Trinity Annual #1 Review

I Must Have Taken a Wrong Turn...

Written by: Rob Williams
Art by: Guillem March, Tomeu Morey and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 31, 2017

I usually go for the Annuals that feature a fun little one-shot story that I can enjoy reading as a break from the normal grind of the book's regular run.  I know that some don't go with that philosophy, but that's just how I roll.  Because of that philosophy, this Annual is an odd one...it's the continuation of Cullen Bunn's story from a couple month's ago, which only happened because the regular issue by Francis Manapul was deemed too controversial to release.  Making things even more crazy, this follow-up Annual is written by Rob Williams.  Crazy!  Well, I was not a huge fan of the first part of this story so I did not go into this one with high hopes.  As it turns out, maybe that was the key to my enjoyment here.  Does that mean this Annual is great?  Well, let's head to the review and find out...


The issue opens with Circe doing a little riddle me this with Ra's al Ghul.  The question...Why is there a Trinity?  Now, the first thing that popped in my mind was dollar signs, but of course, that wasn't the answer.  The answer this time is "fate" and I can actually go with that.  What I couldn't go with during the last time we dealt with this story was Lex being the part of this "Dark Trinity" and Rob Williams takes care of that quickly and away we go.

Lex flying away from this nonsense does keep him in good standing as Super Lex, but you can't tell me that it didn't mess up the original story and put Rob Williams into the position of having to change things up here to make sense.  What about the cave drawings with Circe, Ra's and Lex?  What about all the talk of the Dark Trinity?  That is kind of pushed aside to focus more on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Circe says that Lex will eventually return, but we leave the Pandora Pits behind to see our Trinity having a non-costumed dinner in Gotham.  It's an okay scene that makes Bruce look like a bit of a dick and ends with a forced speech from Wonder Woman about the connection the three of them feel for each other...kind of like Circe said a couple of pages back.  I think we get it now.

Things pick up a bit from there as we see a cloaked man (I wonder how many people will think it's Mr. Oz at first?) heading towards and into the caves with the Pandora Pits.  After seeing and magically taking and delivering a crazy cave painting to the Trinity, the man confronts the League of Assassins and we find out it's...Jason Blood!  Of course, that means a certain rhymin and a stealin Demon is soon to follow and indeed he does.

This is where the story takes an odd detour when instead of joining Circe and Ra's as their third, Etrigan spills blood into the Pits and is separated from Jason.  Holy crap!  I didn't expect that to happen, but i also didn't expect it to be permanent.

A big part of the remainder of the issue is Etrigan (now stories tall for some reason) stomping through the surrounding city while fighting off Superman and Wonder Woman.  As for Batman, he's off to find the Pandora Pit caves and happens across a rapidly aging Jason Blood.  This all felt out of left field, but when the mission becomes getting Blood and Etrigan reunited (cause it feels so good), it's up to the Trinity and their bond to save the day.

The issue ends with what appeared like the end of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman...until it wasn't.  Sure, Circe jumps in, but I'm not sure what she really did and don't get me started with what happens to the Pandora Pits.  It all wraps up a bit too neatly with Circe and Ra's looking at the actual another Trinity with greedy eyes and evil in their hearts.  Hmmm...

Rob Williams did a pretty good job with this Annual given that the setup kind of fell apart and he was given two evil characters to form a trinity with.  He could have gone the generic route and just added a character and ran with it, but instead he gave us an Jason Blood/Etrigan story that was fun enough.  I wish he would have been able to explore the connection between Blood and the Demon more as that seems like more of a dark connection than Circe and Ra's, but I understand why he didn't.  Overall, this was an Annual that kind of lost track of it's focus and forced it's way to an ending...kind of like this series has done from the beginning.

I am a huge fan of Guillem March, but this isn't his best work.  It's still pretty good, but I expect more from him and hopefully this is the beginning of a big comeback for him at DC.

Bits and Pieces:

Rob Williams grabs the Dark Trinity baton and finishes the race...just a different race then the one we started months ago.  The focus changed and a fan favorite character joined in and it all ended with the promise of more to come.  I liked what we got here enough, but I'm not sure I need more.

6.9/10