Still a little talky, but in a good way, Trinity #7 connected a few more plot points and seemed to confirm some aspects of the story already spotted by certain eagle-eyed commenters.

Of course, there were also some things which this particular commenter realized immediately he should have caught already … but I’m getting used to that.

Busiek’s exit interview for issue #6 contains some interesting observations about Nocturna, Hawkman, and other characters. They’re not exactly relevant to Trinity, but interesting still; and as always I recommend it.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

* * *

LEAD STORY

“A Third Symbol Now…” written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, lettered by Pat Brosseau; Elisabeth V. Gehrlein, assistant editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Everything’s connected to the Tarot.

Page 1

– Seems like Superman and the League used similar equipment when they studied the Cosmic Egg in the Busiek-written JLA #107 (December 2004).

Pages 2-3

– It’s been mentioned a couple of times in Trinity’s dialogue, but this is the first on-panel glimpse of the Justice League’s Hall of Justice. Yes, it’s modeled on the Hall of Justice designed by Alex Toth and used in the various “Super Friends” TV series. Alex Ross has already used Toth’s Hall of Justice as United Nations’ headquarters in Kingdom Come (1996).

– Lots of references here, including Wally West, John Stewart, the D.E.O., and the Slab; but none which haven’t already appeared in Trinity.

– And just in case you missed the discussion about Krona and the Cosmic Egg, here’s a link back to Week 2′s annotations.

Page 4

– Anthony Lupus was created by Len Wein and Neal Adams for Batman #255 (March-April 1974). He was an Olympic athlete who turned to Bat-villain Professor Milo for headache treatments. Milo’s treatment turned Lupus into a werewolf; so, you know, good news and bad news. Later, around Detective Comics #505 (August 1981), Batman swore to find a cure for Lupus’ condition, but apparently that’s still forthcoming. Wikipedia also cites a “Lupus Affair” involving John Constantine, which may just be a throwaway reference.

– Ian MacCobb first appeared in Swamp Thing vol. 1 #4 (April-May 1973), written by Len Wein (again!) and drawn by Berni Wrightson. He died fighting Swamp Thing, impaled on a silver-tipped chandelier.

– Busiek mentioned on ComicBloc that he wanted to use the Sea Wolf from Aquaman vol. 5 #42 (March 1998), but Mark Bagley wanted to draw MacCobb.

– Yes, that ComicBloc thread also states that Jimmy Olsen was transformed into a werewolf in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #44 (April 1960); but in my defense, Googling “jimmy olsen werewolf” does bring up quite a few results.

– By the way, his full name is “James Bartholomew Olsen,” but I’m sure you knew that.

– “I’ve seen it before”: Batman could be thinking of the Howler, a were-beast originally encountered by Jason Blood in The Demon vol. 1 #6 (February 1973). That Howler was anthropologist Eric Shiller, who died during a scuffle with Etrigan. However, the Howler was controlled by a “Primal Entity” — sort of a producer of archetypes, I guess — so more Howlers returned to face Batman, Robin, and Etrigan in The Demon vol. 3 #s 23-24 (May-June 1992).

Page 5

– First on-panel appearance of the Red Tornado in Trinity. Reddy (created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin) was an android built by longtime JLA foe T.O. Morrow to destroy the Justice League, but clearly he defied Morrow and eventually joined the team. Reddy first appeared in Justice League of America vol. 1 #64 (August 1968) before joining in issue #106 (July-August 1973).

Page 6

– No annotations.

Page 7

– I’m not going to try to list all of these artifacts, mainly because I suspect most aren’t identifiable. There’s the Sceptre of Khaf-Re from last issue, though … and no, before you say anything, I don’t think that’s the Spear of Destiny at the lower-right.

– “Haley’s”: Dick “Nightwing” Grayson grew up as an acrobat performing in Haly’s Circus.

Page 8

– First on-panel appearance of Nightwing, who made a quasi-cameo in a headline in issue #3.

Page 9

– Nightwing refers to the robbery mentioned in that headline. Back in Week 3 I supposed correctly that it happened at his museum, The Cloisters.

