STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS - “Trinity”

On their own, they are already the most iconic superheroes in comic and pop culture. Together, they represent what humanity strives to be.

They are Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman: the Trinity.

Written and illustrated by Matt Wagner, and released in 2003, Trinity (Or Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity) is a three-issue story about the first meeting of the three heroes.

Someone make a fanfic/fanfilm of these three in the world of The Purge

The Trinity has to stop a group called The Purge, led by Batman villain Ra’s Al Ghul from unleashing military nuclear missiles upon the world, wiping out humanity and leaving him and his followers to take it. He is allied by Superman villain Bizarro and the rogue Amazon warrior, Artemis of Bana-Mighdall.

Like with Sora and Riku in the Kingdom Hearts franchise (let’s face it, Kairi hasn’t done much except in the Kingdom Hearts II), the characters are at their best when they are together to balance each other out.

Although, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent has already known each other prior to the start of the story, Princess Diana (or Diana Prince, though she is not referred to this name in the story) is the first to finally meet the two. She admires Superman, feeling “his passion for justice seems so much like my own.”

You can just imagine what she’ll think of Batman.

As you can tell, it doesn’t go smoothly at first. Luckily, when they interact, it’s played off as humor throughout the story, as opposed to actual antagonism.

Then, there’s the choice of villains.

Normally, in a crossover like this, the more well-known villains would be used to go against the Trinity, or at least the most powerful. Instead, Wagner does the opposite, but still known to each character’s world and lore.

Ra’s Al Guhl, the eco-terrorist (a title never used in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, but is used to describe him in the story’s synopsis on the back cover) actually makes sense, given his tendency to “cleanse the world of evil.”

His motivation makes it so the entire world is at stake. You’d think he would raise the interest of Superman villain, Lex Luthor, but he never shows up in the story (though his building does). Instead, the Superman villain used is Bizarro, a clone of Superman (with an established history that’s been retconned over and over again). He is used as a mindless brute manipulated by Ra’s to protect him.

Then, there’s Artemis, who is auditioned by Ra’s to join the Purge. She succeeds in winning a fight against Batman… and that’s about it. There is one more scene with her at the climax of the story, but I won’t spoil that here.

I also have to mention how each issue starts: beautiful and appropriate: a single panel that showcases each member’s home city.

The negatives of the story mostly involves around Batman’s character. I’m typically used to him as either a detective who is feared or just an intelligent fighter. Either way, he is mostly silent and collected.

What he is not is hostile, which is what he is when Wonder Woman questions his tactics. He is never “this is my town, so we do things my way.” Unless there’s precedence, that really doesn’t ring true to me.

Another moment is when he throws a Batarang at a bad guy to knock him off a cliff. Granted, this is after he has stabbed Wonder Woman, so of course he isn’t thinking straight. Honestly, this is a minor problem, but I know people would want to know this happens, given everyone is so adamant about Batman’s “no killing rule” (seriously, no one remembers he pushed Harvey Dent off a building under construction in The Dark Knight?)

Finally, there is the moment involving, once again, Wonder Woman. When she has to go back to Paradise (it’s called Themyscira, just not in the caption box), Batman and Superman follow her, Batman tracking her on foot. When he finds her cleansing (or bathing), he “succumbs to the island’s enchantment” and immediately grabs and kisses her. Uh… what? In the film Justice League vs. Teen Titans, Batman injected himself to get knocked out when he quickly realized he was going to be compromised. Now, this film was released 13 years after this comic, but the point is: Batman would not easily get manipulated like this. The worst part is that when he comes to his senses, he never apologizes, not even in his own way.

A missed opportunity was for Artemis fighting or encountering Wonder Woman. (Artemis is only mentioned to Wonder Woman by her mother, Hippolyta, and even then, not by her name.)

Finally, there’s the art. While the artwork is beautiful, there are just some facial expressions that are just bizarre or just over-the-top.