Brief Thoughts On A Few Comics I Read Yesterday

In the order I read them yesterday:

1. Trinity #14: So, Ultraman & Co. are Saddam Hussein, and the Justice League are the Americans invading Iraq? They easily dispose of the bad guys, but then are stuck trying to fix it when it falls into chaos and rebellion afterwards. In this scenario, the Trinity = Bush/ Cheney, the rest of the Justice League = Congress, and I guess Enigma is cast as the pro-war Democrats. Except there's no dimensional transfer thingie in Iraq.

2. Detective #848 -- So, does everyone know that Selina Kyle is Catwoman? Why else would they call Batman? Obviously a non-death event -- Catwoman is certainly on someone's "unkillable" list -- but likely to drag out for a while a la Connor Hawke. You can tell her chances of survival based on the heat level -- Operating Rooms are very cold, but somewhat warmer than Refrigerators.

3. Manhunter #34 -- Maybe its the long wait, but I've been disappointed by the first, new Manhunter arc. A little too trite for my tastes, especially the "You are blowing an undercover investigation!" bit.

Against The Trinity

Scipio has made an eloquent argument in favor of the Trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. And while I think he made his case eloquently, I couldn't help but cringe at the "sit at a four-legged table versus a three-legged one, and ask yourself which one wobbles more." Sure, but who wants to read a story about a table that DOESN'T wobble?

Sure, there are iconic trinities, but much more "iconic" symbolism falls into Fours: The Four Seasons, The Four Elements. It is also the configuration of two sets of two played off against each other: crescent, gibbous, waxing, waning. The two sides of the X and Y axes giving four quadrants.

Also, even for each element that Scipio correctly argues is a set of "Three", there is the missing "Un"-element. The unasking of the question. The Trinity give you the three possible parenting arrangements, but what about the character for whom parentage simply isn't an issue, or is fluid? The one who looks at the spectrum of values, and decides that it is not the proper spectrum to be considering?

When I started writing this post, I didn't really have an idea who the fourth member of the Tetrology should be. "Green Lantern" or "The Flash" seemed like likely choices, or maybe a legacy to distinguish "new" from "old." But the more I typed, the more obvious it became.



"Superman, always super; Wonder Woman, super in costume and normal without; Batman, always normal." Sure, but Guy Gardner doesn't care. If he's got a Power Ring, then great! If he doesn't, he's got internal Vuldarian powers! If he gets his ring back, he becomes human again, and Vuldarians go away. Guy Gardner defies your powered/unpowered tri-ality (that's duality + one). Whether he has "superpowers" or a "power ring" or is just fist fighting in an alley, the nature of the power is just not an important question.

The city, the country, the city-state -- and the universe!
Focus, restraint, and balance -- and chaos!
Admiration, fear, respect -- and who freakin' cares, I'm freakin' Guy Gardner!

So, in my view, the Trinity could be improved with the addition of Guy Gardner, specifically BECAUSE he'll make the three-legged table wobble.

Trinities and anti-Trinities: Boys and Their Games

What was most surprising to me in this week's comics was that in such a solid week (JSA! Manhunter! Devi!), my favorite was Trinity #1.

Now, as a non-Christian, I am sure that I am missing tons of Trinity imagery. My history of never having read the Christian bible severely limited my ability to succeed as an English major in college (I always missed the Christ imagery!) and also made me look like a moron at other cultural events. ("'Jesus Christ Superstar' is just a huge rip-off of 'Tommy.'" "No, Ragtime, Tommy just has a lot of Christ imagery.")

One thing that bugged me though was "Boys and Their Games," which was the title, and referred to Diana's lumping Bruce and Clark together is their "Secret Identities." She says that she has a "Private Identity," but that she acts the same whether she's Diana Prince of Wonder Woman, while Bruce and Clark have different personalities as Batman and Superman.

I think Diana's being too simplistic here, and is eliding over the main reason that I have always far preferred Superman to Batman. Diana's summary is perfectly applicable to Batman. The entire "Bruce Wayne" persona is a show. He acts like the idiot billionaire playboy to throw off suspicions. Bruce isn't actually like that at all.

Clark is different. When he is in his secret identity as Clark Kent, he isn't putting on a show. Maybe that's how he was portrayed in the Golden Age, and to a lesser extent in the original Superman movie -- as playing Clark as a bumbling fool so no one would realize that he's "really" Superman under the glasses. But the current Superman -- and the one for at least the last 20 years -- is the one who is "really" Clark Kent.

Now, it's too simplistic to say that Clark is the "opposite" of Bruce. That he's Clark when he's not pretending and just "acting" like a superhero. I think it's more like having different sides of personality come through in the different spheres of your life. I don't act the same with my clients in my "law world" and I do with the Ragkids in my "home world." And it's not that I'm "acting like a lawyer" or "acting like a parent," even though looking at the two sides, you'd have to figure that they couldn't both be the "Real Me." In the same way, reporter Clark would naturally act differently than superhero Kal El. "Clark" isn't a game he plays, and its why Lois nicknames him "Smallville." He really IS the farm boy/ boy scout/ hick as well.

Anyway, I was disappointed that Diana blended together the two points that make me love Superman, but be largely indifferent toward Batman.

Anyway, things I liked:

1. Sitting around the table chatting. Maybe I'm the only one who really likes those scenes (like in the last JLA), but I really do.

2. Alternate realities. I'm also a big fan of alternate reality stories where Green Arrow and Speedy protect Gotham, and Lois Lane is apparently a chain-smoking elf. Just enough hints to get me excited.

3. The Enigma guy, and his interactions with Morgan le Fay. Am I supposed to know who he is?

4. The idea of the new anti-Trinity. Scipio asks to come up with our own Trinity. Personally, I've always thought that the recurring Superhero technique of "switching enemies" should be able to work just as well for bad guys. So, I'd assign Doomsday to take out Batman, the Joker to defeat Superman, and . . . maybe ("classic") Darkseid for Wonder Woman.

I started out choosing Ares for Superman and the Joker for Diana, but then i remembered that Diana actually did fight the Joker in Wonder Woman #97, during her "I'm not really Wonder Woman any more" eras) with one of the most Mishugenah resolutions I recall in a Wonder Woman comic.

4. Most importantly, lots of stuff actually happening. (Unlike, say, Countdown #51).