Trinity - the next DC weekly

[drice6900]

Here it is - actually looks pretty cool! Gotta be better than Countdown...

 

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146142

 

 

DAN DIDIO TALKS TRINITY - DC's NEW WEEKLY

 

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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.

 

NRAMA: So there is an overarching story to Trinity rather than a “remember this, look at this…aren’t they cool?”

 

DD: Not only is there an overarching story by Kurt and Mark that takes us through the 52 issues, but also the backups feed out of those stories and spinout new characters that come from the lead storyline; or the backups will play against the lead storyline. It is rather cohesive storytelling that will fully explore the concept of what’s behind the 52 issue arc.

 

NRAMA: We’ll touch upon Kurt in just a second, but clearly, this assignment speaks to Mark’s abilities in terms of…timeliness…

 

DD: Well, honestly, there are two levels of excitement for me, from the creative side, Mark is one of the most talented artists working today, and even though he’ll be drawing a lot of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, Trinity is set in the DC Universe, so the entire Universe is the backdrop for the series. So, Mark, who’s relatively new to the DC Universe, will have a chance to draw almost every character in the DC Universe over the course of the series.

 

Plus, Mark is an incredibly dedicated worker, and incredibly deadline driven. If anybody is going to be able to accomplish this feat, we know it’s going to be him.

 

NRAMA: Same kind of question, but for Kurt…what does he bring to the table for something like this?

 

DD: Kurt brings an understanding of the richness of the heroes and the larger universe. He can take a view from the DC Universe from a very grounded perspective, as he’s done in Astro City and Marvels, but also, he has a wonderful understanding of the “big story” picture, as we saw in JLA/Avengers. He’s a guy who knows intimately how these characters interact, and is able to weave so many aspects of their history into a rather comprehensive story that really pushes the tone and style of what the DC Universe is.

 

NRAMA: So Trinity is its own thing in one part of the DC Universe, while Final Crisis is going on over “here” in another part of the DC Universe? It seems as if you’re asking for the questions of when specific events in each occur in relation to one another…

 

DD: My feeling is to tell the best stories possible right now. The main thing that I’m worried about is not contradicting the actions and behaviors of the characters from story to story. Batman should act and behave the same way in his Batman series as he will in Final Crisis and as he will in Trinity.

 

So, realistically, as long as the characters act and behave properly, I believe that we’ll be able to tell a cohesive story, and you’ll begin to see how things fit in with one another as you read. It’s along the same lines as how characters can appear in multiple books simultaneously and try to understand the history for them all. We don’t want to have that “locked in stone” continuity line that a lot of people seemed to react negatively to during Countdown. This is a chance to open up each concept and allow them to breathe in their own right, so that a fan of what Kurt and Mark are going to bring can really enjoy the story that’s featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Likewise, the fans of JG and Grant can enjoy everything that Final Crisis brings, and the people who just enjoy the regular periodicals can just enjoy those stories. We’re not making it so that every7thing ties in completely, what we’re doing is providing consistent style, tone and voice so that it feels like the same world, whether or not we show you an exact timeline that shows you where everything falls.

 

NRAMA: Would it be safe to say that Trinity is more of a ground-level, new-reader friendly story compared to something like Final Crisis?

 

DD: It’s certainly new reader friendly, whatever that means, but what it really is though, is epic storytelling on a very personal level.

 

There is a grand story behind the weekly, and more importantly, bits and pieces of what the weekly does will flow into the DC Universe in 2009. So there are bits and pieces that will be key to the DCU in the future, but again, that’s something for when it’s completed, not during the course of its run.

 

NRAMA: Who’s editing Trinity?

 

DD: Mike Carlin. We beat him to death on the weekly grind of Countdown [laughs]. But for someone who came in midstream on a weekly book, which is probably one of the, if not the most difficult kind of project to edit at DC, he and Liz Gehrlein have gotten a really good rhythm going with the series. Mike also has a great relationship with Kurt and Mark, and are coming in before the start of this series. They’re looking forward to being a part of it every step of the way.

 

I think there’s an intensity in the pacing that’s addictive and exciting – a weekly series moves so quickly, and you’re working on so much at the same time, but when you see the results…let’s look at the end results of Countdown right now: everything’s coming together right now, and I believe that we’ve ironed out a lot of production problems, and we’re keeping the same editorial team with the next weekly.

 

NRAMA: Touching just lightly on what you said about production problems – you’d mentioned that when we spoke at the end of last year, that, despite your planning, 52 had problems you didn’t foresee, and even though you moved to correct or prevent them with Countdown, this weekly developed problems that you didn’t foresee. And now, Trinity is designed in a way to counteract some of the problems that you had from Countdown…

 

DD: And we’ll probably find some new problems here [laughs]. But what’s wonderful about Trinity is that we’ve got Kurt at the wheel who can immediately respond to any problems we might see, along with incredibly talented – and prolific – artists, not just in Mark, but also with the back-up features. All of them are people who we know can deliver more than a single issue in a month, so therefore we know we’ve got the right guys for the series.

 

[followtheleader]

After Countdown, I'm done with these weeklies. It's too much and not enough pay-off.

 

Pat

[Raphael]

instead of doing all these weeklies, they should focus on making their monthlies better.

[jordanscott]

The reason I've enjoyed 52 and Countdown is that it was NOT the big 3.

 

I don't regularly read their titles and have no desire to get caught up in a weekly commitment. Especially if it's not actually going to be tied into current continuity.

[Pirate]

I read 52 and quit countdown at about 40. If it's interesting, it will be in trades to pick up.

[uclapeterg]

I don't think I'll pick this up either. i think for the same reason that it's the big 3 and not involved in DC continuity.