– The Calendar Man, a/k/a Julian Gregory Day, first appeared in Detective Comics #259 (September 1958), written by Bill Finger and pencilled by Sheldon Moldoff. He uses themes based on dates, seasons, etc. In June 1979′s Batman #312 (written by Len Wein, pencilled by Walt Simonson, inked by Dick Giordano), he committed a crime on each of six consecutive days, from Monday to Saturday, each with a different Norse-god-themed costume. Yes, this meant that Simonson drew a Thor-inspired costume. Perhaps his most prominent recent appearances have been as a Hannibal-Lecter-esque figure in the miniseries The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.

– Mister Freeze, a/k/a Victor Fries, first appeared as Mister Zero in Batman #121 (February 1959). The producers of the 1960s “Batman” TV series called their adaptation “Mister Freeze,” and the name stuck to the comic-book character. After an accident required him to live at sub-zero temperatures, he began committing cold-based crimes. The 1990s “Batman” animated series made him into a more tragic figure, seeking to restore his comatose wife Nora to health; and this too was incorporated into the comics.

– “Robin”: this would be the third Robin, Timothy “Tim” Drake. Tim first appeared in Batman #436 (Early August 1989), first donned the Robin costume (and started his training) in issue #442 (December 1989), and first appeared in his own Robin suit in issue #457 (December 1990).

– “The Titans” could refer either to the Teen Titans, based in San Francisco, or the “old” Titans (which I’ve called the Old New Teen Titans), currently without a headquarters. Kid Flash (Wally West), Aqualad (Garth), and Robin (Dick Grayson) first teamed up in The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #54 (June-July 1964). However, they weren’t called the “Teen Titans” until Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) joined them in B&B v.1 #60 (June-July 1965). Speedy (Roy Harper) was also a longtime member, and was later revealed as a founding member in Teen Titans vol. 1 #50 (February 1978). As their members aged, the group dropped the “Teen” with The New Titans #50 (December 1988). However, once the New Titans disbanded in issue #136 (February 1996), the name was assumed by a new group of teenagers with less direct ties to the originals (Teen Titans vol. 2 #1 (October 1996). After this group broke up, the five original Titans (now grown into Nightwing, Flash, Troia, Tempest, and Arsenal) reunited briefly as the adjectiveless Titans (JLA/Titans #3 (February 1999). The seemingly-inevitable breakup of this group apparently allowed another Teen Titans to form, this time from the remnants of the sidekick-oriented Young Justice (Teen Titans vol. 3 #1 (September 2003)). Now, though, in what can only be seen as an audacious repudiation of precedent, Nightwing and his peers have re-formed their adjectiveless team (Titans #1 (June 2008)).

– “Oracle” is Barbara Gordon, formerly the original Batgirl, who was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino for Detective Comics #359 (January 1967). Paralyzed in 1988′s The Killing Joke, Barbara eventually resurfaced (starting in Suicide Squad #23 (January 1989)) as an anonymous source of information and master computer hacker. Barbara has worked with the Justice League as both Batgirl and Oracle, and currently coordinates a rotating group of female super-heroes which one member calls the Birds of Prey.

– “Mobilize the Outsiders on my authority”: After a disagreement with the rest of the Justice League over its global jurisdiction, Batman ended up quitting the team and forming “The Outsiders” (Batman and the Outsiders vol. 1 #1 (August 1983)). For a while, Nightwing led his own group of Outsiders (Outsiders vol. 3 #1 (August 2003)), but in an emotional decision, gave up control to Batman. Therefore, although the makeup of the team has changed somewhat, the “my authority” business still strikes me as just a little dickish.

Page 10

– Rita was looking at the “Strength” card in issue #s 1 and 5, at the “High Priestess” card in issue #5, and at the “World” card last issue.

Page 11

– Despero’s battle with Kanjar Ro was seen in issue #4. Again, I think Itatoq and its moon Krechin are new to this story.

Page 12

– First time we’ve seen Morgaine and Enigma in a while!

* * *

SECOND STORY

“Away From Creation,” plotted by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, scripted by Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher, colored by Allen Passalaqua, lettered by Ken Lopez; Elisabeth V. Gehrlein, assistant editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

In Brief: Green Lantern fills Firestorm in on Krona.

Page 13 (story page 1)

– The Thunderers hail from the Anti-Matter Universe, and were introduced in Green Lantern vol. 2 #2 (September/October 1960). The planet Qward is the anti-matter counterpart of the planet Oa. At various times, the Thunderers and their colleagues the Weaponers have served/assisted/been associated with the renegade Green Lantern Sinestro and (in Crisis On Infinite Earths) the despotic Anti-Monitor.

