Trinity Vol. 1: Better Together (Rebirth)

Better Together is a celebration of DC's big three. Less a major chapter in the on-going Rebirth/Watchmen mystery and more of a quieter character study in the vein of classic Batman/Superman team-up stories, Trinity focuses on the efforts of Batman and Wonder Woman to acclimate to the "new" Superman who appeared during the Final Days of Superman story arc. This older Supes is a married man and a father, but still fundamentally the same person they (and we) knew. During an evening dinner at the Kent family farm, the trinity is mysteriously transported into the past where they interact with a young Clark and Pa Kent. From there, the trio visits Gotham on the night of Bruce's parents' murder and then Themyscira when Diana is a young child. As it turns out, the Trinity isn't skipping through space and time but under the influence of DC's favorite means of visiting alternate dimensions/what if stories: the Black Mercy parasite. These alien flowers show the victims visions of other worlds and realities they could have lived and are famously tied to the villain of this volume: Mongul. The yellow baddie is trying to use the Mercy flowers to transpose his consciousness into Superman's; it will take the trinity working together to stop the attack and escape the Black Mercy's grip. Overall, a fun and breezy work that focuses on the character beats of the Trinity interacting both with each other and their younger selves while in the world of the Black Mercy. The book gets surprisingly intense with the feels seeing Superman getting one last chance to talk to his father or Bruce consoling a young version of himself after losing his parents. While the ending doesn't pack as much of a punch (mainly due to confusion as to where Mongul actually is or how he is now using the Black Mercy flowers to try and take over Superman's mind), it is a great read none the less and even has an intriguing character turn for special guest star Poison Ivy. All in all Trinity is a must-read for fans of the characters who don't mind a slower-paced story. Personally, I will take this over the fast-paced, loud current Justice League run any day. That book may have more bombastic action, but lacks the meaningful character interactions and strong writing that make this title a treat.

A somewhat convoluted tale, but really good.Story: Here we have Francis Manapul, a guy who's work I came to love and admire on the New 52 Flash title, weaving a new tale about the three most famous heroes of DC Comics. Of coarse it starts off with the same thing that all books featuring these characters started with at the beginning of Rebirth, Bruce and Diana not fully trusting pre New 52 Clark, because he's not "their" Clark. I really can't talk about much of the story without spoiling it, so I'll say that there were some wonderful twists, including some monster callbacks to previous DC history! I found Manapul able to craft a deep, and very touching tale, and tackling multiple themes. I was particularly moved by one of the villain's revelations. We get a new character, and she has a helluva introductory story! Of coarse we've seen so far that anything involving the Kent...or rather...Smith family turns out to be comic gold. Each member of the trinity gets an issue where they narrate the book. It was cool to see a book devoted to these three icons give each one time in the spotlight. After reading several books already where no one fully trusts the pre New 52 Superman, it's nice to see a story where Diana and Bruce come to trust him, as they need to in order to get out of this predicament. This story also allows us to understand these long established characters a little bit more. Manapul did a great character study here, and I think that's this book's strongest point. There's also some setup for a future tale with that last page. It's nice to be able to read a heartwarming tale like this one.Art: Manapul is one of the best artists in the industry and his art here is phenomenal! Clay Mann, who did a great job on the Poison Ivy miniseries also does an issue here. I love the way Manapul draws Poison Ivy! Adding some barely noticeable freckles adds another small detail to her character. Manapul has the best page composition skills in the industry and it shows here in the first issue. NO ONE does what Manapul does in his art! Emmanuella Lapuchino also does a couple issues here, and her art is fine too. I first saw her work for the variant covers to Green Lanterns. While I find Manapul and Mann better artists, Lapuchino does a fine job. I have to mention the coloring in this book, particularly with Manapul coloring his own work, and the coloring by Hi-Fi. This book is BEAUTIFUL! It's very vibrant and greatly reflects the tone of the book. It's bright where the narrative is light, and dark where the narrative gets gritty. Just an all around great experience!Overall: A great start to this new series by a master craftsman. I do wish the ending would have been slightly larger in scale, but I'm still impressed by the narrative. We got callbacks, and setup for the future. There were deep themes explored, and we see our characters get hit hard, psychologically, emotionally, and yes, physically as well. There's some serious warmth of heart at the end though. I'm looking forward to volume 2!

This is one of the better books of the the DC rebirth event, focused very clearly on personalities. The action was not tremendously exciting, but in reintroducing the characters and building bonds between them it did an amazing job. It is a book that attempts to think seriously about who these classic characters are, reintroduces their core histories to newbies without spending too much time on well trod territory. Is there a compelling sense of danger? Not really. But we care about the characters and it very much serves a purpose: the renewal of friendship and the beginning of a rebirth of the DC brand.

The best thing about this book is the artwork by Manapul. He really does a great job in his depiction of the trinity. I also loved the larger mystery at play with Mongul and Poison Ivy. I only wish that the Trinity series had maintained or even improved on this quality during its Rebirth run. The book was pretty unreadable once it got to the final issues, but this storyline was still very readable.

A decent start but feels hollow in comparison to some older stories that revolve around D.C's trinity. They kinda glance over the whole parallel world's version of their dead friend, but I guess that story would have been a little boring.

Great story to read if you are just getting into rebirth. It’s got the big 3 DC heroes getting to know the current versions of each other. Well written.

The artwork was great.

Supposed to be new. Creases everything

Nice story but not that fascinating one.But yeah Manapaul gave Excellent Run of Flash post 52. So I trust him and will wait for story improvement as story continues.

I love when I can get collections for a good price. Definitely had to follow comic's Trinity.

Story was alright. Enough to keep me interested in purchasing 2nd and 3rd Volume.

An excellent tale awaits here. This work explores different aspects of the Trinity's psyches, and pits them against an unexpected villain team up. Fans of DC comics will enjoy this compilation.

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