Trinity: Better Together (Comics) | Review

What happens when you throw Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman into a story that examines why they work together? You get something that feels earned instead of expected. Trinity: Better Together isn't just another team-up book where the Justice League's core trio fights a generic threat and calls it chemistry.

This is Francis Manapul (Justice League: No Justice, The Flash: Gorilla Warfare) and Clay Mann (Dark Reign: Elektra, Magneto: Not a Hero) digging deep into trust, vulnerability and what it truly means when heroes stop posing and start genuinely connecting.

This is DC Rebirth-era Superman from pre-Flashpoint universe who survived Convergence. Not the cocky New 52 version but the older, married, father-of-one Clark Kent who lived quietly in Superman: Lois and Clark. That shift matters because Bruce and Diana realizes they're working with a different person wearing a familiar cape.

The story kicks off with something deceptively simple: Batman and Wonder Woman meeting Superman's family. Jon Kent, Lois Lane, the farm, the whole domestic setup that feels alien to two people who've spent their lives alone in their own missions.

Manapul uses these scenes to establish the disconnect between expectations and reality. Bruce and Diana knew a Superman who kept people at arm's length but this one invites them to home for dinner and talks about bedtime routines. Then the White Mercy shows up and everything gets uncomfortable in the best way possible.

If you remember Alan Moore's classic "For the Man Who Has Everything" from Superman Annual #11, you already know what the Black Mercy does: it traps victims in perfect fantasy worlds tailored to their deepest wants, feeding on their subconscious desires.

The White Mercy is a relative of that parasitic plant but Manapul gives it personality, history and motivations beyond "mind control McGuffin." This thing learned cruelty from Mongul and now it's testing Earth's greatest heroes by offering them exactly what they think they want.

Superman gets a Krypton that never exploded. Batman gets parents who never died in Crime Alley. Wonder Woman gets a Themyscira without the burden of being its champion. The fantasy sequences are where Manapul's writing shines because he doesn't take the easy route.

These aren't just "wouldn't it be nice" daydreams where everything feels pleasant and easy. They're psychologically specific traps that expose how each hero's deepest trauma shapes their identity, their choices and their entire sense of self in ways they've never confronted before.

What makes this work is how the trinity breaks free. Not through brute force or willpower speeches but by recognizing that their bonds with each other matter more than perfect illusions. There's a moment where Superman talks Batman down from his fantasy that hits hard because it's built on trust they've been developing.

Same with Wonder Woman's escape, which comes from choosing her found family over an idealized past that never truly existed. The White Mercy itself becomes surprisingly sympathetic by the end, evolving beyond simple villain into something tragic.

Poison Ivy shows up (because of course Ivy has strong opinions about a sentient plant) and through her guidance, the villain learns there's more to existence than the anger and cruelty Mongul taught it. The resolution doesn't feel cheap because Manapul puts in the work to make this entity feel tragic rather than just antagonistic.

Sub-plots weave through the main narrative. There's Lois writing a book on Superman that Bruce and Diana distrust. There's Jon learning what it means having heroes as family friends. These moments are connective tissue that show how this trinity operates differently now.

The arc plants seeds for future stories. The relationship between Superman's family and the larger hero community becomes a recurring Rebirth theme. The trust issues Batman and Wonder Woman work through here set up their dynamic for later Justice League runs.

Francis Manapul pulls double duty as writer and artist on the main issues and his visual storytelling is where this book becomes essential reading. Manapul's layouts are liquid. Panels bleed into each other, backgrounds shift between reality and fantasy without hard borders and the color work does half the emotional heavy lifting.

When characters are in the White Mercy's thrall, the palette goes warm and saturated. You can track where someone is mentally just by looking at the hues. Clay Mann handles art on select issues and while his style is more traditional superhero fare, he matches Manapul's energy.

Manapul's writing leans into character voice without overdoing it. Batman sounds like Batman without being a parody of grim determination. Superman's optimism reads as genuine rather than naive. Wonder Woman gets the warrior-philosopher balance right. The dialogue flows naturally, even during the exposition dumps.

The fantasy sequences are where the art team goes wild. Superman's Krypton is all Kirby-esque grandeur. Batman's Crime Alley is lit like a Norman Rockwell painting. Wonder Woman's Themyscira looks gorgeous yet stifling, reinforcing that paradise can be a cage.

Trinity: Better Together succeeds because it understands that great team books are about relationships, not roster lists. This isn't heroes standing in heroic poses while a threat conveniently requires all their powers to defeat. It's three people isolated by their responsibilities learning that vulnerability isn't weakness.

The White Mercy plot gives the story structure but the real arc is Batman and Wonder Woman accepting this Superman is different from the one they lost. That different might be better. That having a partner who goes home to a family and values normalcy might be what they need.

Manapul and Mann deliver a book that looks gorgeous, reads smoothly and earns its emotional beats. If you're coming in cold, you'll want context from Convergence and Superman: Lois and Clark to understand why this Superman feels like a course correction. If you're deep in Rebirth continuity, this is where that investment pays off.

Trinity: Better Together is collected in Trinity Vol. 1: Better Together, available in both trade paperback and hardcover. You can find it in comic-book shops, bookstores and online retailers, while the digital version is also on ComiXology, Kindle and DC Universe Infinite.