Page 14/2

– Niles Caulder, a/k/a “The Chief,” was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani and first appeared, along with the rest of the Doom Patrol, in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). (That first Doom Patrol story was co-written by Bob Haney.)

– “The Kitchen” first appeared in Justice League of America vol. 2 #7 (May 2007), along with the rest of the new JLA headquarters.

Page 15/3

– Maltus was first seen in Green Lantern vol. 2 #81 (December 1970), in a story written by Denny O’Neil and pencilled by Neal Adams. According to Secret Origins vol. 2 #23 (February 1988), Krona’s experiments happened some four billion years ago; and according to Green Lantern vol. 2 #200 (May 1986), the group of Maltusians who would become the Guardians (including some who broke off to form the Controllers) reached Oa 3.5 billion years ago.

– Maltus has a pair of “trinities.” The first is the three spacefaring peoples who originated from a single Maltusian species: the Oans, who became the Guardians of the Universe; the Zamarons, who created the Star Sapphire (and, eventually I’m sure, some form of Star Sapphire Corps); and the Controllers, who created their own intergalactic police force, the Darkstars. (As previously noted, the Psions also originated on Maltus, but not from the same species as the others.)

– Furthermore, Maltusian legend tells of “The Triarch,” a trio of sibling gods who, remorseful over killing their father, left Maltus to roam the universe. However, upon their return, they would “lay waste to Maltus and remake the universe.” The Triarch were Archor the Sustainer, Quarra the Creator, and Tzodar the Destroyer. The Triarch first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 3 #42 (Late June 1993). They were the eponymous “trinity” of 1993′s Trinity crossover miniseries, involving the Green Lantern Corps, the Darkstars, and L.E.G.I.O.N.

Page 16/4 and 17/5

– This account of Krona’s trial comes pretty much from Green Lantern vol. 2 #40 (October 1965). It was recounted in a more abbreviated form in Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 (October 1985), since Krona’s experiments created the Anti-Matter Universe and the Multiverse.

Page 18/6

– The big figure in the center is Krona in his guise as Entropy, from Green Lantern vol. 3 #35 (January 1993).

– Hal Jordan was created by John Broome and Gil Kane and first appeared in Showcase #22 (September-October 1959). John Stewart succeeded Hal as Green Lantern of space sector 2814 in Green Lantern vol. 2 #182 (November 1984).

– Panel 3 (the second one at the bottom of the page) represents the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps miniseries (3 issues, May-July 1981), in which the Green Lantern Corps battled Krona’s army of the unliving and Nekron, the ruler of the unliving’s realm. Pretty heady stuff, as I remember.

– Panel 4 apparently depicts the Darkstars’ battle with Entropy in The Darkstars #24 (September 1994), although if that’s the case then Darkstar Donna Troy has been miscolored.

– Panel 5 depicts a scene from JLA/Avengers #3 (January 2004), wherein Krona attempted to merge DC-Earth and Marvel-Earth … with extreme prejudice. Actually, as Superman explains, this is just as close a representation as his super-senses and Iron Man’s sensors could handle.

Page 19/7

– The woman in Krona’s eye looks a lot like Kismet, who was discussed in the annotations for issue #4.

– The scene with the Justice League comes from Avengers/JLA #4 (March 2004), so the Avengers were the “others” referenced in narration.

Page 20/8

– No annotations.

Page 21/9

– Although Krona’s transformation into/imprisonment within the Cosmic Egg was the climax of JLA/Avengers, the Cosmic Egg itself was supposed to play a part in Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas’ original 1983 JLA/Avengers plot. There (as recounted by George Pérez in 2004′s Avengers/JLA Compendium), both the Marvel Universe and the universe of DC’s Earth-1 had been hatched from an “Egg of Time.” Kang and the Lord of Time would have fought over control of the Egg, with the victor thereby controlling the history of his particular universe.

Page 22/10

– No annotations.

* * *

Guess that’s it for this week. You know, if Trinity gets any closer to JLA/Avengers, I might have to start looking at the annotations for that miniseries, and honestly, I’m a little frightened about being swallowed in some recursive loop of nerdity. Keep your fingers crossed….

Anyway, please feel free to comment, and I’ll see you next week!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Comic Books, DC Comics, Grumpy Old Fan, Version 1.0 Blog@. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.