In this review of the Trinity Special: World’s Finest #1, we look at the collected edition of backup stories from Tom King’s Wonder Woman run.
Trinity Special: World’s Finest #1
Written by TOM KING
Art by BELÉN ORTEGA
Cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
Variant covers by BELÉN ORTEGA, SWEENEY BOO, CHRISSIE ZULLO, SAOWEE
Page Count: 56 pages
Release Date: 9/4/2024
This review contains spoilers
Story 1 Summary: (Lizzie 4y, Damian 18y, Jon 23yo):
The boys are babysitting again and airing out some grievances towards each other about who’s had the worse life, when little Lizzie comes out of bed in her Wonder Woman pajamas, unable to sleep.
Damian, as skilled as he is in other aspect of life, demonstrates his lackluster story telling skills recounting a embellished Final Crisis fight between him against Darkseid, accidentally slipping in some more foul language.
Lizzie is unable to sleep now, thinking Darkseid is hiding in her closet with math (fearing the Anti-Life Equation). The two boys argue about the best way to wear her out so she has to go to sleep, with her insisting, while playing with her tappy pad, the only place she wants to go is the moon. Which they do.
Tucking her in after their romp on the moon’s surface, Damian guarantees her there is no Darkseid or math in her closet. Lizzie says she loves Damian, an emotion which he returns flustered. She then realizes she’s not sure what math looks like, at which Damian loses his final marble.
The boys pass out on the sofa, only to be joined moments later by Lizzie, her stuffed Jumpa, and her tappy pad.
Review:
I love this era of the trio. Tiny Lizzie and her baby sitting brothers makes me so happy. We once again get the running gag of Damian coming up with another thing “S” stands for (Schnook). The boys’ arguing can go a little long sometimes, but King finds way of having it not always be inane arguing for the sake of arguing. In typical meta King fashion, the TV Sports announcer’s commentary is paralleling the events in the story, which is a clever little story telling element. There is obviously some things going on that these two will need to talk out later, and showcases that Jon has really grown up in his ability to defend himself against Damian and fire back, something that was only in the very early stages when Jon was younger.
Lizzie is the perfect chaos agent in that she’s just a normal little girl. You can imagine almost any kid being like her – can’t sleep, only happy with one thing, asking all kids of questions, and having an irrational fear of a concept in her closet. The art is really cute and, other than a weird face Jon makes on the moon, is well done. One thing I like about Tom King’s writing is that he allows the art to speak for itself sometimes, and there are 7 panels at the end of the issue where Jon and the couch don’t move at all, allowing space for Damian to enter the panel, pass out, and for Lizzie to crawl on the couch and yawn, setting up a final gag with one word.
Story 2 Summary,
The next day Lizzie is trying to learn kite flying. The boys are arguing and Lizzie is struggling on her own in her Wonder Robin tutu and cape. She finally gets frustrated enough the boys finally pay attention to her. This doesn’t last long though, as Damian isn’t done ribbing Jon.
After some time Lizzie has a modicum of success, but the Wonder Woman kite, or Mommy Kite, slips out her fingers. The young hero is distraught, and while Jon flies off to fetch the kite, Damian tries to comfort the girl by instilling some nihilistic principles, suggesting that all things, include flying a kite, are meaningless. Both boys try to show Lizzie some tricks to flying the kite, both failing miserably until the kite’s string is tangled in knots. Damian wants to get help from an unnamed “bad guy” and Jon is determined that they don’t need the help of a criminal and that all Lizzie needs is more time and practice. However, after the young Prince has a tantrum of epic proportions, he relents and after more discussion, the three of them suit up and break a criminal out of Arkham Asylum. In the finale, we learn that Tom King’s beloved Kite Man is the villain they broke out, and he is successfully mentoring his new kite protégé. Damian suggests that the “S” stands for Impossible, and no one will think that’s dumb.
