Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1: Lost in the Time Cream

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1 spins out of Tom King and Daniel Sampere’s ongoing Wonder Woman series, which saw readers clamoring for the backups with artist Belen Ortega, featuring the misadventures of Trinity, Lizzie Prince. Much of those backups were one-off tales that gave a little glimpse into the life of Lizzie at various points, all while under the care and coverage of Jon Kent and Damien Wayne, the Super Sons. Rather than being a standard, coming of age tale, the backups were focused on light hearted gags that were full of laughs, heart, and often ridiculous activities. All of that energy spills out into Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman, with its central narrative centered around Lizzie’s sudden realization that she will never know her father the same way that Jon and Damien know theirs.

Tom King does not miss a beat here, writing one of the most niche, comedic books of his career. To fully understand this story, having some sort of knowledge about the popular DC event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, is a must. This issue sees a young Lizzie accidentally enter that DC event while Pariaha is giving one of his classic, extremely melodramatic monologues, all of which is absolutely hilarious to read. The way King has Lizzie interact with Pariaha is the highlight of the book’s comedic nature, showcasing King’s deep knowledge of DC lore and continuity, pulling on the exact strings needed to elicit the kind of response this book is looking for. While King plays a lot of this close to the chest, he still straddles the border of Grant Morrison’s Superman Beyond and Kieth Giffen and J.M DeMatteis’s Manga Kahan from Justice League International. For the uninitiated, those are two very different examples of how a comic books writer can tell a metatextual story.

While the book is very funny, it is not without heart at its core. The concept of Lizzie suddenly realizing that she will never know her father is played out in a very genuine way, with her internalizing an inconsequential argument between Jon and Damien in a way that showcases King’s ability to capture the essence of the human spirit. This book will have you in tears laughing but that can suddenly change to tears of sadness at the drop of a dime. The tone is very different from that of the ongoing Wonder Woman series, but it maintains that emotional throughline consistently throughout.

Belen Ortega’s art is nothing short of stunning in this issue, depicting three very different versions of Lizzie in ways that make them feel like unique characters. Ortega also perfectly captures that comedic and heartfelt tone to a ‘t’, while also making these characters feel like they have their own voices and personalities. While King’s writing definitely will remind you that he is a father and is very familiar with the ramblings of a four year old, Ortega’s art makes these characters come to life in a way that gives them that personality. Not enough can be said about how adorable Ortega can make a corgi look, with their presence in the book highlighting something Lizzie says at the end of the issue: “…If you get sad again, just find a corgi!”