The battle for the Pandora pits rages on as the Trinity fights against possessed versions of their loved ones and teammates.
Trinity #14
Written by: Rob Williams
Artist: V Ken Marion
Colorist: Dinei Ribeiro
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
When Circe, the wicked sorceress, fails to recruit Lex Luthor and Ra’s Al Ghul for her plans to sacrifice the holy Trinity to the Pandora pits she turns to another, a more mystical team of misfits. With Constantine doing her bidding Circe has taken control of Superman with a demonly Boston Deadman, and won’t stop until she has sacrificed the entire Trinity to the Pandora pits.
What You’ll Find Out:
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have discovered that Circe is in direct control of the Pandora pits and has demonized some of their most trusted allies. When Superman is possessed by an evil Deadman he is consumed by his demon self. Along with demonized versions of Red Hood and Bizarro they attack Wonder Woman and Batman in order to sacrifice them to the pits.
A flashback for Circe unfolds as you learn of her ancient history. Losing her soul to “hell” Circe will do anything in her power to open the portal to hell through the Pandora pits and retrieve it. It was nice to see a short backstory for Circe, with her being the main antagonist in a story full of good and bad characters she’s easily stood out during this run.
This issue heavily involves Wonder Woman and Batman fighting off a demonly Superman and Bizarro. It’s always weird to watch knowing Batman is no match for all these heavy hitters, and he knows it. But it all boils down to what Circe will have to do with her “demon army” in order to capture Batman and sacrifice him with the rest of the Trinity in order to regain her lost soul.
What Just Happened:
In a Somewhat Cliche story overall, the use of characters and diversity of teams threaded throughout this arc make it beefy and action packed with a kick or punch being thrown almost every panel it definitely keeps you interested. Williams does an impressive job keeping the writing up to par. After following Manapul (who I honestly liked more, and thought he should take over Justice League) Williams really keeps the story flowing well.
Marion’s art looks good, it’s much more old school comic style than Quintana which actually worked for this certain arc. I do miss Manapul and Quintana, they easily made Trinity one of my favorite Rebirth titles, but Williams and Marion have really kept up the quality.
I found so many comic cliches in this issue it came off as somewhat cheesy. Batman once again tackles hitters WAY to big for him and what should end up being a fight ending in “Bat-Pancakes” instead leaves off with Batman getting away, as usual.
The use of demon possession is old but seemed fresh in this issue, maybe having to do with Boston Deadman being the one doing it, Boston is always a fun character and this serious tone demon possession makes his character kinda… Well, dead. with so many interesting characters stretching three different DC Trinities, it was surprising to see all the characters utilized pretty well, except for Artemis. Where was Artemis?
Rating 7/10
Final Thought: In conclusion, Trinity still stands as one of my favorite DC Rebirth titles, and this issue keeps it going. The humanization of Circe easily made her a good antagonist for this arc, the “Trinity” theme throughout this arc has been fun. Seeing all the different Trinity teams, even Circe, Ra’s and Lex appear as their own evil Trinity, is a fun setting that setup for a great story. Though some underutilized characters and oddly used cliches held this issue back, I hope Williams and Marion continue to bring this book Justice.