Review:
Once again the boys are arguing the whole way through, but Lizzie has them wrapped around her finger. I love that both of them are brought to their knees, needing to admit defeat in the face of a foe they can’t defeat – a little girl’s desire to fly a kite. These paragons of virtue, when alone, can be more open and vulnerable than they can in other company. Jon becomes a bickering child, Damian faces defeat, and both are willing to commit a crime to make little Wonder Robin happy. Though this of course would be enabling and not a good trait to have in real life, for the story it shows a love and dedication these two young men have for the youngest of the trio.
If I had to something negative about these first two stories, it would be that the bickering does seem to go on for a bit. But, the previous issue cycled through the ages, whereas this time we had two stories back to back with the characters at their youngest, so there would be more bickering by default, so I won’t hold that against the story too much.
I love the appearance of “Mr. Kite Man” who, as King fans know, is a common cameo. The art once again is so lovely, and I can’t help but laugh at the last panel at the absolute delight at Lizzie’s face, and the trepidation and side-glance at Robin and Superman on Kite Man’s face.
Story 3 Summary: (Lizzie 13yo, Damian 27yo, Jon 32yo)
Jon returns to the Fortress of Solitude where he’s left Damian watching over Lizzie. However, Robin is playing a handheld game and Lizzie is missing, along with the Time Sphere. Damian admits that Lizzie was doing a history report and pestering him with questions, so he sent her off to do some in person interviews.
In ancient Japan, Wonder Girl meets a what she believes to be an samurai warrior and introduces herself, tells him all about mom, and asks if she can ask him some compare and contrast questions for her history report.
In the present, Jon is freaking and out Damian is nonplussed. He told the girl to not to talk about herself and just the the information and leave. As Jon cries out in frustration we see the boys’ normal outfits change to Wonder Woman themed ones.
In ancient Japan, Lizzie is sparring with the samurai while telling him all about her flying uncle Clark, her bat-costumed uncle Bruce, her uncle who talks to fish, and the one who shrinks…but she really shouldn’t be telling him that much and needs to get back to her interview of him.
In the present, Superman and Robin are now sporting some Golden-age style costume, then they suddenly become cowboys in the desert, monkeys in the jungle, and robots in a space ship – all while Jon is losing it about the changes to the time stream her visit would cause, and Damian, oblivious to the changes of the time stream, insists that that’s nonsense.
In ancient Japan, Lizzie, looking very much like Rurouni Kenshin, insists that after helping the Samurai liberate just one village from an oppressive overseer she has to get the info on the Muromachi period for her report and then must go right home.
In the present, Jon is still worrying while Damian refuses to take responsibility. All the while they become Kingdome Come Superman and Red Robin, Lex Luthor and Joker, Lady-Superman and Robin, Old Superman and Robin, and Starro-Faced Superman and Robin.
Lizzie finally returns and Super-Duck and Duck-Robin rush to meet her, Jon demanding to know if anything major has changed. Wonder-Girl announces that a lot has changes – as she’s a Samurai now! Jon, back to normal, hope’s she gets an A on her paper, and Damian is thrilled as he has just achieved a new high score on his game.
Review:
This story is a little more simple, and certainly the main gag here is the different iterations of Jon and Damian we get to see. It’s fun seeing the time line change going unnoticed by the two, as every few seconds Lizzie changes the world the entire universe changes. It’s a fun and stake-less exploration of time-travel story telling, while Lizzie gets to have un-supervised fun in ancient Japan. The art is top-notch again, and I enjoyed the different settings of the story, one being the ice-world of the Fortress and Muromachi era Nippon.
Story 4 Summary:
Later on, Damian and Jon are utterly unexcited about attending a Black Canary concert, whereas Lizzie is sporting her own Black Canary cosplay and is so excited she can barely contain herself. Damian, though giving her a hard time, in spite of promising not to judged her, later reveals that he go them front row seats through some personal connections. Jon admits through a smirk that, after Dick Jason, Time, and Steph, Damian is is favorite Robin.
Damian is still going on about how sub-bar Canary’s music is when she comes out on stage and the boy is struck dumb with awe at her performance. His wonder must make him stand out because Dinah asks him to come dance with her. After the concert, Damian is a changed man, jumping on the Black Canary Crazy Train with Lizzie.
