DC's New Weekly Comic: Trinity

[iSteve]

DAN DIDIO TALKS TRINITY - DC's NEW WEEKLY (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146142)

At this weekend’s RRP meeting, DCU Executive Editor finally made it official: DC’s third weekly series, starting in June, will be called Trinity. Its lead story, starring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman will be written by Kurt Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley.

The series will follow Countdown, but, as with Countdown and 52 which came before it, will be unrelated to the previous weekly series. That said, Trinity will be “apart,” that is, occurring in the DC Universe, but not tied to other events happening in the DCU.

Just prior to DC’s RRP meetings, we spoke with DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio about the weekly.

Newsarama: Dan, let’s just start at the ground level – what is Trinity?

Dan DiDio: Much has been said about it, but now we can say it officially: the new weekly will start in the first week of June, and will feature as its leads, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, and its title will be Trinity.

The book will be 52 issues, and what’s different about this weekly compared to 52 and Countdown is that the creative team of Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley will be doing the first twelve pages of all the 22 page issues. So there will be two stories in each issue – a twelve page lead by Busiek and Bagley, and backups, both continuing and one shot by Kurt and Fabian Nicieza with art by people like Tom Derenick and Scott McDaniel along with other guest artists along the way.

NRAMA: With a June launch, Trinity will be running at the same time as Final Crisis, so will it be related to that, or spinning out of Final Crisis?

DD: One of the things that we’re really focusing on this year at DC is how we’re driving the different storylines through 2008. There will be a storyline that features Superman prominently in the Superman titles through 2008, there will be a storyline that features Batman prominently throughout his titles in 2008, and Wonder Woman will have her own strong storyline in her series. Final Crisis will be contained to the primary series and a couple of spin-off series and a couple of one shots, but doesn’t crossover throughout the rest of the line. And Trinity will be its own story amid all of that, because it explores not just the history of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, but their impact on the DCU in the past years and for the future.

Trinity is something that will bring the focus back to these three characters, both individually and together to understand why they are the three greatest characters in comics....

[labor_days]

Damn. They got me again.

I am onboard. Love the Trinity as characters and concepts.

[gungadin]

Twelve weekly pages by Bagley? I know the man is fast, but are they trying to kill him?

And then spending the extra ten pages in backups? I'm completely on the fence with this one...

[acomicbookgirl]

Another weekly title?! Wonder Woman is it in.. I'm in...

[esophagus]

This sounds excellent, and I couldn't be more happy with the team.

[six-gun]

Damn. They got me again.

I am onboard. Love the Trinity as characters and concepts.

Yeah, I love the grouping too.

Hooked.

[jasontodd]

This sounds really great. I can't wait to read this. All 3 characters' titles are strong right now.

[humphrey-lee]

Haven't bought one of the weekly books yet, and I don't think this one has me either. It's not exactly like we're hurting for stories involving the Big 3, since they all combine for like, 20 appearances a month as is.

But that's just me, and I knows I'm the resident hater...

[aleks07]

Bagley doing something other than a Spider-man book ? Sign me up :)

[optimus187prime]

Haven't bought one of the weekly books yet, and I don't think this one has me either. It's not exactly like we're hurting for stories involving the Big 3, since they all combine for like, 20 appearances a month as is.

I would have to agree, only thing that may make me "taste" it is the Bagley art. What scares me is that the issues are split in two.

[shaundaniels]

doh!!! just when i thought i was out they keep pulling me back in.

[tetsujin]

Batman
Detective Comics
Batman Confidential
Batman and the Outsiders
Robin
Nightwing
Superman
Action Comics
Superman Confidential
Wonder Women
Justice League
JLA Classified
Justice League Unlimited
Trinity

Am I missing anything?


No really though, I'm actually excited. I think it's going to be much more like 52 than countdown, since Busiek is the single writer so he's probably plotted a nice long over arching story and the back ups should be nice. I like how they mentioned the backups would be tieing in, hope it kinds of works like the backups in the recent Flash arc and how they tied in at the end (The ONLY redeeming thing about Waid's recent run)

[labor_days]

Batman
Detective Comics
Batman Confidential
Batman and the Outsiders
Robin
Nightwing
Superman
Action Comics
Superman Confidential
Wonder Women
Justice League
JLA Classified
Justice League Unlimited
Trinity

Am I missing anything?

Yes, Justice Society of America.

[idave]

Will this be the first DC weekly I will buy?

Probably not. I just can't justify it if it is like Countdown. However, if it is like 52 in terms of quality im in. I just don't really care about any of these characters besides Wonder Woman. To me, DC's third and second tier characters are way more interesting than the trinity.

I want like Green Lantern to be weekly though. That book is so damn good. (sorry for this randomness)

[superfriend82]

i don't really get what this is all adout. I mean i know that it going to adout superman,batman,Wonder women. But then is it like going to be like one story line going to be adout supers one adout the bats one adout WW or is it going to be like if you what follow one of the trinity person story line read their titles?

[esophagus]

Some brand new DC Direct Trinity action figures. I love them. Lets hope they provide some insight into what the design the characters in the book will have.

http://photos.actionfigs.com/data/2827/Img1248.JPG

[conorkilpatrick]

Some brand new DC Direct Trinity action figures. I love them. Lets hope they provide some insight into what the design the characters in the book will have.

http://photos.actionfigs.com/data/2827/Img1248.JPG

That's actually a different Trinity. Those are from Matt Wagner's Trinity mini-series from a few years ago.

