Trinity War - WTF?

Mr_Cosmic

It was recently announced that the Trinity War will be a crossover between the three JLA books. I find this a little underwhelming. It's not that it needs to be a giant event book but with all the hype I guess that's what I was expecting. Especially with how long the wait has been I find it disappointing. It almost feels like they had a name they threw at us and then sat down to figure out what it was actually going to be.

CaptShazam

Trinity War has wait for the trade written all over it.

WetRats

CaptShazam said:

Trinity War has wait for the trade written all over it.

I'll wait for the Wikipedia synopsis.

jaydee74

This seems kind of lackluster to me. So basically "The Trinity War" is a "War" with the three Justice League teams? Yeah. I'll get this in trade. Maybe. Just seems like with a name like "The Trinity War", I was hoping for more.

Chuck_Melville

I'm already getting the titles involved anyway, so there's no real concern on my end. The only extra book I'll be getting will be the Pandora title, and I think I can endure that for three months. But I still have to agree that this doesn't really feel like much of a big deal on any level, and I'm not sure I really care. I already feel so disassociated from the characters in these books that I can't feel any excitement about the story. I sure hope it does something to surprise me.

luckymustard

Whatever I read last week, probably Bleeding Cool, indicated that what it leads into will be bigger. The fact that they were previously saying this was big does not discourage me, as there's something big coming, which it seems like it's time for in this universe, and this is related so I'm going to get it.

[Deleted User]

WetRats said:

CaptShazam said:

Trinity War has wait for the trade written all over it.

I'll wait for the Wikipedia synopsis.

I'll wait for your summary of the Wikipedia synopsis, in single emoticon form.

jaydee74

I'll wait to hear CGS's review of the series. I'm sure they'll be doing episodes covering this event. Right guys? Guys?

Hellsfire

While I don't look forward to this crossover as I believe it'll be messing with my Justice League Dark much in the same way the Vampire crossover did. I am glad that The Question is back. I had been looking for him or her, hoping that one of them would get a new title with the new-52.

Chuck_Melville

Hellsfire said:

While I don't look forward to this crossover as I believe it'll be messing with my Justice League Dark much in the same way the Vampire crossover did. I am glad that The Question is back. I had been looking for him or her, hoping that one of them would get a new title with the new-52.

I'm not so sure that I'm glad to see the return of the Question, given that this version is so unlike either of the original versions. (In fact, from what little I've seen thus far, this version almost seems like the antithesis of Steve Ditko's original concept; Ditko would be rolling over in his grave if he were dead.) (On the other hand, since the current version of the Phantom Stranger breaks all of the rules concerning the Stranger-- beginning with do not give him an origin -- there's no reason to expect DC won't also twist the Question beyond all but the most superficial recognition anyway.) The quasi-religious/mystical origins they've given him really don't sit well and make him far less interesting than he used to be.

WetRats

Interesting & insightful article on Trinity War and the current blandness of the DCU.

Pants

jaydee74 said:

I'll wait to hear CGS's review of the series. I'm sure they'll be doing episodes covering this event. Right guys? Guys?

No plans at this time.

Chuck_Melville

WetRats said:

Interesting & insightful article on Trinity War and the current blandness of the DCU.

What a great article! This really hits the nail squarely on the head. I love this paragraph particularly:

"So now we have an environment where Shazam and John Constantine can share panels in a completely straight-forward and unironic fashion. The tone of Shazam's solo adventures is now vaguely mordant and grisly (in a sanitized way), which is also not-so-coincidentally the tone of Constantine's book. Both characters can interact on the same footing. But what is most unique about both characters has also been lost: Shazam (which is the name we're stuck with) is far too dark and unpleasant to reflect the character's appealing virtue, while the Nu52 Constantine is a watered-down, juvenile mess without any of the ambiguity, intelligence, or charm of the original. In trying to create a consistent, comfortable shared universe context for both characters, they have sanded away everything important."

And this neatly summarizes everything about DC today:

"With two years' hindsight, it is more and more apparent that the true shift signified by the advent of the Nu52 was that individual characters no longer matter (to say nothing of creators). The most important brand is not Superman or Batman or Green Lantern and certainly not Shazam or John Constantine, but DC Comics - oops, sorry, DC Entertainment."

Mr_Cosmic

Chuck_Melville said:

WetRats said:

Interesting & insightful article on Trinity War and the current blandness of the DCU.

What a great article! This really hits the nail squarely on the head. I love this paragraph particularly:

"So now we have an environment where Shazam and John Constantine can share panels in a completely straight-forward and unironic fashion. The tone of Shazam's solo adventures is now vaguely mordant and grisly (in a sanitized way), which is also not-so-coincidentally the tone of Constantine's book. Both characters can interact on the same footing. But what is most unique about both characters has also been lost: Shazam (which is the name we're stuck with) is far too dark and unpleasant to reflect the character's appealing virtue, while the Nu52 Constantine is a watered-down, juvenile mess without any of the ambiguity, intelligence, or charm of the original. In trying to create a consistent, comfortable shared universe context for both characters, they have sanded away everything important."

Yup, that one stood out to me as well.

Then there was this line:

This may be simply a matter of personal taste, but as a connoisseur of the cosmic I do not believe that, with a few notable exceptions, DC does cosmic anywhere near as well as Marvel

Well, duh.

WetRats

Chuck_Melville said:

And this neatly summarizes everything about DC today:

"With two years' hindsight, it is more and more apparent that the true shift signified by the advent of the Nu52 was that individual characters no longer matter (to say nothing of creators). The most important brand is not Superman or Batman or Green Lantern and certainly not Shazam or John Constantine, but DC Comics - oops, sorry, DC Entertainment."

What's odd is that at the same time, on TV, DC Nation is doing really fun stuff playing with the characters in innovative and entertaining ways. (Super BFFs, Animal Man, Plastic Man, the new Wonder Woman shorts) Animation is a lot more expensive than print, so why is the experimentation there?

Oh yeah, Comics are for 45-year-olds.

I guess at 51, I've finally outgrown them. >:P

Torchsong

I think overall DC is figuring out that comics as a medium (at least a profitable one) is as dead as Latin However, they have to keep their intellectual properties active, so they keep publishing them, with a lowest common denominator tag, quality be damned, and they weather the 44-year old coots like me who bitch about what they do, knowing that a younger generation who doesn't give a shit what we think about how Superman ought to be will pick up the new books and read them and grow up with *these* versions of the heroes as their heroes.

Or, more likely, that younger generation will grow up with the TV versions of those characters as *their* version of the heroes.

Flash forward 20 years and those kids will be bitching about how Wonder Woman's not cool since she switched out of the silver outfit, while our widows are angrily cursing us as they try to unload all our longboxes at garage sales across the nation. :)

David_D

Torchsong said:

I think overall DC is figuring out that comics as a medium (at least a profitable one) is as dead as Latin

Futue te ipsum!

Signed,
Latin

;)

CaptShazam

I would say a problem (one of many) is that making a big monthly or quarterly profit with gimmicks (villians month) or crossovers outweighs the desire for smaller but more consistent profits.

Have corporate and editorial take a back seat for a while and let the creative team tell stories and build an audience.

AlexanderBenjamin

Many of the Justice League family of titles, in my not so humble opinion have been pretty good up until Trinity War. I also think DC is doing a lot of bad things, but I am not sure why they are aimed towards this pillar of the universe. The six issue event crossover is something that they should be applauded for right? I could understand the criticism about the Trinity War being a trailer for Forever Evil though. On the other hand comics can never really end, that is the cyclical nature of the superhero reading experience.