When Superman seemingly murders one of the members of the Justice League of America, a war is incited amongst Earth's finest heroes. His closest allies seek to prove his innocence, while the government uses the opportunity to devalue the Justice League's authority. At the centre of it all is the mysterious woman known as Pandora, whose actions may have led to the fall of Superman.
Justice League: Trinity War collects Justice League #22-23, Justice League Dark #22-23, Justice League of America #6-7, Trinity of Sin: Pandora #1-3, Constantine #5, Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #11 and The New 52 Free Comic Book Day Special 2012. It features writing by Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes, with art by Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Mikel Janin.
At its core, Trinity War is a story of loyalty and friendship. Despite Superman's apparent guilt, Batman and Wonder Woman refuse to believe that their closest friend could truly be capable of murder. Their leadership unites the Justice Leagues, but fractures them as well. Under Batman's guidance, his group looks to the victim for answers. Wonder Woman leads her team on a crusade to find Pandora and learn the truth about the mysterious box that may have infected Superman with great evil.
The tensions between Batman and Wonder Woman are palpable. While both have the same goal, their approach is entirely different and it's exciting to watch them butting heads. It's equally as thrilling to see Wonder Woman be given such a prominent role during a rather important event, since DC Comics' rival company is rather infamous for diminishing the role of its female characters during their events.
As far as crossovers go, this one is pretty epic. We see the clash of all three of DC Comics' Justice Leagues, giving fans a whole lot of hero versus hero action. This also means getting to see many of your favourite heroes interacting with one another when they otherwise wouldn't be. Though she has very little in the way of dialogue, Catwoman is one of the sassier characters in this crossover. Other standouts include Element Woman and Katana, as well as the aforementioned Wonder Woman. Batman is also written extremely well. Lesser writers will depict him as arrogant, always right and annoyingly flawless in battle. Here, he's sensitive and caring. His willingness to do whatever it takes to prove Superman's innocence is touching.
On top of that, a couple Wonder Woman villains get some rather impressive panel time. Giganta and Doctor Psycho's appearances within this crossover is a nice touch that any Wonder Woman fan should appreciate. At the same time, it would have been nicer to see the involvement of the villains bumped up a bit. If there was one thing Trinity War was missing in the way of its narrative, it was villainy.
While Trinity War is near flawless in theory, the execution is off. Not all issues collected in this trade are equal, with the quality varying from issue to issue. It's evident that there wasn't a lot of cohesion between the writers and artists, as the story doesn't progress as organically as it could have. The biggest problem with this particular collection is how meandering it feels due to the inclusion of Pandora's solo issues, as well as an issue of Constantine. Though Pandora's background is elaborated upon in her series, it adds very little to the ongoing story and it feels like an inconvenient interruption. The crossover is better read without these issues.
Beyond the poor pacing, there's another glaring issue with Trinity War and that is its lack of payoff. The crossover builds towards a rather impressive all-out battle between the heroes as Pandora's Box infects them with its evil, but rather than receiving a neat little resolution, the story ends with a cliffhanger. Ultimately, this diminishes the impact the story has since it means that Trinity War is little more than a lead-in for another crossover event. Despite this, the revelations made during the concluding moments of the story are pretty damn cool. There's a rather unexpected betrayal and the reveal of Pandora's Box's true origins is very creative.
There are a lot of pros and cons to Trinity War. The pacing is haphazard, the execution is a bit messy and the payoff is missing. However, characterization is strong and the action is intense. While all characters may not get to shine, those that do shine brightly. This is a testament to the strong writing from Johns and Lemire. Beyond all of that, Trinity War is just plain gorgeous! The superstar artistic talents of Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Mikel Janin really elevate the story, turning each page into a masterpiece. If anything, Trinity War should be read just to see the great work these talented artists have contributed.
RATING: B
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