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-comics-2007/2815-1.jpg

[esophagus]

Heh. Whoops. I'll definitely have to pick that up now, though. Love the way Bats looks.

[iSteve]

THE TRINITY SESSIONS: PART 1 - KURT BUSIEK (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=147727)

by Troy Brownfield

Everyone knows by now that Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley will be teaming up for DC’s Trinity. The weekly series will feature a Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman 12-page front-end ongoing by the superstar creators. We spoke to Busiek prior to his appearance at WonderCon, and we’ll be following up with him and Bagley after their panel there as well. To begin, we’ve asked Busiek and Bagley five questions common to both of their experiences with the book; our subsequent installments will reflect their individual roles in the creative process.

NEWSARAMA: Kurt, how did you find your way to the Trinity project?

Kurt Busiek: I made it up. Well, sort of.

I actually pitched a very different project, to start with. The only two similarities, really, was that it was weekly and starred Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. But the actual start of the project came from me.......

http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/RRP08/b_Bagleyart.jpg

[iSteve]

THE TRINITY SESSONS: PART 2 - MARK BAGLEY (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=148303)

by Troy Brownfield

Last Time: We checked in with Kurt Busiek on DC’s Trinity, the new weekly that will feature a Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman 12-page front-end ongoing by the superstar creators. To begin, we’ve asked Busiek and Bagley five questions common to both of their experiences with the book; our subsequent installments will reflect their individual roles in the creative process. Previously, it was Busiek’s turn with the common five; this time . . . it’s Bagley.

Newsarama: How did you find your way to the Trinity project?

Mark Bagley: In a stumbling, drunken stupor. Actually Kurt called and sorta dangled the idea of something that now only slightly resembles Trinity in front of me. I'd been itching to take a swing at Superman, and the opportunity to do Bats and WW as well was really sweet. It was really a perfect opportunity with great timing.....

http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/RRP08/b_Bagleyart.jpg

[racemccloud]

Bagley? Weekly? Big Three? I'm there.

And having Bags do twelve pages a week is nothing, if we go by his current "break glass" run on "Mighty Avengers".

(That's right. Bagley's a glass breaker. As in, "In Case of Emergency - Break Glass". Although, in this case it was, "In Case of Slow-Ass Frank Cho - Break Glass".)

Anyway, love Bags, and aside from that, I'm looking forward to a book that focuses on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman that presumably won't consist of them going through old photo albums.

[labor_days]

Wonder if Bagley can draw ever character in both Marvel & DC universes before George Perez.

How the hell is he even capable of this shit? Jesus.

[iSteve]

THE TRINITY SESSIONS: PART 3: BUSIEK'S BACK (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=153016)

by Troy Brownfield

As part of our ongoing conversations with the creative team behind DC’s Trinity, Kurt Busiek is back for a closer look at the process behind the book.

Newsarama: My first question comes from the nuts and bolts writing perspective. A typical issue of a regular title will run you 22-24 pages, depending. In this situation, you're coming in knowing that you've got substantially fewer pages. In what ways do you compensate? How do you negotiate the pacing and narrative drive for the smaller page set?

Kurt Busiek: Well, we've still got 22 pages an issue, and we're making sure to get a lot of story in. But with 12 page lead chapters, I know going in that I'm not going to fit an entire issue's worth of story in there, but then, I don't have to. It just has to be a strong 12-pager, with a lot of energy, drive and momentum. If we do that, and the back chapters are strong, too -- and they're coming out very well -- then I think people are going to like the book a lot.

It does mean that each chapter's structure has to be leaner, more focused -- there's not as much room for wandering around and exploring as there is in a 22-pager. But we keep the focus on establishing the situation fast and moving forward hard, whether it's an all-action chapter, a mystery-solving chapter, a character-focus chapter, or what have you. And of course, I have the advantage that if there isn't room to get everything I might want to in that issue's lead, well, the next chapter's coming in a week, so people won't have to wait long to see more.

We just want to keep it all moving. Keep it big, keep it powerful, keep it strong, and make sure the story never feels like it's slowing down. So far, that hasn't been a problem....

[wade-wilson]

DAN DIDIO TALKS TRINITY - DC's NEW WEEKLY (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146142)DD: One of the things that we’re really focusing on this year at DC is how we’re driving the different storylines through 2008. There will be a storyline that features Superman prominently in the Superman titles through 2008, there will be a storyline that features Batman prominently throughout his titles in 2008, and Wonder Woman will have her own strong storyline in her series.
Hopefully this is true, because it sounds awesome, and it's just what the titles need -- focus!

Let the writers tell a story without having to stop halfway through to make way for a company wide money-grab ... uh I mean cross-over, eg: Morrison's run on Batman.

[superfriend82]

I was just tinking if Bruce Wanye does die and someone else replaces him woun't that chage the restive of Trinity?

[iSteve]

THE TRINITY SESSIONS: PART 4: FABIAN NICIEZA (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=153188)

by Troy Brownfield

Earlier this week, we had the first part of a two-part interview with Fabian Nicieza, covering his earlier work and Captain Action. We now connect Part Two to our ongoing Trinity interviews, as Nicieza will be co-writing the totality of the book with Kurt Busiek.

Newsarama: Fabian, you're working on Trinity with Busiek, Bagley, and the gang. How did you get involved?

Fabian Nicieza: Basically, I think the fact Kurt and I get along and can work together with a minimum of ego clash, the fact that I know more about the DCU than most people would expect, the fact I’ve known Mike Carlin for about sixty years – I still got some Transformers inventory pitches to show you, Mike – and the fact that I still type pretty fast all created the perfect storm in my favor.......