will McIntyre (sometimes MacIntyre), was a superhero with energy-based powers who, but for a quirk in the timestream, would have been a founding member of the Justice League. That's right, he was the Sentry before the Sentry was cool. Also, he's usually drawn with blond hair.

- Skyrocket, a/k/a Celia Forrestal, was created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett for their original super-team The Power Company. She first appeared in the Power Company preview story in JLA #61 (February 2002).

- The Flash (Wally West) you all know.

Page 4

The Heywood Corps are a reference to Hank Heywood, Sr., a Golden Age hero known as Commander Steel who had powers due to mechanized components. He used those same components to keep his grandson alive (and also to make his grandson the hero known as Steel). Here, Heywood is using mechanized components to create the Heywood Corps of cyborg heroes.

Page 5

Carter Hall watches as various heroes try to stop the invasion of multi-dimensional baddies.

The heroes on this page are pretty straightforward - Luthor, Atom-Smasher, Power Girl, Hawkgirl and Black Orchid.

The only one I am unfamiliar with is Sky-Knight. Anyone know who Sky-Knight is?

Page 6

I don't think we need annotations for Konvict meeting up with Enigma and Morgaine.

Page 7

Morgaine is most likely discussing her communication with Konvict in last issue's second story, where Konvict discovered that the human he killed is alive in this reality.

Page 8

So we finally have a name for Konvict! Xalitan Xor, Warhound of the First Array!

Xalatan is a brand name prescription eyedrop. Xalitan's eyes are so red he could probably go for some eyedrops.

Xalitan Xor is a pretty cool name - suitably pompous.

Page 9

Here we learn that the Trinity being taken from reality is not the ONLY thing messing with the Worldsoul. The Worldsoul could probably heal from simply the Trinity being yanked from it, but Morgaine and her terrible trio are still messing with reality, so it is like a wound that keeps getting poked at, never allowing it to fully heal.

Page 10

Here Rita confirms that the bad guys need her, so she and Charity have to figure out what to do next.

Page 11

I don't think I need to annotate Carter's nice speech debating whether it is a smart idea to risk this reality for a possible better reality.

Page 12

The Thanagar outfit that Gangbuster gives Carter here - where is it from? It looks different than Hawkman's standard outfit.

In any event, there is a Troika once again - Morgaine, Enigma and Xalitan Xor!

SECOND STORY

"Here and There and Everywhere" was plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Scott McDaniel, inked by Andy Owens, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief - The Trans-Volitional Man, Swashbuckler, Primat and the Tattooed Man escape captivity just in time to be recruited by Morgaine for her army.

Pages 1-2

This is the return of the Dreambound, first with Michael Cannefick, the The Trans-Volitional Man, who we first met in Trinity #8. We get some background info on Michael here.

Page 3

Here we see Michael slowly connect with the previous reality and his fellow Dreambound (nice little touch - unbound dreams, dreams...bound).

Page 4

We see Primat, also of Trinity #8, who was previously shown to be quite the reader, so it makes sense that she'd be reading in jail.

Page 5

Here is Swashbuckler, who first popped up in Trinity #9, working for Morgaine.

Page 6

Mark Richards, the current Tattooed Man, first showed up in Green Lantern Vol. 4 #9, by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver and Prentis Rollins. Richards was a former U.S. Marine who became a hit man, who claimed he was "redeeming" the sins of the men and women he killed. He showed up in Infinite Crisis as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains, and he recently popped up in Final Crisis in a nice story with Black Lightning in Final Crisis: Submit.

Page 7-8

Here we see the others use Richards to bring back Hemi Kiwara, also introduced in #8, who was transformed in #10 to Sun-Chained-In-Ink, thus completing the four Dreambound members.

Page 9

Morgaine brings them back into the fold.

Page 10

Now we see the Dreambound leading the new army, including a number of major villains like Doctor Polaris, Eclipso, the Brain, Poison Ivy, Parasite, Gorilla Grodd, Ace from the Royal Flush Gang - who are the other three guys?

Okay, that's it!

Tom, come back, Tom! This is hard!!

18 Comments

• At December 4, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Considering that, oddly, Space Ranger spends the entire issue using telepathy-style thought-bubbles to communicate, and given the xenophobia of the ...

• At December 4, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  A good annotation with some useful refs. Could do a bit less with recapping the plot of the very ...

• At December 4, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> The bad guys remind me of the Millenium Giants, but they are probably just nameless extra-dimensional bad guys.>>

  They're the ...

• At December 4, 2008, PyroTwilight wrote:

  One of the characters on the last page is the current Crimson Avenger as made obvious by her guns and ...

• At December 4, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  She's not really there, either. She was covered up by the caption but they didn't have time to digitally ...

• At December 4, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Aha!

  That makes sense, because I was thinking Crimson Avenger, as well, and it was odd!

• At December 4, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "She’s not really there, either. She was covered up by the caption but they didn’t have time to digitally remove ...

• At December 5, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  >> Good material if you guys are ever short on ideas for the backups, at any rate…>>

  No worries about that. ...

• At December 5, 2008, David wrote:

  Just curious if anyone knows - is Charity O'Dare related to Whisper O'Dare?

• At December 5, 2008, Kurt Busiek wrote:

  If Whisper O'Dare is related to the O'Dares of Opal City, then Charity would be related by marriage. Or ...

• At December 6, 2008, Thad wrote:

  "since this is comics, where similar hairstyles can be used to create familial connections"

  And any two lesbians in Gotham City ...

• At December 6, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  So, wait. Is Sun-Chained-In-Ink actually the Tattooed Man? Or did SCII just take over Mark's body?

• At December 6, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  I think SCII is the Tatooed Man, who's simply using the same powerset as SCI I, who is now dead.

  And ...

• At December 6, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  Two more things:

  1) I searched for Sky-Knight and came up with nothing? New character, Kurt? Or just a different version ...

• At December 6, 2008, jedifish wrote:

  Looking at the 3 extra villains on the last page - The female could be either Queen Bee or Livewire ...

• At December 7, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  "... I’m drawing a blank on the guy with the goatee."

  I'm thinking Dr. Psycho.

• At December 8, 2008, Tom Bondurant wrote:

  Thanks loads, Brian! I'm back from my trip and just read the new issue. I was wondering about ...

• At February 26, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Annotations for Trinity issue #39 wrote:

  [...] – The Parasite is making his Trinity debut. The Queen Bee and Shrapnel had cameos in issue #27. [...]