Every universe-spanning event has to have a trigger event, and the first major spark of “Trinity War” is found right here in Justice League #22.  This is a credible start – not as awe-inspiring as Crisis on Infinite Earths but certainly better than watching Libra kill Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis.  Whether this will be a great series or something a little more forgettable has yet to be decided…but there are a few highlights…and low lights…to be found in this initial chapter:

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

Highlights:

• Shazam has become the fun character every Captain…er, Shazam fan could hope he would be.  His better nature has taken over, and Billy Batson is definitely a cool character here.  It is not surprise that in any battle he would be matched up with the Big Blue guy…but his reactions in the fight are easily some of the most fun scenes to be found here.
• The JLA’s reactions upon learning their real purpose – to counter the Justice League!  Each character’s reaction is spot-on, and it lent some authenticity to the storyline.
• Pandora’s involvement – which finally makes a little more sense, even if her actions result in some things that are lowlights (see below).
• More involvement (though from the sidelines) of The Question – of course we will see much more soon, but at least there is a little hope here from a New 52 Question that shows just a bit of Rorshach…and that is a good thing.
• And finally, Madame Xanadu – This is a nice plot device to introduce the storyline…but that leads me to:

Lowlights:

• What happens at the end of the issue feels a bit like “we need to shock you to get you interested, so here you go”…can’t say more without spoilering but there were two moments that seemed more stunt-related than story-development related.
• The fights start up extremely fast.  Superman and Shazam doesn’t even have a word at first, just a blur.  The fight itself is awesome (see above), but the start is awfully quick.
• Not much for Flash in this issue…but that hopefully will change considerably very soon.

Summary:

• This is a solid start – not spectacular, although that does appear to be the intent of the issue…but still at least a solid start.  This could develop into an excellent series…or not…but that depends on what happens next.  This didn’t grab me in a way that would send me desperately searching for every tie-in, but I am willing to give this series a shot to see what happens next.  The jury is out…but that’s not such a bad thing as these types of series go.   Stay tuned and we’ll keep you up-to-date as “Trinity War” moves forward…particularly on how it impacts the speedsters of the New 52.

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