The Trinity has finally reached Shamballah, where Warlords daughter has met up with our trio of heroes. But will they make it through the rest of their journey? Or will they age past the point of being useful? Find out in Trinity!
Trinity #19
Author: James Robinson
Artist: Jack Herbert
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb
Letters: Carlos M. Mangual
Publisher: DC Comics
!!!Spoiler Warning!!!
What You Need to Know:
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have been debriefing their mission on Skartaris to an unknown individual. The team had been traveling around the ocean looking for Wonder Woman’s lost island home of Themyscira. When they approached a ship taking heavy damage from a storm, the team decides to do what any superhero does, help save the crew. But when they get close to the ship a portal appears sucking the team up and spitting them out in a magic filled world known as Skartaris.
After the team talks to a vision of Warlord who tells them that he needs their help defending his home against the evil Deimos who has influence all over the island. The team fights through horde after horde of different mythical monsters until finally finding their way to Shamballah, the castle, and home of Warlord. When the team gets there Warlords daughter Jennifer explains that in the time they have traveled Warlord passed away, but the castle is still under siege so Jennifer lets the team in on her plan. After fighting through a few more hordes of Deimos’ army the team heads into the castle, where they realize they have aged almost to death!
What You’ll Find Out:
This issue opens up the same way the last two issues have, with the team explaining the events of their time in Skartaris. Finally, we find out its A.R.G.U.S. superior, and Wonder Woman’s good friend, Steve Trevor. Steve is pretentious about getting info on Skartaris for A.R.G.U.S. and wants the team to mention each and every detail of the trip.
The team explains that Jennifer fixed their aging process with a spell of hers, then showed the team something remarkable. Jennifer leads them down a tunnel that reveals some of Skartaris’ past. A room full of technology unlike anything ever seen on earth. Jennifer tells them that before the land was destroyed science and magic lived in harmony until the ancient Atlanteans caused mass destruction. After Skartaris picked itself up out of the ashes it was found that magic now stood dominant, leaving only small traces of technology including the room the team was in. Jennifer uses the computers to give Superman some of his powers back that he lost due to the magic surrounding the island.
After the team goes back up to the castle, Batman continues to feel uneasy about the situation, lack of planning, and the glossing over or Warlords death. When Jennifer lets the team in on their final battle plan, Batman confronts her with some questions, but Jennifer keeps her silence on the subject while sending the Trinity back into the action.
The team fights against Deimos’ army until they start to feel the lack of progress. Superman and his hopeful smile gets the team back on track when all of a sudden Warlord, alive and well comes flanking in with his own army, taking out the rest of Deimos’ minions and saving the castle. The team lets Steve know after that Jennifer opens a portal, lets them leave and that’s the end of the trip.
Steve doesn’t seem to think that’s the end of their story though when he starts to pressure the team about the technology found under Skartaris. He asks about the strike team found dead in the first issue of the arc. This is where “Steve” finally messes up by saying the name of the team found without anyone on the team mentioning it. As the Trinity realizes this isn’t really Steve, they attack the unknown look-alike questioning who he really is.
Before the team can get much farther in their own investigation, Deimos decides to finally let himself be seen. He lets the team know Steve needs their help, but now that Deimos knows all about the secret tech in Skartaris the team must race the clock to find Steve and stop Deimos before destroying Shamballah.
What Just Happened?
In the last issue of the “No Home for you Here” arc, we finally see the current time and the story being told meet up in a satisfying end to James Robinson’s first Trinity arc. I am not a fan of a story being narrated to me because it seems like the fun events get glossed over for exposition and Robinson does a poor job not making the storytelling feel rushed as if he really wanted to get to the next arc instead of diving into the story right in front of him. This con isn’t as apparent within this issue as the last two and takes a turn to normal linear storytelling by the end of the issue which made the ending the best part. I thought they could have waited just a tick longer to fix the aging process and to reveal that the team was talking to Steve Trevor instead those things just get told right at the beginning with very little focus, glossing right over the question most readers have probably had since issue #17 and even passing right over the conclusion of the last issue by just going “here, you’re fixed let’s go do something else”. The ending of the issue was definitely the highlight of the arc. The shocking twist that the team just explained their entire journey to the enemy was a great climax to the two arc story being told and honestly makes me excited for the next arc.
The art was turned over to Jack Herbert for the last issue and not a bad transition indeed. Zircher’s art was incredible and Herbert is enough alike to not take away from the story. Bringing in the same colorist as the last issue even better solidifies the art into the story. Herbert’s splash page is an incredible look at the heroes highlighted in this series and even with everything going on your eyes are immediately drawn to the heroes. Another highlight of the arc was the faces of the different women. Wonder Woman and Jennifer Morgan were so empowering and close up shots of their faces were absolutely stunning. One small thing I personally like is the blue in Diana’s hair. It reminds me of the older comics that used more blue to express black so it wasn’t so dark on the page. This isn’t used nearly as much with photoshop making blacks look less like empty voids, but Carlos Mangual did an amazing job with this comic art trope and fits it in nicely.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thoughts: The final issue of James Robinson’s Trinity comes to a close on a high point in my opinion. The narrative storytelling seems to be transitioning to a more linear style making the next arc more interesting to my personal preference. The twist at the end makes up for some sloppy storytelling early on, and the art by Jack Herbert along with colors by Carlos Mangual makes this issue well worth the read if you had read the last few issues. Maybe even looking for a good plot twist within a story that focuses more on how the characters feel about each other than what is actually happening to the characters.
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