Welcome to the First Issue Bin, where I — Ethan Kaye — randomly grab one of this week's comics that’s just starting up and give you the details on whether it should get added to your collection … or remain on the comic shop shelf.
Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Belén Ortega
Color Artist: Alejandro Sánchez
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Brittany Holzherr
Where some books strive to be "game-changing" or "grim n' gritty to replace actual narrative," Tom King's Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman comes along and reminds us that comics can be fun while remaining entertainment for (mostly) all ages. I had so much fun with this, and given King and Ortega's work with the Trinity character before, I never doubted that I would.
Wonder Woman has a daughter, Trinity, whose presence has been teased since previews for 2023's Wonder Woman #800. We've gotten to see her grow up through numerous backup stories in King's Wonder Woman run, as well as two specials that added additional shorts. King's Trinity tales have peered in on Elizabeth "Lizzie" Marsten Prince through different stages of her early life, and this book weaves them all together in a way where everyone's favorite Lizzie gets panel time.
Flat out, it's a book that's meant to please everyone, and that's not a bad thing.
The adventures of 5-year-old Little Lizzie are seriously the best, and Ortega's mastery of little kid faces makes her an absolute darling. (You can see so many examples of Marvel and DC artists who have zero idea how to draw little kid faces, and Ortega just kills it here.) Little Lizzie encounters perpetual DC mope Pariah as the multiverse is collapsing (again) and tells him the story of how she doesn't have a dad, how she met up with the older versions of herself to try and find a dad, and also why there are so many corgis walking and flying around with super powers. And Pariah, thinking she can somehow help the multiverse collapse, listens to her.
It's a story that's equally DC multiverse seriousness and Tom King flavor dialogue. King's writing has always been crisp and packed with personality, and this is him working all his skills at once. The story is compelling. The subplot of the three Fates is compelling. The time traveling is compelling. The difference in personalities between Lizzie at different ages is compelling.
And to wrap all these compelling elements in a bow are the dialogue and details that make it fun. Little Lizzie is a goofball who King never writes as more than a 5-year-old kid. The middle grader Lizzie is impulsive (in a good way) but kinda clueless, like kids are in those weird middle school years. And older teen Lizzie acts as the competent babysitter who needs to solve the massive problem before mom gets home
There's one page where King and Ortega just bring this all home. Everything has gone to hell. The DC Super- and Bat-heroes have all been turned into corgis (again, solid work from Ortega). The corgis have all escaped into the future in a time bubble. Everyone knows that things are seriously messed up. We get three panels of Lizzie talking to her other two selves to decide what to do. In the first, older Lizzie controls the floor, middle Lizzie is begrudgingly listening to her, and Little Lizzie is absolutely rapt. Second panel, middle Lizzie gives her ideas, which are clearly dismissed by older Lizzie's face, and ignored by Little Lizzie, who is distracted by her own costume. Third panel, Little Lizzie is going off about something or other, while the other two just sink into their phones because no one really cares about what Little Lizzie says. She's a kid. I LOVED THIS.
It just feels so damn real. The characters feel real, they talk real, they act like real kids, like kids you know from your everyday life. Ortega's facial work carries emotions not seen since Kevin Maguire. A perfect combination, giving fans of the backup stories exactly what they were hoping a Trinity solo book would be. And how King always holds a mirror up to DC's lengthy continuity, he does it here by echoing the early Wonder Girl comics with three differently aged Wonder Women having adventures together. Wonder Tot has returned, just as Lizzie Prince this go around.
DC fans should love this book, given the level of craft on display here and the nods to present and past DC continuity. Is it for kids? Maybe. Little Lizzie is absolutely a star and any kid would eat it up, but the complicated Pariah plot and the time jumping would probably hinder many younger children from enjoying it. But maybe this is an opportunity for an attentive, DC-loving parent to take the time to explain to their kids who Pariah is, who Steve Trevor is, who Wonder Woman is, and the ins and outs of time jumping. It's not that there are adult subjects like drugs or sex, but just a level of storytelling that requires a high level of comprehension.
Mainstream continuity comics ain't for kids anymore, which is a double-edged sword. Adult fans like me find things to come back to (and spend our money on), while younger fans … have to make do with books aimed at junior readers. Which is good up until the point when they want to pick up a regular continuity comic and find themselves drowning in part 9 of a 12-part cosmic drama, bringing in characters that never made their way to Tiny Titans. Publishers are caught in the middle: Do we lower the bar to appeal to younger readers and lose the older fans who'll deride the books as childish, or do we keep the status quo and maintain the high hurdle for new readership?
I'm old. I get it. I'm a dinosaur, practically a fossil. I like comic books in the way that people enjoy soap operas: we're invested in the characters and the drama and we love the universe and want to see where it all goes next. I think Little Lizzie is an amazing gateway character for new or casual readers since she's so relatable and funny. Adding a sprinkle of existing DC faces helps, some familiar and some not (like anyone knows who Pariah is anymore) (also, I hate Pariah and always have) (he's a mopey son of a bitch who adds nothing to a story).
Trinity #1 is a beautiful book. It looks great, it reads great, it's simply smashing work from the creative team. And if you're a parent, maybe this is a book to introduce at bedtime. After all, it's got cute corgis.
Dialogue: 5/5
Art: 5/5
Corgi party: 5/5
Cuteness overload: 5/5
Pariah is: stinky doo-doo man
Best of all Lizzies: 3/3
Verdict: Get this. Get all of the Trinity specials too. This is where comics gets fun again and God, did we ever need it.
