"Trinity" #29 on sale now

"Dinanna's tears, what --?!" - Patterned Man

Welcome to TRINGENUITY, CBR's ongoing commentary of DC Comics' weekly superhero series, "Trinity." The title is divided into two features; the first focuses on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, while the second feature portrays background or tangential events that relate to the ongoing lead storyline. "Trinity" is a weekly series that is promised to be epic in scale and help define the trio of heroes' mythical place in the DC Universe.PREVIOUSLYAlfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Nemesis, Donna Troy, Richie Grayson and Interceptor performed a ritual in the former Justice League's Happy Harbor cave that aided them in remembering the vanished Trinity. At the culmination of the ritual, Happy Harbor became a bronze-age village populated by non-humans. The natives, using a set of laws modeled after the Trinity, rendered judgment on a criminal. Alfred and company saw a nearby mountain had been carved into idols of worship -- idols that looked like the Trinity.Meanwhile, with the greatest minds in the world seeking solutions to the massive amounts of energy being channeled by Trans-Volitional Man, the JSI focused their attentions on the prison breaks instituted by the Dreambound, only to have one of their strongest allies, Tomorrow Woman, stripped into pieces by the T.V.M., revealing her android nature. TRINITY #29 We rejoin Alfred, Dick, Donna, Interceptor, Nemesis and Lois in a pass between the alien village of the "harbor folk" and the lands of the "patterned men." The two groups are prevented from starting a conflict by Donna Troy, who discovers she can fly and has super strength. With the timely intervention of Alfred and company, the patterned men and harbor me make peace and disclose their knowledge of the Trinity to the time lost group. Meanwhile, in Opal City, Tarot and Charity read the future of the Worldsoul in the cards, foretelling a shift in power and that it is a time for bold action.Elsewhere, the members of the Justice Society International continue the fight against the escapees of the world's prisons. Carter Hall leads both his scientist recruits and the world's heroes into battle against the disparate energies being released and channeled by the Trans-Volitional Man, energies that reek of creation power. Using Tomorrow Woman as a focal point, the rifts created by T.V.M. are sealed, but even with this battle won, the villain called Brainiac has been freed, and Tarot has surrendered herself to the Dreambound. COMMENTARYBrian Eason: The aliens of Happy Harbor are harbor folk, and along the trail wait the patterned men. Any thoughts of the name origin? I have a feeling the patterns are meant to represent superhero masks and costumes. Everything means something with Busiek. These could have been the hill folk or the mountain folk, so the patterns have to mean something. Thanks to the intervention of Donna Troy, war is avoided.Justin Eger: Much to her own surprise, no less. With knowledge, power does truly come.

Donna makes an amazing discovery

BE: Because Donna's the only one with powers that hasn't been using them, I'm interested to see further changes in the members that have no obvious powers. JE: Considering that her and Dick (not Richie, you'll notice) got closer all of a sudden, it looks like their more regular personality traits have begun to reassert themselves. BE: That was very subtly done. JE: It was so subtle, in fact, that even the characters didn't notice anything different.BE: I like that the two tribes worship the Trinity and have the same sense of goodness about them. Conflict is easily avoided with talk.JE: That was surprising to me. Usually, I think we reserve such diplomacy for more developed groups.BE: I think it's a perfect testimony to the lessons taught by the Trinity.JE: Truth, justice and the American way once again. BE: And the idealized versions of those concepts put into practice. Atmahn, Kellel, and Dinanna?JE: Or Batman, Kal-El and Diana. Interesting, if you consider that the "true" identities of the Trinity are how they are referenced by these tribes.BE: These are the names of who the title characters are when they are themselves, which references the fact that Bruce Wayne in the mask, Batman is who Batman really is. JE: But, while we're on that train of thought, and though it might not relate directly to this book, I have to wonder of the Batman identity will mean as much to whoever wins the upcoming Battle for the Cowl.BE: I don't think it is possible for anyone to be the Batman except the Batman. It was almost like he was destined for the role. JE: I fully agree, but that's not what we're going to be facing in a few months, so we have to start taking things like this into account.BE: And we had Wally West as The Flash for so long that people forgot Barry Allen. Dick Grayson has been Nightwing for 24 years. There is no telling how long we'd have another Batman. The aliens are going on a pilgrimage, to the mountain statues?JE: It would seem that way. Perhaps there's more on the mountains of Happy Harbor than we first might have thought.BE: Considering the rich history of the former JLA headquarters, I wouldn't be surprised. BE: Tarot and Charity read the world soul and see a shift in power. The Troika?JE: Possibly, but it could also mean a change in Tarot herself, since she is the focus of the reading.

Reading the Worldsoul

BE: According to Charity, it's a time for bold action.JE: And we get to see lots of that, first with the members of the JSI, who are stretched pretty thin.BE: Things are driving to a fever pitch. There is a sense of urgency, that the world is spinning out of control. JE: And this has yet to return to the madness occurring out in the cosmos with Krona and the alien war armadas.BE: The steady march to a war of biblical proportions, as we continue to point out. JE: And, terrifyingly enough, Tomorrow Woman is conscious for the whole experience of her dismemberment.BE: I want to say that she's just an android, but, yes, very disturbing. JE: Lex Luthor is getting pretty ticked about how Carter Hall is running the show.BE: Proving that even without Superman as the focus for Lex Luthor's hatred, he's still a jerk. JE: It seems that he's just generally angry about being the smartest man in the room. There's a team you might never have expected: Green Arrow, Vibe, Black Orchid, Space Ranger and Sky-Knight.

The heroes battle the prison break

BE: Space Ranger seems like an odd choice and I don't remember him being able to phase through walls. Brainwave can't read him easily. I have a thought stirring. JE: You mean the possibility that he might be the long-unseen Martian Manhunter in disguise?BE: Give the man a prize. JE: Well, I had thought about commenting on the absence of J'onn J'onzz last week when we were discussing Brainwave's role as coordinator for the JSI, but it seems I was just a touch presumptuous.BE: Could be a swerve, but since Brainwave mentions the disappearance of Space Ranger, it remains suspect. JE: But before they can confront Prometheus and his fellow captive, the team gets yanked away to fight in Metropolis. I have to wonder about Hall's tactics here.

The heroes return to Metropolis

BE: He seems desperate, as though there are too many things that have to be handled at one time. JE: And he's reacting to the most accessible threats, despite other dangers. It seems a little heavy handed, to me. BE: Green Lantern seems to think so too. JE: As does Green Arrow, but he doesn't get much time to consider it. BE: And I doubt Carter cares as much for Ollie's opinion as he does Allen's.JE: But the move allows Brainiac to go free.

Brainiac is free!

BE: Things fall apart. The center cannot hold. JE: And though Metropolis is saved by Tomorrow Woman and the JSI, Tommie herself looks a little scary.BE: Is it still Tommie? That reaction makes me wonder.JE: Me too. It looks like someone (or something) slipped into the cracks while she was disabled. So, that begs the question, who or what might have been lurking in all that cosmic energy?BE: Creation energy? Krona.JE: Just what I was thinking. BE: Now the question is why?