Review: Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger Vol. 3- The Crack in Creation
Quick Summary
Pros: The storyline is fun at times. The final issue was a nice wrap up.
Cons: The Forever Evil: Blight crossover was poor. The second half of the book is terribly paced. The series concludes without addressing a number of things which were teased and hinted at earlier.
Overall: The final volume of this series suffers from a poor crossover and a rushed conclusion. It starts out by building your interest with tons of hints for future storylines. Then, it fails to deliver on those and tells a series of disappointingly quick tales instead. This is not a terrible book but is definitely below average and is something we would only suggest to those who really love the Phantom Stranger as a character.
Story
Right off the bat, it is important to note that the first half of Trinity of Sin- The Phantom Stranger Vol. 3: The Crack in Creation, by J.M. DeMatteis, does not read well on its own. It is part of the Forever Evil: Blight (Review) crossover event, so large portions of the action are missed by not including the crossover issues. The Forever Evil: Blight (Review) storyline is still somewhat legible here though and thus I will still be reviewing it, though I do not recommend reading it like this.
This is, overall, a decline in quality for this series. It starts out with a lackluster crossover filled with introductions and setup and then ends with a series of short stories that do very little with this setup. Plotlines come out of nowhere, loose ends are left open, and the end of the series feels like a mediocre season finale rather than a grand exit. If you really like the Phantom Stranger’s character then you may find moments of fun within this book, but everyone else is advised to skip it and look somewhere else.
(spoilers start here)
In general, the Forever Evil: Blight crossover was not good (see what I mean in our more thorough review here) but the Phantom Stranger fared this tumultuous crossover better than most. His issues saw Chris’s story continue from Breach of Faith (Review) and also introduced Cassandra Craft to the mix. It added some intrigue to his storyline and made me a bit excited to see how his story would turn out after the crossover was finished.
The book then becomes a series of short stories featuring cameos from characters like Superman, Madame Xanadu, and the Spectre. These short stories come together to tell about the Stranger’s final showdown against the Sin Eater, who is now threatening all of humanity. This showdown is followed by two chapters devoted to the death of the angel Zauriel.
While not necessarily bad when it comes to story, the book’s second half is horribly paced. The Sin Eater’s storyline has been great thus far but now feels rushed to an ending. Plus, Zauriel’s love for the Stranger comes completely out of nowhere and feels incredibly inorganic. It weakens what could have been an otherwise good storyline and turns it into a below average distraction.
Then, as the series concludes, so many loose ends are left open that it diminishes some of the positives from earlier. Characters like the Question, Chris, and Cassandra received a hefty dose of introduction and it was hinted that their roles would be much larger in the future. Yet none of these characters play a significant part in the story and the mysteries behind the Question and Cassandra are never answered. There were also numerous teases for a storyline about hidden aspects of the Phantom Stranger’s past, which also never materialized. The Futures End issue attempts to wrap up some of this, but it is done so quickly and crudely that it completely falls short of what any fan would want.
(spoilers end here)
Art
Though penciled by the same artist from the previous volume, Fernando Blanco, this volume does not look quite as nice. People and places lose a bit of their detail and don’t quite pop off the page in the same way as before. In addition, magic looks more standard and formulaic, rather than the cosmic mindtrip that it was in the previous collection. This is still not a bad looking book. However it also is not anything that special.
Continuity
Trinity of Sin- The Phantom Stranger Vol. 3: The Crack in Creation continues the story from Trinity of Sin- The Phantom Stranger Vol. 2: Breach of Faith (Review).
Trinity of Sin- The Phantom Stranger Vol. 3: The Crack in Creation also crosses over with three other comic collections. These include Justice League Dark Vol. 4: Rebirth of Evil (Review), Constantine Vol. 2: Blight, and Pandora Vol. 2: Choices (Review). For more information see our “Forever Evil: Blight Reading Order“.
The series ends with this volume. However, the Phantom Stranger’s story continues in the Trinity of Sin series, which is collected in Trinity of Sin: The Wages of Sin.
This volume also makes references to another comic books, detailed below:
- A number of references are made to the very end of Trinity War (Review).
- Though this is a Forever Evil (Review) tie-in, it does not reference much about the event besides its beginning.
- Both Felix Faust and Nick Necro were last seen at the very end of Justice League Vol. 2: The Books of Magic (Review).
- Pandora references a few aspects of her life’s story, which are originally chronicled in Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 1: The Curse (Review).
- Recent adventures in Constantine’s life, chronicled at the start of Constantine Vol. 2: Blight are mentioned here.