Wonder Woman is sitting pretty right now. Absolute Wonder Woman is brilliant, wowing readers every month. Tom King’s Wonder Woman run has garnered a lot of attention on the book, especially with its introduction of Wonder Woman’s daughter Trinity. Wonder Woman‘s Trinity back-ups were a highlight of the series, and she’s finally getting her own book in Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman. Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1 is a romp, the cross time meeting of Trinity at three different points in her life bringing the humor. However, seeing as the death of Steve Trevor is a focus and we already know the tragedies of Wonder Woman’s future, there’s a melancholy to the series that reminds readers this is still a Tom King book.
So, right off the bat, this book starts out hilariously. We get the return of Pariah, more Crisis on Infinite Earths era than Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, and King gives him overwrought tragic dialogue that will elicit a chuckle from even the most jaded readers. In order to keep things clear, when I refer to Lizzie, I’m talking about the youngest Trinity, Wonder Girl as the second oldest, and Trinity as the oldest. Lizzie has always been a delight, and the meeting between her and Pariah is perfect, the work of a smart young child who knows the hows but not whys. The two of them talking is the story’s framing device, where we learn all about the plot of the series — Wonder Girl came to see Lizzie because she knew she was depressed, and then going to Trinity to make a plan on how to make Lizzie happy.
From there, shenanigans ensue. King is in rare form in this issue. There is a lot of funny, snappy dialogue and the way Lizzie, Wonder Girl, and Trinity play off each other is hilarious. Wonder Girl and Lizzie get along well, but Wonder Girl and Trinity are much more contentious, which makes sense because each of them want to be the one who saves the day. King’s writing can get too psychological for its own good at times, too obsessed with digging into what makes superheroes tick. His work on Trinity has been a big change for his usual work, and this issue is more than that. That’s not to say there isn’t any of King’s trademark trauma porn writing in the issue — Lizzie is sad because she doesn’t have a father, and Wonder Girl wants to help her be happy again for both of their sake — but the focus of the issue is the girls’ fun interplay and how their temporal jaunts are a huge problem for all of reality. See, each of their sets of Jon and Damian are changed into Corgis, and the three girls split up in time to find them. All of this is super fun, but adding in the Steve Trevor makes it better because it grounds the whole thing.
RELATED: From Amazon Princess to Vampire Thug: How DC vs. Vampires Created Diana’s Most Terrifying Form
Trinity reunites King with Belen Ortega, who drew the Trinity back-ups in Wonder Woman, and honestly, the main reason this story works so well is because of his art. Ortega’s expressive pencils really sell everything in every panel. There is a lot of emotion in this book — Lizzie’s exuberance and sadness, Wonder Girl’s sympathy, and Trinity’s resolve — and Ortega does an amazing job of getting all of that across. Right from the beginning, a key part of the book’s humor comes from Ortega’s beautiful pencils, as each character reacts the craziness of the situation.
Every panel is beautifully detailed. The page with the six Jon and Damian Corgis playing with Lizzie is a perfect example of this. The page is cute and funny, and you can feel just how happy Lizzie was in this moment. Ortega’s style is perfect for this sort of this thing. There is page after page in this book of amazing visual storytelling. The best art works with the script to give the readers the entire experience. That’s what Ortega’s pencils do with every page. Alejandro Sanchez’s colors are a key part of that. This is a bright and shiny book, and the colors pop off the page. Ortega and Sanchez make a potent artistic team; this is a gorgeous book right from the start.
If you loved the Trinity back-ups in Wonder Woman, you’ll love Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1. The book is able to capture the humor of the back-ups beautifully. I laughed out loud several times while reading it, and was enamored with each page. Every page of this book is a visual feast. King is cooking with this one, and it’ll be interesting to see where he takes this miniseries. This is a brilliant first issue; even if you don’t like King’s Wonder Woman, you should love this one.
Rating: 4 out of 5
The post Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1 Is Hilarious and Heartbreaking appeared first on ComicBook.com.