A month later, while fighting Mongul, Lizzie and Damian, now full blown Canaries, are analyzing Dinah’s social media posts and trying to figure out what secrets she’s sharing in code about her upcoming album. Mongul, catching on to what they’re talking about, reveals himself as a fellow Canary and starts chatting with them about their theories. Jon sits back slack-jawed.
Review:
Though there was a lot of bickering in the first two stories, there is definitely more maturing by this age. The boys aren’t tearing each other down as much, but are still able to be their unpleasant selves (at least one of them is). However, Damian is also not afraid to show his change of heart, also able to join with Lizzie in her fanaticism for Black Canary. I really love the evolution of their relationship and of all the characters. The gag at the end of the villain also being a fan and abandoning his villainous plans in order to chat Canary was hilarious. Tom King doesn’t seem to be running out of material, and I really like seeing Jon and Damian continue to flip the script and evolve into new people around Lizzie. Our relationships shape us, whether we want to or not, and having people that challenge us and stretch us is important. That may be a little deeper than what King is going for, but I’m here for it and I continue to love this series.
Story 5 Summary: (Lizzie late teens, Damian early 30s, Jon mid 30s)
Years later, in San Francisco, Zatanna reveals that magic can take time to wear off – an hour, a week, a month, a year…never? Elizabeth prince is infuriated as she know has two new pets, Super-Corgi and Bat-Corgi, on her hands and only time and “belief” can bring her brothers back to normal. After a month of trying various things and going insane, the three of them fall asleep on the beach together, and the boys wake up back in their old bodies. Confused about where and when they are, the two go back to bickering, somehow still claiming ownership of the ball they had fought over as dogs. Lizzie’s eye begins to twitch.
Review:
This was a fun story. Seeing the two men as dogs was everything you could hope for. And Lizzie losing her marbles and narrating the dog-dialog between Super-Corgi and Bat-Corgi was fantastic. This was a cute, fun story, wonderfully illustrated, and magical to read.
Story 6 Summary:
A few weeks after the Corgi incident, the New Trinity are on a mission to save the universe, but it will take 73 days to cross the universe to arrive at their location.
Day 6, Lizzie can no longer take their bathroom habits.
Day 24, Damian hasn’t done laundry yet and Jon is getting sick of Damian’s movie commentary.
Day 39 Jon can’t sleep because Lizzie snores like a chainsaw.
Day 51, Damian claims his ability to determine a murderer in a mystery movie is his skill, not the fact that he’s seen a film 15 times. They all hate each other.
Day 64 – Lizzie and Jon and stolen Damian’s Batman costume, and appear to have gone insane.
Day 72 – they are approaching an unimaginably hard fight with the Mongul of Infinite Earths and death is almost certain – Wonder Woman can’t wait.
Day 73 – The fight goes faster than expected as Mongul hasn’t had time to power up. The trio realize that the trip back will take 94 days due to cosmic headwinds, and so they try to wake up the villain in hopes more baddies to fight.
Review:
This one is fun because it showcases the bad side of each of the characters who might normally show more decorum. It also reveals the off-panel land a regular comic must have. The boring times. The long times traveling. But here, we see a day (or 73 days) in the life of super heroes traveling across space, and it’s terrible. It’s so fun seeing the human side of our favorite heroes, and the unseen dilemmas they face. As a fan of Slice of Life anime/manga and the Batman: Wayne Family Adventure on Webtoons, these kinds of stories are my jam. Where the biggest threat is boredom and bad habits, and people are learning to get along with each other, or rather, trying not to kill each other. I think King continues to do a great job of capturing the real human side of heroes and the hilarious chaos his causes.
The sneak peek at the end of the issue reveals all three iterations of Lizzie talking to each other on the Wayne Family couch, discussing a quest to find her unknown father while three versions of the Super Sons as Corgis (Tomasi era Super Sons, current Robin and Super-boy/Superman, and Future Superman and Batman) all cause puppy chaos. I am very excited.
Editor’s Note: You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
